Chance

When I found out that Amber Benson directed a movie, I didn't expect it to be that great, but then I found out that James Marsters was in it. If anybody deserves to be an A-list, 20 million a movie actor, its James Marsters, so I decided, "Hell, why not?"

And yeah, James was incredible. Even if he had horrible BO, I wanted to jump right in the screen and make him my own. Amber Benson was mediocre as an actress, but she definitely needed a script doctor to fix the occasional lame, unrealistic dialogue. Though the movie eventually makes sense at the end, the time-jumps aren't defined and just serve to be annoying. For its budget, its not bad, but the camera angles and shots need work too.

Watch it, pay to support poor, poor Amber Benson.

Chance premiered at the SideWalk Film Festival 22 September, 2002. As of right now, there are no distribution deals and no further plans to show the film, but that could, of course, change. And I hope with all of my heart it does.

Chance is a dark comedy about a chapter in the life of a young woman searching to find herself. It stars Amber Benson and James Marsters as Chance and Simon respectively. Also appearing in the film are Nate Barlow, Andy Hallett (the Host on Angel), Tressa diFiglia (Nicholas Brendon's wife), and Christine Estabrook.

The movie is hilarious! Definitely along my tastes in humour, and Amber did a fantastic job doing everything for this film - a true Indie movie. The soundtrack, provided by Grant Langston (with the beautiful song over the opening credits having been written by Joss Whedon), was awesome, funny, and touching. Pretty blunt, too, which served the story perfectly.

I was so afraid this movie would suck as much as I love Amber Benson. It didn't. It was much better than a lot of the movies I've seen lately. Amber was fantastic and James was so adorable it was scary.

If you get the chance (haha), see this movie. You will not be disappointed.

I'm a huge Buffy and Angel fan. When I heard that Amber Benson wrote and directed her own film, I went crazy. Even crazier when I saw the crazy high rating on IMDB. After looking for it for over a year, I finally found it and watched it.

What resulted is a movie which is very cheap and filled with bad acting. Okay, no offense to the Buffy and Angel lovers, but that's just the truth. The film's storyline was good but the directing Job was terrible and the acting was even worse.

In summary, it was cool to see Tara, Spike, and Lorne together. But hey, just because I'm a fan of Buffy and Angel, it doesnt mean I'll automatically like a movie which has relations to them. Those who gave Chance such a high movie rating here on IMDB are blatantly full of bias, which is understandable. But honestly, this movie aint that great.

I took a 'chance' and bought this film, but know that others may be wondering whether it is worth a view. Amber Benson does an admirable job here as writer/director/lead actor and her casting of James Marsters was inspired, if very understandable as a result of the Buffy link. He has obvious pedigree and audience appeal, which will immediately reach a greater range of viewer. But one soon realizes that you are not watching 'Spike' and that his role as Simon, the love interest, is rather engaging in it's own right. For those huge fans of James - I know there are many - this film allows him to shine ever brighter,whilst exploring a very different character. And there is sufficient romance to please. It is a real shame this film does not have a distributer. They are missing a huge market if the James Marsters web sites are to be believed. Give it a go if you can get hold of a copy. Well worth a look.

This movie was not only highly entertaining, amazingly clever, but it was silly while being poignant. That is a hard feat to pull off! You followed the life of the main character, Chance, and watched her go through the same things we all have gone through, and watched her react just a little differently than you'd expect. I loved this. The casting was great, and now the movie has been distributed by Small Planet Pictures. Amber Benson wore a lot of hats for this production, and I think she wore them all perfectly. If you are the type who only buys films that you know will be great, then trust me and buy this one. You won't be disappointed!