Stray Bullets

This is easily one of my all time favorite movies as it is more than just a film. It is an ode to growing up. We see Connor and Ash, brilliantly played by first timers Jack Fessenden and Asa Spurlock who are actually friends beyond the lens. The two young boys look to be about 15 years young and they are tasked with cleaning out Ash's family trailer that they have not been to in quite some time in order for his father to sell it. After 15 minutes of character development for these two friends chillen and getting into petty mischief, we see the other half of the story which is the films dilemma. We are shown some type of illegal deal gone wrong and 3 men flee the scene of a tense shoot out. The three men are played by James Le Gros, John Sparadakos, and of course, good ole Larry Fessenden himself. There are sole other side characters including a very compelling side story about a good mannered father spending the day with his children. Somehow, though, all these characters are connected and it all comes full circle by the time the movie ends. What's great about this film is that it is an indie film made by friends and family who truly love what they do. Almost every character is close to one another off set as well as on. You can FEEL the passion. The movie also has some of the best character development I have seen in anlow budget movie. This is a trademark of Larry Fessenden as all of his films lie heavily in characteristic dramatic territory allowing for every one of his films to be deeply effective in their own way. The score is Supreme and the mood of the film is piercing. I love the locations used as it feels like somewhere upstate Rhode Island or New York, the latter being the actual location. I am a huge Larry Fessenden fan and I consider "Stray Bullets" to be a father/son collaboration that dad stamped his sons name on as sole director. There are some slow scenes and there is lots of dialogue but sometimes that makes the best kind of movie. For a 16 year old this movie is insanely impressive and I'm excited to see lil' Fessy's next work.

Holy! That was really awful. Truth be told, I couldn't make it past 25 mins. I get that he's 16 but I saw an interview with him and he seemed extremely arrogant and was going on about how he did everything and that he was only 15 while making the film and then he went on to let us know what else he has made and again, reminding us of his age. He could use a slice of humble pie because bragging about how much you were involved and yet the final product is less than mediocre, then maybe do a good job at one or two things opposed to not doing a good job at a lot of things. The first scene, he is with his buddy and he says his buddy's name like 40 times in the first 5 mins. If you are only two people, why on earth would you have to say your friends name every goddamn time you say something to them?! His directing while in motion is dizzyingly nauseating and his use of contrast (white on stark white) is confusing. His soundtrack (which of course he composed) is out of place and frankly, he is a terrible actor. I do believe he didn't get advice from his Father because I enjoy his Father's work so he couldn't have. Hopefully as he matures, so will his talent.

This was a fun surprise to happen upon on Hulu. I am a fan of the glass eye pix alumn and the projects they release, but I'd never heard of this. It was good to see some familiar faces and watch a young new filmmaker get to play around with all of these story elements we've seen before.