Keep Your Distance

I have this film for a while, but I've never seen it until today. I haven't known much about it, I just picked it because of Christian Kane, 'cause I adore that man since I've fell in love with twin shows Angel and Buffy. I love his looks, his voice, his act - he's the real deal. So I thought it will worth a shot. And today I wanted to watch something in the evening, and I hadn't got anything I haven't had seen yet besides this one. So I started to watch it, and while it started, I'd dropped by to IMDb to see what other people think about it. After some really low points and really bad reviews I almost dropped it, but after ten minutes it got my attention right away. The only reason I'm not mad because of the bad opinions that almost got me not to watch it is that this way I had a feeling all the way through the film that there will be a lame ending. And this way I wasn't so disappointed when it turned out that I was right. I don't want to spoil anybody's experience with the film, so I won't write anything about why it was bad. That's not the point anyway. The point is that Keep your distance could be a very good film if it had an another ending. It has an interesting story, for starters. It's not the most original one in the history of movies, but a quite good one. There was good directing, very good actors who played very colorful, vivid characters, not commonplace, black-and-white, boring persons like in most of the Hollywood films, and there was a well-adjusted tension in the film. And then, int the end, in about 5 minutes, they ruined it all with a petty, cheesy closing. I got the feeling like the makers had got bored in the end or had ran out of time, and they had just thrown the first thing they got in mind to the end of the film. So yes, it's not a good film, but in my opinion it's just because of the ending. Whitout the last 5 minutes I would've given 7-8/10 to it. But this way it's not more than 5. Anyway, it was worth to be seen, and I kinda liked it even this way, but it could've been so much better. (And and least Christian Kane had some pleasant singing-scenes, and one always should appreciate him singing...)

I have a strong suspicion that many of the glowing reviews for this film come from shills. If not, then I'm baffled. As my friend said, "There went ninety minutes that I'll never get back."

The best part of the film is the title sequence, which was very slick and set the right suspenseful mood. After that, things went quickly downhill. The acting is workmanlike, the script is full of clumsy dialogue, and the direction is riddled with embarrassing clichés. (For instance, during the final showdown, which of course takes place in a dark house during a thunderstorm, we are treated to a flash of lightning suddenly revealing the silhouette of someone on the doorstep -- twice!)

"Keep Your Distance" tries to be a character-driven suspense film, but the problem is that the characters are insubstantial and unlikable and there is no suspense. I knew who the culprit was from the beginning, simply due to Ebert's "law of economy of characters," but I didn't know why. At the end of the film, I still didn't know why. The clues that we are given, when they are finally deciphered by the characters, turn out to be mostly irrelevant.

Was very impressed with this indie film that looked and felt like such a "big budget" effort. Gil Bellows is fabulous as the lead. He plays a man with a charmed life whose world gets rocked by an anonymous interloper. The veneer cracks for several of the leading characters, who seem to lead charmed lives as well. The beautiful socialite wife. The trust fund baby and his powerful father. The plot is clever. A mystery meticulously crafted to keep you engaged to the end. Loved the music, too. Bravo to Stu Pollard's second big film effort. I liked "Nice Guys Sleep Alone" but "Keep Your Distance" catapults Pollard into a different league for film-making.

Keep Your Distance is about a talk show host (David) and a drug saleswoman (Melody) who get caught up in several scandals, including their own. Melody has a possessive and rich boy friend who gives everyone the willies. David gets letters that show him things about his life and he confides in Melody who he meets by chance, and they help each other through some tough times as friends. As things start to pan out some clues start to give away the twists that occur at the end. A class A film technically with lots of good scenes. Acting was very good and the characters where believable. In the end, the letters spell out a lame plot as the characters have to explain it all to the audience.

Although I still think that Pollard's first movie (Nice Guys Sleep Alone) takes the cake in my book, Keep Your Distance was a thrilling mystery, that will keep anyone who likes trying to crack codes and solve mysteries on their toes. Pollard did a great job of integrating the city of Louisville (from the well-known skyscrapers seen in the skyline to the best ice cream place in town) into his movie - anyone who loves Louisville should definitely see this movie. Acting was well done, cinematography was visibly improved from Nice Guys, and, all in all, it's definitely a film worth seeing. The unexpected twists in the story kept coming, and the way the film unraveled itself towards the end made everything come together comprehensively.