Moving Malcolm

I can't understand some of the bad reviews this film got. I found it to be a very genuine, tender and moving comedy. I don't think it's just me, but you can feel all the passion and emotion Benjamin Ratner put in his story and characters. As a movie it's quite strange because it shows not "movie characters" but believable persons. I can't see the lack of believability in this movie (many reviewers wrote about that). Maybe it moves too much slowly but the last part, when Elizabeth's character is back, is quite emotional and surprisingly moving. As a director, Ratner is quite better with the actors than with the camera work. But it's nothing terribly shocking (by the way, the version I saw wasn't in widescreen as it was meant to be). The acting is great. Ratner and John Neville are capable and believable in their roles but the one I've found really impressive was Elizabeth Berkley, in one of the best and most vulnerable performances of her career. She proves here to actually be the professional artist she is, not just the girl from "Showgirls". Other cast members cast (Babz Chula, Jay Brazeau and wonderful Rebecca Harker) provides great support to the main performances. Tech credits are good (good camera work in HD, it seems film and a really nice music score). I recommend this movie to everyone. It's impressive and sincere. Two qualities that are hard to find in recent productions.

Gene (Benjamin Ratner) recalls his jilting at the altar over and over in his mind. HIs fiancee Liz (Elizabeth Berkeley) bolted out the back door of the church, telling folks she was going out for "a smoke". But, as the best man beckons to Gene, she's probably not coming back and, in fact, Gene glimpses her hailing a taxi. So, sorrow follows. To recover, author Gene begins a book called Fear Knot to chronicle what went wrong. Meanwhile, his overbearing parents have all sorts of advice for him that he doesn't want. Out of the blue, Liz comes knocking at Gene's door a year later. But, she's not attempting a reconciliation. As a B movie star, Liz has to jet off to Prague for a film. Her request, unbelievably, is that Gene help her aging father move from a dingy basement apartment into a bright, sunny one she has just located. Taken aback, Gene nevertheless agrees to help out when Liz breaks into tears. In the course of this action, Liz frequently calls from the set, seeming at times to make overtures to Gene. Will he giver her a second chance, if this is what she wants? This indie film, written, directed, and starring Ratner has its quiet charms. There are many funny moments in the every day life of Gene's zany family and in the wacky sets of the movie filming in Prague. Also, the cast is truly great with Ratner and Berkeley leading the way. Most importantly, the ending is satisfying but not pat, not at all. If you are drawn to offbeat flicks and tales of romance, this little movie is a pleasure.

Once again welcome to the self-indulgent world of wannabe writers who also think they can direct and act. I'm sure you'd agree there are only so many Orson Welles in this world and the writer, director, lead of this pic is not one of them.

Why would anyone want to watch a movie that is so full of nothing? How I made it to the end I'll never know...I guess we were hoping there would be some sort of last-minute twist to redeem it. That did not happen. There are some fairly good actors in this movie, but they weren't given roles that would have allowed them to shine. Of course John Neville is an institution in stage and film acting, but his part in this movie was strange and wierdly inconsistent. One minute he was a weak old, sweet senior...the next a snarling bastard. What's up with that? Jay Moreau is hard-working and does a lot of film work, but in this movie he never gets anything more than a two-dimensional character who alternately is sweet like Neville and then loud and idiotic...

I got the impression that the writer thinks he is Ben Stiller...would that he were!!! He writes his lead character as a loser...who can't grow up, someone who is masturbating in one scene (not very convincingly), paintballing (and not very well at that) in another, and destroying his supposedly X-rated homevideos in another. We aren't given a sense that he has any talent. He can't keep a girlfriend or hold a job. He doesn't even seem capable of packing boxes or taping them up for shipping. Someone should explain to the editor and the director that it isn't necessary to yap all the way through a film....you really can pause and show your characters doing things....it's called MONTAGE. By the way, the marriage ceremony that fails has been used in so many movies it no longer shocks anyone. The lead female has as much charisma as a clam. She plays the role as a flake...in most scenes she's not even very pretty so why in the heck would this geeky loser writer be so smitten with her? The audience sure won't like her.

My guess is that this a student film, one that's designed to lead to bigger and better things, preferably spending other people's money to get there. Let's hope the persons responsible for this going nowhere flic get some real life experience and learn that a movie needs to say something important and fresh, something that people will walk away from and say, "Wow that was great---what a movie". Let somebody critique the rough cut before you subject audiences to your film.

I was prompted to write a review of Moving Malcom after reading a rather scathing assessment by another viewer. I don't know if he had ulterior motives about the review that he had written but I would hate to think that people would be steered away from watching this film based on his opinion. My opinion ...... Well I'll be right upfront about it and say that my opinion is heavily biased by the fact that I have not seen Benji Ratner for twenty-some years and was pleasantly surprised to see how well he has "turned out".

Moving Malcom is not your everyday Hollywood flick but instead it is a refreshing look at life. I often look for movies that are based on a true story and while this one may not be completely factual it does have a theme similar to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Perhaps the fact that the actors seem to gel very well as a team is probably due to the fact that Benjamin has worked with a handful of them on numerous other projects. For a first-time director Benjamin has done very well by surrounding himself with an excellent cast and crew. If one takes the time to view the "Behind the scenes" section on the DVD it is very evident that he is not on an actor-director ego trip by the way he receives advice from many people during the filming.

Thanks to IMDb I will now be able to seek out other films starring Benjamin Ratner and be equally entertained!