Big Mistake

This is one of the best noir films I've seen. The plot and writing are top-notch, and the cinematography makes this movie look like it had a much higher budget than it actually did. The lead actor, Samson Snell, is nearly perfect and needs to be in more films. This is a better movie than most major-studio movies released in the last 5 years.

That said, if I were to score this a s a "movie" in general, rather than as an "indie movie," I'd give it four stars rather than five, because it's not perfect, just very good. I'm one of those hard-to-please critics who only give 5 stars to near-perfect movies, and this one has some minor flaws. The lead actress is good in most scenes, but in some, especially opposite Snell, her acting seems a bit forced. There are also some brief appearances by the boss character that are a little too over-the-top for my taste in a noir film. As an indie film, these are more than compensated for by the rest of the production, though.

Plot (no spoilers): The movie follows bounty hunter Nick Alice, who may be a little too nice for his line of work, as he meets and gets entangled with socialite Madison Campbell, who has a rich father and serious issues. Through numerous twists and turns and some non-linear storytelling, we learn some dark secrets and see things go very wrong for both of them. The film keeps you guessing as to how it will end, even though it starts with a very telling opening shot.

The story and script are genuinely top-notch, better than the vast majority of films, regardless of budget, and the camerawork is just as good. Devin O'Leary (writer) and Ariel Rakes (cinematographer), deserve to work in Hollywood, it would improve the general quality of Hollywood movies.

The sound design is good, as is the music, but I, like many people, only really notice those things when something goes wrong, so I don't feel qualified to critique them much beyond the fact that nothing went wrong.

For his first feature film, director/editor Michael Perez does a great job. Some of the shots and scene compositions are excellent, and they are all at least competent. I love to nitpick mistakes in movies, and the only thing I can find to nitpick is a minor detail that 99.9% of people will never even notice. The plot is complex and twisty enough that it would be easy to screw things up, but it all works flawlessly.

Overall, this movie is absolutely worth your time, even if you're not a big fan of the noir genre (I'm not).

Big Mistake is an intriguing indie film noir. The story concerns Nick Alice, a bounty hunter, who is supposed to bring in Madison Campbell, but things get complicated when he starts to fall for her and finds that she might be more than he can handle. The film's writing is clever, keeping you guessing and providing interesting twists along the way -- which is essential in a great film noir. The cinematography is great for an indie film and the whole project is skillfully handled by director Michael Perez. If you're looking for an excellent indie film noir, I'd highly recommend Big Mistake!

Full disclosure: Director Michael Perez and I attended Navy broadcasting school together before remeeting for a year of service aboard an aircraft carrier, him creating and handing me the ship's first newscast after its mid-life drydock. I've not kept up with his work, so was excited to see all he'd become in Big Mistake. I knew the guy could edit, and he impressed me with his latest techniques. But the movie as a whole is what blew me away. His actors were convincing, his shots were well-framed, dialogue timed well when switching between shots, and effects were fun. (Their handling of lamp-to-head should be the template.) Kudos also to Writer Devin O'Leary, especially for the twist and ending, and to working with Director Michael to pull them off as well as they did. I look forward to further collaborations between Devin and whatever team Michael assembles.

This was a pretty fun little dive into a bit of tawdry red shoe diaries or 90s late night USA channel style programming. If that's your kind of thing, SUPER recommend. A little sexy. A little violent. A bit over the top at times, but stays interesting throughout. I'll spare you the plot details, but there's enough here for the right audience. Thumbs up emoji.

I haven't seen a movie like this in awhile. It was giving a throwback into some of those classic 80's movies. I think the story also had some film noir aspects in it. I did not expect the twist in the middle and at the very end. Well done indie!