Rule of Three

Perhaps it's due to its low budget that RULE OF THREE is allowed to take its time and concentrate on its characters. The three interconnected stories and the individuals who embody those stories have been given the necessary room to breath so often missing from films with 500 times the budget.

ROL is engaging and engrossing. Eric Shapiro's direction is subtle with an understanding of both composition and performance. The script by Rhoda Jordan is surprisingly well-written and insightful (surprising only because many films in this budget range often have scripts that feel a bit amateurish. ROL never does). And Rhoda Jordan's performance as Lo is both sexy and real. It's nice to see a talented actress who also has the power, talent and fearlessness to write a role for herself and fill it so nicely. Especially in a town where so many actors wait for permission to do what they love. And by that same token, the same should be said of producer/director Shapiro, who put together such a strong film to showcase his talents.

I look forward to the next film from this writing, producing, directing, and acting team. Both the film and the filmmakers are an inspiration.

This is a movie that puts the "average" Hollywood picture costing 500x as much, to shame. Sharp, twisted, interesting writing, an intriguing premise, a twisted story that keeps you in your seat, believable dialogue (and how many films can you say that about?) and interesting actors ranging from good to FABULOUS. The sound, lighting and general production were more than adequate to tell the story. How many mainline Hollywood companies could tell such an interesting story, if limited to one room (well, two rooms!) I'm just a movie fan, and I can say that if I had a few million $ to invest in a film, these people would get it. Congratulations, creators, cast and crew. If there's any justice, you'll have $10m to do your next picture.

Some of us can't help it if we wonder at times how the hotel, motel or inn room we're staying in contain stories and harbour secrets, having a myriad of people come stay in them, sometimes involving incidents that range from the usual, the sweet, to even the macabre, depending on how one's imagination goes. Motels of course are very ripe and fertile ground for horror stories and films to spring up from, but Rule of Three, by the creative husband- wife team of Eric Shapiro on the director's chair and Rhoda Jordan taking on screenplay duties from Shapiro's story, churns up a psychologically dark mystery thriller that hooks you in right from the opening shot.

Primarily set in the same spatial boundaries of a motel room, Rule of Three spans three distinct stories over different timelines that you'll expect to converge by the time the final act rolls by, but here done in a manner that's shocking and horrific, dealing with karmic retributions in a certain way, and how people, seemingly civil on the outside, possesses a degree of evilness that rears its ugly head in the most non-chalant manner and reveal, that makes this truly terrifying since it really brings forth the notion of not judging a book by its cover.

There's Jon (Ben Siegler) who's obsessively looking for his daughter Lo (Rhoda Jordan herself) who has been missing for two weeks, with the father berating everyone and making his way back to the motel room, her last known location, to look for clues. The second tale sheds some insights to a trip by Lo and her boyfriend Jake (Cary Woodworth), making their pit stop in the motel but as we soon find out, they're there to try and engage in a threesome with whichever friend they can mutually agree to shortlist and get to say yes. And the last arc deals with a middle aged man Brian (Lee Schall) making a deal with the devil in Rodney Eastman's drug dealer Russ, the former wanting to buy "roofies" so that he can lay with the woman of his dreams who often goes to him as an Agony Uncle. Talk about taking advantage when someone is down.

Rule of Three shines in many ways that makes this indie film well worth a watch, and a multiple times at that. There's immense strength in its stories that peppers with details and red herrings to keep you constantly engaged and guessing, with deep characterization to flesh out all its characters to avoid stereotypes, well acted that they come off as truly believable, which makes this a little bit unnerving since it can cut close to reality, since real life at times can be stranger than fiction.

Dialogue is extremely sharp, important since the characters don't come off as lifeless, and drives the narrative forward in clockwork fashion, with the cast members delivering wonderful performances - Lee Schall portraying his character with misguided morals and ulterior motives so well hidden, with Rodney Eastman pairing up to exploit that excellent chemistry they share as unlikely bedfellows, Cary Woodworth providing a slight tinge of comedy and vulnerability, and Rhoda Jordan as well, central to the story to allow us to feel for her, as well as wonder just what could have happened that made Ben Siegler's obsession easier to comprehend especially when the film ends and you start to look back.

After all, Shapiro and Jordan surprises with the final act that sews everything up and sledgehammers plenty of emotions through, filling it with enough suspense right up to the final frame of the film, and comes full circle with its themes that have floated around, coming to closure toward the end. Cinematography is kept uncomplicated and clean to accentuate the frustration, fear and horror of what the characters go through, with a hauntingly good soundtrack to boot. It's not everyday that you get an indie film that's so well written and acted, that this one stands out firmly amongst the crowd.

A very intense, creepy character-driven drama. There's a palpable, overriding sense of dread that's quickly established right from the beginning and continues throughout. Unexpectedly strong performances from the lead actors (especially by Ben Siegler and Rhoda Jordan), a sharp ear for dialog, a clever twisting plot structure, and a unique directorial vision driving the whole thing by young prolific horror author Eric Shapiro. Topped off by some truly disturbing revelations along the way, I was really surprised by how much I liked this one. Smart, edgy independent filmmaking at its best. Kudos to Mr. Shapiro and the rest of the creative team behind this one, give it a look

Fitfully involving, despite some good ideas and a decent script exploring some darkly comic moral ambiguities...

I recognize its independent origins, but the bland lensing and terrible musical score really did not help. Ben Siegler's impressive performance deserves mention. Other supporting cast members were uneven at best, tho i did guiltily enjoy Rodney Eastman's drug-dealer character.

Although it presents an intriguing mystery, and is inventively told via jumps in time, the movie seemed to progress without generating any real suspense at all. Paring down some of the exposition (as well as some predictable, over-long exchanges) and drawing out the more important plot developments would probably have given the film a much more engaging rhythm and created a more visceral drama..