EvenHand

This is an indie film that is so close to being good, it's frustrating. The performances by Bill Dawes and Bill Sage are engaging and endearing, the cinematography by Tim Orr exquisite, and the songs by Mike Doughty brilliant. Unfortunately, certain elements of the directing, editing, and score may help explain why it didn't get the theatrical release it could and SHOULD have received. The first half hour begins slow and foreboding (with a bizarro "Crouching Tiger" instrumental in the background), which would be fine, except for the fact that what slowly and ultimately emerges from this movie is not a mood piece, karate flick, or "meditation" on cop life. What emerges is a character study played to near perfection by the two lead actors. I hope that they get the recognition they deserve from this film. It is worth just to see what good acting is all about.

What a terrific movie. We have Comcast cable, and the channel guide includes 1 to 4 star ratings (I think I read somewhere that they're Leonard Maltin's ratings). This film got 3 stars, which is fairly unusual, so we checked it out. I'm not a cop, but I have ridden along on a couple of shifts, and this felt very real to me. I enjoyed the rhythm of it, the pace, the juxtapositions, and the acting of the two Bills. The ending surprised me. The tone was light at times, heavy at others, but never false. It's too bad they didn't get into Sundance - at least I'm assuming they didn't, because this is the kind of movie that needs that kind of b.s. validation before distributors will release it theatrically. So, kudos to the Sundance channel at least for picking it up and putting it out there. I hope Joseph Pierson gets another movie together, he's clearly talented.

Evenhand is a very impressive accomplishment: a quiet, thoughtful cop film. Its premise is familiar: two very different personalities working to adapt to each other and to the many demands of their jobs as patrolmen. So it's very much a character study, and the two principal actors -- Bill Sage and Bill Dawes -- do an excellent job of realizing their characters. As the film's energy is derived from their characters' different natures, it would have been very easy for each of their performances to become caricatures. They did not. In each, you see a fully-dimensioned person, including echoes of his partner's traits. That's good acting of good writing.

I also enjoyed the matter-of-fact style of the film, which reminded me of Victor Nunez's wonderful and under-appreciated Ruby In Paradise.

The acting is pretty good in this indie film, while the production value isn't that great. Bill Sage.turns in a good performance, as usual for him, and Mirelly. Taylor is good as well. The other main character is poorly played by. Bill Dawes, who should stick to standup comedy.

This film won't become a cult classic, but it will probably continue to be shown on cable. It's not a bad film at all, and is even memorable in some ways. The scene with the deranged man who is carrying a cinder block with a rope tied to it and to himself is kind of memorable at least. I liked this and gave a dvd of it to a friend who is from San Antonio.

This is a slice-of-(police)-life drama, that doesn't take the "Hollywood cop movie" route of making the cops crooked. Nope, these cops are human. Bill Sage is great as Officer Morning, the slightly jaded cop taking Officer Francis (Bill Dewes) under his wing. Morning may act like an ass at times, and Francis too saintly, yet you never fail to believe that these two are each doing the right thing in their respective heads. Playing more like a series of vignettes (a la' 'Cops'), this film doesn't have a true plotline until late in the film. But that's just a minor quibble. As far as independent films go, this still remains one of the better ones that I've seen in a while.

My Grade: C

Where i Saw it: Sundance Channel