Public Access

This is the debut film from Bryan Singer, director of The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil and X-Men. It is the story of a drifter who wanders into a sleepy town and wakes it up. The central character is played wonderfully by Ron Marquette. Singers directing is exceptional, even more so when you consider it's his first feature. Fans of his later work should definitely try and track down a copy of this rarely seen masterpiece.

I dug this film out at our local video store (no mean feat) and was highly rewarded. This film has been badly under rated, so what if you do not know the underlying motives of the character this makes the film more disturbing in my view. The central role is played excellently

This was the first effort by the creative team behind "The Usual Suspects".

The video provoked a big argument on the chesterfield afterwards, and that's always a good sign.

The film is sort of "Talk Radio" meets "High Plains Drifter", as reinterpreted by John Sayles. That sounds like a volatile mixture, and it is.

Leonard Maltin's objection to the film is ill-founded, it appears; that was the basis for the heated postprandial debate.

Drifter rolls into town, and by way of a local access TV show, begins to touch nerves in smug "Smalltown, USA."

Ron Marquette delivers a very strong performance as Whiley Pritcher, the enigmatic drifter. His portrayal is a mix of thoughtfulness and menace.

The director, Bryan Singer, tells the story, slowly, deliberately, layer by layer. A keen eye for rhythm and pacing, for the building of suspense. I found the film a strong cautionary message, for those who foolishly abide blind faith in our elected "leaders."

Compared to his future endeavors, PUBLIC ACCESS is lighter in intensity, yet still strong in effect.

I was prepared to really like this movie, seeing how it came from the same writer-director team as my very favorite movie, "The Usual Suspects." I did find the story of "Public Access" interesting, and Ron Marquette, who played Whiley, was quite talented. He did a great job of evoking a strangely menacing air from an outwardly clean cut character. (I was sorry to read that Marquette killed himself after making the movie). The score complemented Marquette's acting and contributed a great deal to the eerie atmosphere of the film. In fact the score was probably the movie's most effective aspect.

Unfortunately, "Public Access" falls apart at the end (very much unlike "Suspects," which brilliantly brings everything together at the end). We never learn why Whiley is trying to bring down the town by aiding the mayor, and we find out even less about where Whiley comes from and where he is going. In an interview, director Bryan Singer has claimed that the character's motives are not important, but I beg to differ. It was impossible for me to feel anything about the character when he is portrayed as nothing more than an enigma.

Still, if you are as big a fan of "Suspects" as I am it might be worth renting "Public Access" to see where some of the techniques used in the later movie came from. For example, all of the following are present in both Singer-McQuarrie productions: a jumbled voiceover with many people talking at once, a montage of shots of key characters, ominous music and an overall darkness of tone. Perhaps the ending of "Public Access" left the two filmmakers feeling as empty as I felt, and set out to blow the audience away with the ending of their next movie.

Had the characters been somewhat more developed and explained and had the ending brought real closure to the story, "Public Access" could have been a very good film. As it stands, I found it rather mediocre, but not without certain merits.