Detours

I saw "Detours" at the Long Island International Film Expo along with two short films. While I enjoyed the shorts, I was blown away by "Detours". It's one of those films that hook you from the beginning and make you feel like you're a part of it, as if you're sharing a living room, kitchen, car adventure or meal with the players.

I'd seen Tara Westwood in "Surviving Family" and loved her performance there, but she won me over even more so in "Detours". Though her character's trials & tribulations here weren't things I have exactly been though, her performance made me feel her angst as well as her jubilation.

Her dad, played by Carlo Fiorletta, was both sympathetic and funny as hell. His humor, though, would come out of nowhere and be understated, making situations even funnier. In the end, though, it was his character's relationship with Westwood's that "made" the film. It was like they were real-life father & daughter (they're not).

I'm hopeful that there will be a sequel, because this is one family, albeit a two-person one, with whom I've love to spend more tears & laughs.

This movie has what's needed to be a funny and touching movie, without veering into Hallmark card territory. Director McKaskell draws a great performance out of Carlo Fiorletta, who morphs, on screen, from a sad sack widower to a maybe-sexy single older man. Actor Tara Westwood handles the funny stuff from the start, from the humiliation of being the last to find out she's married to a closeted gay man, to realizing that, indeed, her father has needs just as much as she does.

Who would have thought? The nerve!

The cinematography must have been challenging, as shooting a road picture, realistically, always is. Yet the shots are relentlessly impressive - one lovely beach scene followed by Spanish moss followed by the quiet intensity of the boat scene near the end.

Unlike writer Mara Lesemann's first movie, Surviving Family, this movie is more focused, more tight, and so has a storyline that pulls one along. There are fewer side characters, and they serve as more clear foils to the major characters. That's really a plus - we get to know these folks well by the end of the movie. And we care about them. By the closing shot, we're really pulling for Dan to make that move.

So why a 9 and not a 10? Picky stuff, such as the love interest wearing his shirt the next morning, when the woman didn't - I've never known a guy to get up at night and pull on a t-shirt. A scene in a bar felt a little off. And still too many side characters, who seemed well- loved by the writer but could still be cut for greater intensity. But 95 plus percent of this movie was spot on, and the original music was fantastic - I would buy some of that music. The rapping night clerk? great. Phyllis Somerville plays the mechanic and we saw her in Surviving Family; here, we get a better understanding of the don't ask/don't tell mentality that lingers in the south.

Overall? Great movie. Would watch it again. If it comes near you, grab it.

This is a road movie, exactly opposite of one of my favourite in this genre, 'The Guilt Trip'. Instead, here a father and his daughter hit the road. Very brief introduction. Within the ten minutes, the adventure begins. It was like any other film you had seen, somewhat realistic, as well as cinematic. The life parts are so true, and so the relations between the father and daughter. The fun side of the tale is what the other side of reality. Just to make sure you are enjoying it, otherwise, those parts were never needed for such film.

The daughter who has given up her acting job to pursue a new career in the theatre management, embarks a road trip to Florida with her recently widowed dad. It is not meant to be a smooth trip. They talk stuffs, argue sillily, do things together for fun, so on. They are set to rediscover their relationship, after all the recent bad events happened in their lives. What happens when they reach their destination, lets us know before the narration comes to halt.

Never seen this cast before, nor the director. A decent screenplay, but being an Indie film, it actually looked pretty better than that. Those father-daughter things, like generation gaps, I liked that part. Not too funny or very serious, a balanced narration. At first the performances did not impact, only as the story progresses, it got hold strongly. One of the best B movies of the year, as well as in the recent time.

7/10

A daughter must relocated with her grieving father. Terrific performances from the leads and special praise to the director for such delicate handling of sensitive material.

A while ago I watched 'Surviving Family' and was knocked out by how good an indie film can be without the top names and mega bucks in the mix. 'Detours' comes from the same people and the above statement still holds true, it's exceptionally well shot with crisp clear sound. A father and daughter journey, the movie shows how two people overcome life's problems by their own methods.

The acting is convincing, the father/daughter pairing are well cast and the supporting actors are extremely capable of backing up this movie. The music soundtrack for Detours is especially good and would not be out of place gracing a film way above the indie league.

Top marks, I fully enjoyed it.