Sedona

This film was not what I was expecting. Everything about it's off-kilter approach -- including its enhanced landscapes and innovative shots, quirky spiritualists, and out-of-touch tourists -- lends itself to capturing Sedona's uplifting lightheartedness. In this spirit, it's appropriate that a balloon floating upon a breeze sets all the synchronicity in motion. I take the experiences of the waylaid tourist entirely seriously, as seriously as I take the Apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Too bad Paul couldn't have been on the road to Sedona. Christianity would have had a much lighter touch in achieving the same end.

Oh my god, I just watched Sedona because I once knew someone in it with a bit part. Even dodged a romantic bullet with her - Chemtrails were her entry drug, a train wreck conspiracist who fell down the rabbit hole and is now lost. Long story.

But anyway! That's not this story. Sedona? The curiosity of a single cast member alone couldn't save this wan cliche of a story, plodded through by actors who probably thought Sedona was as obvious and dumb while filming it as I did while watching it. All in the space of about 4 hours, a hardened ad agency owner throws it all away because of a car, a coffee, a pedi, and a cast of quirky characters out of central casting, Sedona style. Oh, kid lost in the desert? Don't worry, a Native American will show up 60 seconds later and start tracking. Poor Christopher Atkins is just a lump, the great Barry Corbin fixes a car, and Lin Shaye dances around dredging up magic emotions in our protagonist, a bewildered Frances Fisher. Nobody gets used to any artistic potential. Then the whole thing is padded out to feature length by about 8 minutes of end credits, including an end credit scene a-la Kingpin, but with dancing.

Somebody set fire to a million + bucks to bring this reeking steamer to life, and that's a shame. What a waste, man. Starving artists could have used a tenth of the budget to make something brilliant. A twentieth! Instead, junk like this gets made. Boo.

26 January 2013. It's hard to avoid the preferential bias of having loved and experienced Sedona, Arizona a number of years back and watching this movie which only offered tantalizing but only fragmentary tidbits of better times. Nevertheless with a resonating Southwestern soundtrack, the vortex energy radiating mysteriously in the background this simple, yet at times realistically pungent examination of frantic individuals at their wits end, the brotherly banter, the movie comes close to boringly real...a great home movie. Yet underneath it all there is a genuine emotive connectivity in this movie that offers touching moments along with the oftentimes traditional message of slowing down and making peace with one's self, something that Sedona in real life actually can offer. With no pat ending, leaving a huge mystery left open to speculation, this movie is to be appreciated for its simple, but revealing story of intersecting lines. It's hard to compare this movie to others because it's really doesn't follow the usual action, compelling, riveting narrative. Instead we are offered the spectacular landscapes, the mystical, and the ordinary but meaningful human interactions that make life worthwhile.

I truly enjoyed this movie but thought something was missing. I'm from NYC and was visiting Sedona during the film festival. Sedona is such a beautiful and relaxing place! We stayed at a resort nearby the movie theaters and our local friends, well not that "local" since they came from Flagstaff to meet us but you get the point, invited us to watch this film that was the main attraction at their film festival. Being a film festival junkie myself (I go every year to most film festivals in NYC), I did not want to miss this one. Since we arrived in Arizona, we encountered so many Hispanics. In our resort, most of the employees were Hispanics; at the spa, there were many too. In the restaurants, the shops, everywhere! No wonder, Arizona was part of Mexico until February 12, 1912 when it became the 48th US state. So when I saw that the movie title was "sedona" I thought it would include such an obvious part of that magical place. It did not. There was no one Hispanic character in this movie. This is the same thing that happened with that movie called "New York I love you" which did not include us "Newyoricans" (Pto. Ricans born in New York) and it also ignored the gay community (there were none in that movie). How can someone do a movie about NYC without including those two groups?? I felt similarly when I saw Sedona, The Movie. There were not Hispanics (if there were, they did not have any lines or assigned roles). The movie itself is great, the views (breathtking!), the scenery, the plot. Very engaging and leaves you with that "feel good" sensation. I was glad to see Christopher Atkins (from Blue Lagoon) acting again and Frances Fisher is such a joy to watch! Beth Grant and Lynn Shaye are two of the best actresses ever! And the little boy is absolutely adorable. But I really missed to see some of those Latino faces I saw in the streets of Sedona. After all, it was all about Sedona. Right?

Sedona was a wonderful movie to watch. It's a great feel-good movie. Rightly so, they acknowledge the gay community by placing it in the main plot. Frances was wonderful to watch on-screen. It is a shame she has not been recognized at awards ceremonies. Beth is fun to watch. She's light hearted, quirky and care-free. Seth had a demanding presence when he was in a scene. He is truly a great actor. Trevor was simply awesome. He's very good for being so young! If there was a down-side to this film, it was only it's low budget. Due to this, the special effects are relatively terrible. I really hope a major production company will back this movie so they may improve on the special effects. This movie leaves you feeling good when it ends. They've done a great job on this movie, especially for a low-budget indie film. Congratulations!