The Photographer

I think it's really sad when someone watches a movie, and when it's not all Hollywood bells and whistles totally smashes it to pieces in a review! I purchased this movie used, mainly because some of the actors (Maggie) and the name of the movie - and of course, interest - what could have happened to this guy to ruin his life over losing some photographs?!?!? Eventually, you realize the underlying message of the movie....Your vision is already within you...It's a good message, even though parts of the movie might seem far fetched, I liked the odd-balls all ending up befriending one another, I liked the visuals of the NY street scenes. Not all movies that are indie suck, you just have to LOOK to see what is really there. And by the way, I have done a gallery showing with only 8 X 10's.......

From acting to visuals this film is a gem - a diamond in the rough. I was blown away by the performances headed up by the star, Reg Rogers, a master of his craft. This is Maggie G's first big role and it is a wonderful start to a now star studded career. Rob Campbell and Chris Bauer are fantastic. The writer/director, Jeremy Stein, has created a remarkable movie that not only is about something but is also vastly entertaining. It's films like this that make you believe that there is still hope for modern cinema. I can't wait to see the next film from this gifted filmmaker.

This film is definitely an indie, but it was really quite good.

The story starts with Max (Reg Rogers), who was the big thing in the NYC photography world a year ago, but has lost his talent. He needs to somehow produce 10 brilliant shots in one day, or else he risks losing everything. Max manages to procure these 10 masterpieces after a mysterious man leaves them in a bar. Unfortunately, someone steals them from Max, too.

The majority of the movie follows Max on his quest to recover the 10 photos, which have been inexplicably scattered throughout the city. He meets up with several interesting characters, including Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rob Campbell. Gyllenhaal's character is especially good. She plays an aspiring newscaster, obsessive-compulsive daughter of a clairvoyant (sounds confusing, but it's pretty funny).

This movie is nothing huge, but I really liked it. The shots of the city at night are pretty, and all of the quirky characters are likeable.

Jeremey Stein's maladroit "The Photographer" is one of those films that has an uneven balance of good and bad qualities where the bad outweigh the good. This is a film filled with some lyrical magic, but the direction is just so inept. "The Photographer" feels shallow, although the characters are relatively well-written and the story is thorough. When the film should draw you in, it turns you off with a constant feel of unintentional silliness. Stein should consider choosing a director for his scripts.

"The Photographer" is something of a modern day fairy tale about a, you guessed it, photographer who luckily finds success with a collection of beautiful stills that make him eminent. A year later, he looks through the art he has preserved for his follow-up and finds that it is all less than satisfactory. Later he goes to a bar only to find gorgeous photographs sitting next to him, belonging to a strange man he had been speaking with. Then he helps a man being mugged on the street, gets knocked unconcious, finds his pictures are gone as well as the parts of his car. He begins a late night journey to find the missing stills.

The problems arise when more and more and more unappealing characters join him on his quest. They are all ultimately annoying in their own ways, irritating, distracting and fatally pointless. For some it's the acting, but others just a bland feel of nothingness. Not even Maggie Gyllenhaal can save the dorkiest of characters.

The long night isn't terribly paced or aimless, it's just where it ends up. The film has an all too Hollywood conclusion not seen in many indie films these days. I liked some of the style used in this film, like cleverly placed clocks seen as the night goes on and a fun use of yellow, but the the bad qualities fastly eat away at a potentially good premise.

There are better films in this sub-genre. I would not reccomend watching "The Photographer" even if the premise is as intriguing to you as it was to me. I would recommend the other films, like John Shear's "Urbania" or Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut".

Occasionally, surfing through the late night flicks, you run across a gemstone that grabs you by the pajama lapels and shakes you awake until you've finished reading the credits: such was my reaction to The Photographer a few nights ago. Jeremy Stein made an absolutely enchanting film: ignore comments here to the contrary.

The theme is that one can never anticipate how unexpected turns in our lives will contribute to our personal growth. In this case, Max overcomes a form of creative paralysis and re-discovers himself and his art through chance encounters with complete strangers. Shot in New York City's seedy back streets (lower East Side?) the collective odyssey of Max and his new-found pals (the supporting cast are very good) laces in bar scenes that, for me at least, are archetypal moments when we have chance encounters with people who turn out to have so much in common with us in hidden ways that it makes us reflect on who we really are most comfortable with, why we made the choices we've made, and what the hell we're doing with our lives.

There's a kind of magic in this film (the search for Violet) that isn't overplayed but that's important to tying everything up into a neat little package. Terrific score (Andrew Hollander) and beautiful cinematography (Vanja Cernjul) sustain the mood throughout. If you don't come away feeling better about life after seeing this film, you've missed it.

Jeremy Stein, who wrote and directed, is very talented indeed, and I hope this one is available on DVD: it's one you want in the library.