Layover

I attended the world premier of Layover at the Seattle International Film Festival after receiving a personal invitation via social media from the star of the film, Karl E. Lander, an astonishingly beautiful Frenchman making his American feature film debut.

I nearly walked out after becoming dizzy from the hand-held camera-work, in which we followed the female lead, Simone, played by Nathalie Fay (The Hangover), for a tiresome interval as she disembarked her plane, walked though LAX, took a cab ride, and seemingly navigated the entirety of an airport hotel. However, I remained in my seat, since Lander had not yet appeared on screen.

Layover is a film about a French woman (Fay) who is traveling to Singapore to meet her fiancé. When her connecting flight is canceled, the airline puts her up in a hotel and she is forced to spend twelve hours in Los Angeles. Jet-lagged and unable to sleep, she calls an old friend with whom she has been estranged for some years.

The two go clubbing downtown, and when her friend leaves her stranded at the club, she accepts a ride from a mysterious motorcyclist (Lander)—who happens to be French—that leads to an unexpected adventure and a question that Simone must answer for herself before boarding her 7:30 a.m. flight.

The film's director (Joshua Caldwell) and producer (Travis Oberlander) were in attendance at the premier, as were actors Fay and Lander. I was underwhelmed by the film until I learned that it was produced for a mere $6,000—nearly an impossible feat—and was shot in only 11 days, using gorilla filming techniques. Bearing that in mind, I was quite impressed, considering I have seen multimillion-dollar blockbusters that I liked much less.

Caldwell informed us that this was the first in a trilogy of films to be set at LAX. The second film is to be named Assassin and the third, X. Lander and Fay will star in the next film, as well.

Overall, this was a decent debut feature by Caldwell, and you should go see it, if for no other reason, than because Nathalie Fay and Karl E. Lander are destined to be huge stars.

This film worthy of consideration as a true 'work of art'. Meticulously shot, clean, modern and minimal, yet timeless and rich in depth. Layover has a soft, balanced flow that encourages watchers to take a deeper view into their own lives - the now and the tomorrow - without criticism and without prejudice - through a different set of eyes. The actors performances were likened to handwritten, unpretentious pages from someone's personal journal and discovering a brief moment of clarity about ourselves."

One of the most amazing aspects about this film is that is what created with such a small budget. This is an incredible feat and should inspire other filmmakers who do not have the resources once thought necessary, to create their own films.

Kudos!

During the last half-century, I have enjoyed movies as a form of entertainment like everyone else. Up until the last year, I did not even understand how they were made, or what went on behind the scenes. By recently joining Twitter and getting lucky in becoming aware of many industry professionals, my eyes have been opened and my mind expanded in ways that still surprise me. Instead of just watching a movie play out and then liking or not liking it and moving on, I now have a little bit more knowledge of the incredible dance that goes into a movie and the results of professionals trying to express an idea or concept for us to consume. For the first time in my life, I have considered what it takes to make a film, to write a story, to produce something for the public consumption. The more I learn, the more I am aware of how little I know.

In short, the movie is about what happens during a women's twelve hour layover in LA on the way to meet her boyfriend in Singapore. The storyline was tight and focused on the task at hand. There were the flavor of intimacy with hand-held shots and a focus on the characters rather than the background. I enjoyed it and would easily recommend it to friends.

The one aspect of the film that really makes it stand out above many others is that it was created on ~$6K budget. That was no typo. In a couple months of production. If I did not know this, I would have assumed that it was another big $$$ feature film. The fact Joshua Caldwell and his team put this together such a quality film is a testament to skills and professionalism of the cast and crew. Big $$$ and or explosions and or *lots* of special effects. etc. do not guarantee a successful endeavor. The quality of writing, the talent in front of and behind of the camera make for a pleasing experience.

So I'm biased, I watched the film because I admire Nathalie Fay's work. So please keep that in mind. I watched the film with an open mind and I'm still amazed with the quality of the film based on the budget they had. After watching an interview with the director, I'm even encouraged to make a film myself. I was amazed by the quality of the shooting, the way he captures Simone's expressions and the perfect pauses, transitions, and timing on the events that occur in the film. I must say I felt identified by the story in both aspects, I also had a layover in LAX on my way to Hawaii and I was "stuck" all night and did something very similar to the Character so I could totally relate with the story. Nathalie Fay is of course amazing in the role of Simone. This movie shows why I admire her as an actress. She's real. I don't know her in person but I could imagine herself identifying with the character a lot and providing an outstanding performance. The film has some naive dialogue that I had no problem overlooking as it does not diminish the quality of the film. There are plenty of scenes that I felt identified with and I was thinking about my own situations and how I was reacting to those situations, and I found that to be a powerful trigger that this film can have such an effect on you. I'd definitely recommend it as the film might make you examine your own life, and leaves you with a message that might not be the same for everyone.