Scalene

I was invited to a screening of this movie by a friend, and when I heard I was going to be seeing a low budget, independent film I did everything short of feign illness to get out of having to attend. On the way to the theater my mind filled with images of ridiculous drive-in fare and late, late, late night monster movies of the sort where you can see the zipper on the creature where the "actor" climbs inside, along with a multitude of other cringe-worthy scenes that come to mind when someone says "low-budget". Bottom line, I expected everything to be horrible. What I got instead with Scalene was a taut, heart-wrenching character study with such a degree of emotional impact that I was left still shaken the following day.

The story is told from three people's perspectives, and as can be expected each of their individual stories fills in gaps left vacant by the others'. This isn't the first time I've seen multiple perspectives in a movie, but as far as I can recall it's the first time I've seen three separate perspectives told in such singularly distinct ways. The lead actress, Margo Martindale, is simply marvelous. Her name might not be familiar to you, but you'll recognize her from everything from Dexter to Million Dollar Baby. The movie also stars Hanna Hall, the girl who played young Jenny from Forrest Gump, and my goodness has she ever grown up. The actor, Adam Scarimbolo, who plays the mentally handicapped son as described in the IMDb synopsis, (I'm not giving anything further away), I recognized from the movie A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. His character in Scalene is unable to speak, yet even with no dialogue his performance is breath-taking.

Back to the issue of this being a low-budget movie. There was nothing cheap or unprofessional about anything in this movie, contrary to what I had expected. I noticed on the IMDb page that Scalene was made with $150,000. I don't know anything about the business of making movies, but I had previously thought that movies cost tens of millions to make. Most seem to. Knowing now that quality has very little to do with the budget I wonder, unless there are lots of expensive special effects, where does the money go for big-budget movies except into people's pockets? I could not recommend this movie more, not only because it shattered every stereotype I had previously held about low-budget, independent films, but because it is a first rate movie with a truly captivating story.

I do not agree with a lot of the criticism, especially criticising the acting. Hannah Hall was absolutely superb and convincing just as she was brilliant in Forest Gump. My only criticism is the very ending! It leaves us in limbo, not knowing which version of the story is what really happened? The mother's version? Or the carer's version? Perhaps this is what the director had in mind. Leaving us in limbo.

I saw this film at the private screening this past weekend in Indianapolis and left the theater sure that I had just seen what will be one of the best films of 2011. Scalene is the third film by director Zack Parker, though it clearly marks his entry into a whole new caliber of filmmaking. Inexchange (2006) and Quench (2007) were good films, but they were films nonetheless of a director still honing his craft. Scalene, however, is a film that after having seen, people will ask themselves, "why haven't I heard of this guy before?" It epitomizes the very best of what independent film can and should be. This was a low-budget film, but there is nothing about the production that would lead anyone to believe that it didn't have millions of dollars at its disposal. A higher budget would have only meant more expensive actors and crew, but certainly not better. In many ways this is a difficult time for independent filmmakers. The majority of films that now premiere at independent festivals have A-list stars attached to them which attracts audiences and money to the festivals, but makes it more difficult for first-rate productions, like this one, to receive the recognition and exposure they deserve. Often low-budget films don't interest the larger movie-going public because they expect that perhaps the professionalism of the production will be at a level below which they can appreciate or tolerate. Often this is the case. However, I challenge anyone to see this particular film and not come out of the theater with a new-found appreciation of what can be accomplished with relatively little money, but a whole lot of talent.

There are essentially three characters in "Scalene". And with respect to the writers for their rather ingenious title, we can pretend there are three points of view. The first half of the film is spent with the mother, but mostly told backwards in time. She's seeking justice and revenge for the incarceration of her mentally-handicapped son charged with rape. Then we hear from the son and then the abused girl herself.

The mother, played by Margo Martindale, is stressed out to her wits ends and is trying to find someone who can understand what she's going through trying to raise her brain-damaged son who can't speak all on her own. The interesting part about her sequences was telling it in reverse. We first see her after the conviction, then immediately following the incident itself and then a number of scenes leading up to the incident. At this point, we have no idea what happened but it proved to be interesting enough that our curiosity was piqued and tension was high waiting for the big reveal.

Then we hear from the son, Jakob (Adam Scarimbolo), but of course he can't speak. And based on the handful of random, bizarrely shot, meaningless scenes, we can assume he doesn't understand much of the world around him.

Then comes the interesting part of the film – the victim's sequences. Paige Alexander (Hannah Hall) is, at times, an average college student. She's looking for a part time job, one that should advance her in her chosen career of social care. Young and inexperienced, Jakob's mother hires her to take care of Jakob a couple of hours a week because she seems honest and caring. The similarly inexperienced actress Hannah Hall (who got her start as the "young Jenny" in "Forrest Gump") will hopefully go far based on her powerful but extremely tender performance of a girl who was always just trying to figure out the right thing to do. And she more than held her own against the heavy-hitting Martindale.

Paige was an interesting character because she's figuring out just as we are figuring out what is going on. She has a cold respect for her parents but can't turn to them for help since they have lost touch with reality. Her friends haven't experienced what she has experienced and would be unable to offer advice. Paige is strong and independent, but she's forced into a situation where she's scared and alone.

Unfortunately, the problems for "Scalene" come when some of the actions venture far from credible or realistic and sympathy for the characters is all of a sudden hard to come by. But worse is the editing, and/or acting, in the revenge scenes. Characters are hit over the head and fall down the stairs in such a cheesy and artificial manner that it resembles a super low-budget, unintentionally funny, ridiculously stupid horror movie. It is better than that, but only when we've connected to the characters and we're following Paige waiting for the ultimate twist. Before and after that, the film loses most of its edge.

This Rashomon rip-off does alright with its first two stories, but falls on its ass with the third. Paige's story is so completely ridiculous, so far from the realm of reality, that it embarrasses the rest of the film to be a part of it. The movie does a pretty good job of manipulating emotions until then, but when the turn happens, everything becomes stupid, unbelievable, and ridiculous.

This is not a thriller, it's like a Lifetime movie that attempts to tug at your heartstrings but absolutely fails in the execution. You may experience the first 20 minutes of the film and be impressed, but it throws away all its credibility shortly after.