Jumping Off Bridges

I got to watch this at SXSW (3-11-06), and it was certainly a breath of fresh air. Most mainstream movies are glazed over with frosting. A lot of indie movies seem to stress unnecessarily long scenes with witty sarcasm. Jumping Off Bridges seemed to contain neither of those elements, because life isn't the way it is in movies.

The technical aspects of the movie are easy to handle. The costumes certainly looked real. When I saw the dad in his classroom, I giggled because everyone one of my math teachers dressed just the same. No one in the movie had hip, trendy clothes, and none of them looked alike. The neighborhood that everyone lived in was very much a normal neighborhood. Most movies seem to want to have everyone live in $200,000 homes where everyone has expensive cars and an endless supply of money. The students weren't driving Hummers, Lexus', or Range Rovers. The camera-work was pretty decent, coming from a photographer who pays extra attention to cropping, angles, lighting situations, depth of field, etc. The sound was also very good, especially the original music -- I love piano. The editing was also very good, coming from an editor who also pays close attention to editing in movies.

If you want movies like The Notebook, Forest Gump, Dumb and Dumber, crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, then you won't like this movie.

If you want movies like Pieces of April, Broken Flowers, I Am Sam (Sean Pess should have won the Oscar that year), then you will probably like this movie.

Few films handle the difficulties and complexities of teenager-dom as well as this one. Canlder has a unique ability to imbue her characters with depth and sensitivity without being overly sentimental or cliché. Great soundtrack. These characters are real. Lacking the false glamour and pretentious irony-filled self awareness of many teens in recent American films, Canlder's cast instantly brings you back to what it was to be in high school--the good and the not so good. The plot is wonderfully spare in its exposition, and the focus is on letting the characters stand on their own, complete with their imperfections and secrets. An excellent dialog starter for topics that many people simply don't want to go near or don't know how to begin.

This movie is not only worth seeing it is in my opinion a must see. Rarely do I see a film that tackles the topic of suicide and the aftermath of what a suicide creates like Kat Candler's "Jumping off Bridges". I have had several opportunities to view the film and I have always been amazed at how this film gets people talking. In my mind that is what a good film does; it gets your mind moving and you mouth open and your eyes a little tear filled. OK, the tears aren't a requirement for a good film but this film does all that. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to see this film and to share it with others. If you are in the market for a film that will create discussion about one of societies last know taboos "suicide" then this is your movie. Watch it!

Rarely do I vote a film a 10. 10's for me tend to feature Ed Norton (because he's a fantastic actor) or Naomi Watts (because I'm hopelessly in love). The screening experience I had at the South by Southwest Film Festival Premier of JUMPING OFF BRIDGES was special because, from someone whose dealt with a friend committing suicide in the past, the reactions from the story's characters are appropriate, touching, and accurate. The acting was one of my favorite aspects of the film, along with the genuine feeling that these four friends are struggling with a, once unheard of and definitely unexpected, tragedy. After the film, a question was asked from the audience regarding the current state of the four main characters that the film was based on. Witnessing the director and writer of the film nearly breakdown due to the emotional toll of the lead character, Zack, passing away earlier this year, touched the hearts of the entire audience. Once again, I vote 10 out of 10 for JUMPING OFF BRIDGES because if you can relate to the story at all, then it will touch your heart...advice you on how hard, but necessary it is to cope with those sad situations that life sometimes throws you.

This movie is a stirring and heart rending portrayal of a teenager struggling to understand why a parent he loved would betray him and his family by committing suicide. all of us wonder why? Is it some sort of neural abnormality that people cannot handle their day to day challenges or is it something deeper, a lack of training and parental encouragement from birth on....that life happens and you have to discipline yourself to push on. How can a teen know....when a parent or other loved one, opts out of the struggle? None of us knows the mind of another, but the fragile and insightful look at this one teen, tells us that the human being is very complex and hard to reach. The relationships shown help us to realize that no matter what....all we have in the end is each other. Staying in touch is the most basic human instinct we have and the most precious. love is the thread for us all.