Out of Season

What a flat, boring, unnecessarily drawn-out storyline, complete with equally as baneful acting. Every concept surrounding the characters and the storyline is typical "dark" cliché, and very poorly done at that. Oh, it has its share of typical, exhausted characters: the demented religious zealot, the femme fatale, so on and so on...they are all essentially dull and static. Dominique Swain is totally obnoxious as Kelly, and leaves one wishing that she was the subject of the murder plot. Pierre is hands-down the most boring character in the entire film; he serves as little more than someone to stand there and wait for action in the storyline to come to him. And that clown? I won't even go there. So "there's no happy ending." Yawn. Big deal. What an original concept. It's only been done a thousand times before, and by far better actors and directors. About the only thing this film is good for is curing insomnia. Utterly atrocious.

I had the honor to see this movie at its debut at the Hollywood Film Festival. Ironically the big studio premiere that week was The Ten Commandments. Ironic in that this dark and compelling movie also portrays the Commandments .... or more accurately the consequences of breaking them.

The intense and occasionally unnerving action is played out in a run down seaside town with its decrepit roller coaster as the lasting motif. Writer & director Jevon O'Neill's fertile imagination (fired perhaps by his Blackpool roots) is complimented by excellent performances from an eclectic cast : notably a rejuvenated Dennis Hopper as Harry the old time crook who craves one last chance at redemption; a hot Gina Gershon as Eileen the perfectly manicured femme fatale; and 'a butter wouldn't melt' Dominique Swain as Kelly the ingénue.

But it is the next in line of Hollywood star quality eccentric Irish actors - David Murray – whose performance as Simeon is the most memorable. Simeon's downhill slide from petty theft, blackmail and ultimately to murder seem to flaunt gratuitously all of those Commandments. He exudes power, terrorizes all around him … He is the hate figure. And yet his vulnerability and neuroses also evoke our sympathy … there but for the grace of god ?

The superb system at the Arclight Theater also brought out the movie's excellent sound track – the haunting choral piece over the movie's dramatic dénouement is particularly effective.

Congratulations to all involved with Out of Season and good luck with promoting the movie

"Out of Season" is not an unambitious or uninteresting movie. It tries to present six different characters, and two parallel plot lines that eventually cross each other's paths. But this is another one of those movies where the director tries to impose his "style" (tilted camera angles, slow-motion, strange close-ups, etc.) on almost every shot - this is obtrusive and distracting. And he really overreaches when he tries to turn this story of human greed into some kind of "religious" tragedy. Ultimately, it's an unpleasant and (in Dennis Hopper's case) degrading film. Most of the actors do what they have to do to collect their paycheck, nothing more. The standout is David Murray, who plays a convincingly hateful scumbag. Dominique Swain has one or two sexy moments (no nudity though). (**)

I was lucky enough to get a preview of this film in London, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's quite a gripping drama/thriller that unfolds against the backdrop of a bleak,non-descript seaside resort as it shuts down for the season. I don't want to give too much away about the story line, but the movie it most reminded me of is The Grifters. The acting quite literally blew me away. There are 3 standouts performances though. I think Dennis Hopper gave his best performance since Blue Velvet. In certain scenes his emotions are so raw you feel it in your stomach--Oscar calibre stuff. Jordan Frieda (Lulu's son) delivers as Pierre the protagonist (and I use the term protagonist very loosely). And David Murray--oh my... This guy just exudes evil as Simeon. Shame that the AFI's list of Greatest Movie Villians has already been published. He will definately make the list when it's refreshed. Simeon is the most complex character in the film and David Murray plays him perfectly. Excellent direction by Jevon O'Neill--he has created quite a haunting movie, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end and will leave you with a sense of longing for the other half of humanity--the good half.

Pierre wants to be a thief- Dennis Hopper takes him under his wing with the backdrop of an out of season amusement park as their home base. There are a few moments that are OK but for the most part the acting is flat and the story very dull. This is a movie that is severely lacking in a lot of elements and it will leave you wanting the time you spent watching it back. Dennis Hopper plays a better role than usual, but that's only because his usual level of acting lately is so poor. So when he plays an average role it seems like a big deal these days. Bottom line, miss this movie it is dumb and flat. The most appealing thing in this film is the villain, who I wound up rooting for because I was sick of the dumb characters.