Reality of Life

Anyone who goes into an independent film expecting a New Line Production will ultimately be let down. A TRUE independent film works with the scraps they can afford and does the best with what's available. Reality of Life may not have had the best sound equipment and their lighting was a touch weak in spots. Sure the leads had weak scenes, it happens. In reality (no pun intended), this film isn't perfect, in fact it's far from. However, it's the story and the characters that make this movie good, not great, good. For those of you who are willing to simply shove it aside and give it a '1' rating, I urge you to watch again, and pay attention to it, I promise you'll reconsider and raise that rating up a few digits.

Reality of Life is a good independent film and is a surprisingly well-done directorial debut. The film is heavy on dialog and that is one of the main problems. The title suggests a realism that is felt in the film; however the repetition we have in actual life doesn't translate as well on a screen. Although realism was a goal, an audience expects and needs a little more to keep them interested. Howard's writing keeps us in the moment but it misses opportunities to make those moments more special and it's a shame.

The leads Layten and Jindra are very good in their roles but it's hard for us to be involved in their characters' personalities as much. We want them to be more interesting and their love story to really pull us in. Unfortunately the two characters seeing something in each other isn't always enough for us as an audience to be engrossed in the relationship too. We need something to invest us into them as well so we know exactly who they are, what they're feeling, and why it's so important to them. It's the second half of the film (and especially near the end) that this starts to happen more but by that time we're just getting warmed up, it's almost over. They play the parts very well though and the end scenes are their greatest. The supporting role Howard plays is the most complicated and I can see why Howard would want it for himself. He plays the humor very well and we start to care for his character more as we see the struggle that slowly builds throughout and his jokes no longer hide the fact that he's a sensitive person. It's a nice arc and Howard plays the drama greatly and is very impressive. Bousquet and Porter are also very good but have very little screen time. Some of the other actors are where the quality of the film is lost a little.

The cinematography is wonderful and Bull really makes moments shine. The editing is fairly unobtrusive and adds a realistic element to the film. The music works for the most part with the orchestral score being a high point. The ending and even the main plot is something I will not reveal here as it's better to let it unfold, but there were several places I thought I could tell what was going to happen, and I was wrong each time. The last 20 minutes of the film is worth the price of admission alone. Unfortunately, the beginning and middle are slower paced and it takes us a while to get more into it. The idea is great; the execution just needed a little more oomph. There are some very powerful scenes throughout and if the whole film held us like those did, it would be much better.

Though this film is flawed in places and could use some writing editing, it's a nice effort and leaves us with a touching film that makes you think a little bit. I hope that his film is something he can expand his talent on and really impress us with his future work. I think there can be some great things ahead.