Jumping Off Bridges

This was one of three films that I saw at South by Southwest this year (2006), and by far the least enjoyable. Didn't work for a number of reasons. First, an excruciatingly slow introduction. When the teens-dealing-with-suicide theme does finally get moving, the material is, quite honestly, embarrassing. I got the impression that the author of the material was trying to address something that was over her head. I have a teenage kid, but I have a hard time picturing him or any other teenager behaving quite the same way the characters in this film behave. It's more as if an adult psyche was being projected onto a kid. Who is this film going to appeal to? A teenager who can't relate to the main characters because of their behavior, or an adult who can't relate to these characters because of their age?

Bottom line - slow, amateurish, unbelievable.

Still, kudos to the crew of this film for completing something on a presumably small budget.

Rarely do I vote a film a 10. 10's for me tend to feature Ed Norton (because he's a fantastic actor) or Naomi Watts (because I'm hopelessly in love). The screening experience I had at the South by Southwest Film Festival Premier of JUMPING OFF BRIDGES was special because, from someone whose dealt with a friend committing suicide in the past, the reactions from the story's characters are appropriate, touching, and accurate. The acting was one of my favorite aspects of the film, along with the genuine feeling that these four friends are struggling with a, once unheard of and definitely unexpected, tragedy. After the film, a question was asked from the audience regarding the current state of the four main characters that the film was based on. Witnessing the director and writer of the film nearly breakdown due to the emotional toll of the lead character, Zack, passing away earlier this year, touched the hearts of the entire audience. Once again, I vote 10 out of 10 for JUMPING OFF BRIDGES because if you can relate to the story at all, then it will touch your heart...advice you on how hard, but necessary it is to cope with those sad situations that life sometimes throws you.

I first thought it was a Canadian film. I had no idea until I read the credits that it was filmed entirely on location in Austin, Texas. This film is quite a gem and treasure about the relationships between a father and son, Frank and Zak Nelson, after the suicide death of the family matriarch. Zak blames himself as does Frank for her death. The father and son moments in the film are alone worth watching. There is no glamor with this largely unknown cast. They do a brilliant job worthy of awards. Zak becomes withdrawn from his girlfriend and his friends as well as his father. He paints his room black to symbolize his mourning. It isn't until a life-changing experience that determines how to live after a family tragedy.

i had a chance to hear the director speak about the film at sxsw. she seemed like a genuine person, and i don't like giving this movie a poor review, but i'm not going to lie the thing was boring. the negative reviews i've read so far on here are a lot more accurate then the positives. the pacing is slow, the characters are hard to believe, and yeah, how did this movie even get accepted into this festival? so the movie is unflinching, big deal. original it's not. cassidy kids, another film that played at sxsw, also dealt with teenagers, and it was a complete 180 from this film in terms of originality and spirit. maybe i'm being too mean, but i agree that this film probably got into this festival because it was shot locally here in austin, tx. as an austinite, it was interesting seeing a lot of austin areas up on the screen, and a lot of the production qualities of this film were actually pretty decent. the story definitely needed work though, at an hour and a half it felt like 3 hours. bad thing when you're checking your watch constantly throughout a movie.

...it's about suicide. So I'll call it compelling and deeply affecting instead.

I caught this a month or two back on our local PBS station's Saturday night indie movie slot, and was glad I stuck with it. Michael Emerson's presence was a pure gift, and it was so nice to see him as someone other than crazy Ben Linus, King of the "Lost" Island. He was excellent as the well-meaning but essentially clueless widower father, and the young actors were good as well.

The only character who grated on me was the young girl, Grove. She just didn't seem real or even particularly interesting, and at times I found her deeply irritating. The character, not the actress, who did a good job.

But the music. When Sufjan Stevens's "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti" played all the way through over what was all but a real-time progress from home to school, I cried like a little girl. A gorgeous, moving song, used brilliantly.

I'll be buying this on DVD.