StarsDown Reviews

Assassination of a High School President (2008)

An interesting premise ruined by poor writing and direction

[4/10 · 9 November 2009]

High school is a perfect setting for noir but Assassination of a High School President downplays the genre to instead focus on the high school aspect of the premise. Instead of getting Bobby Funke acting like a hard boiled detective out to wade through an engrossing web of lies and deceit to solve a mystery we get a nerdy kid trying to get a summer internship and gets to fit in with the cool crowd. The failure of the film rests solely on rejecting the noir aesthetic and instead doing scenes with school dances and beer pong. Visually many of the noir staples are missing with no use of shadows, pedestrian use of lightening and no camera angles. Noir is treated as nothing more than a plot device. Without high stakes it is quite hard to really become engrossed with the plot. Hanging in the balance is a summer internship that Bobby never seems to really care too much about and as a result it is hard to get worked up about the plot.

Reece Thompson does a decent job as Bobby Funke, any problems with the character are issues with the writing and not with the performance. There is a huge cast of characters and honestly most serve no purpose but to further the plot. There is no depth and doesn't even make very good use of high school stereotypes. The one that missed the mark the most is the principal played by Bruce Willis. He exists as the authority figure but is way over the top and is a one note joke as an ex-soldier who is overly aggressive and keeps taking about his fighting experiences. The less said about Mischa Barton's weak attempt to play a femme fatale the better. A brief nude scene does not excuse this performance. An interesting premise ruined by poor writing and direction. If you have any interest in this film at all seek out Brick, a film with a similar premise that succeeds in all ways where this film failed and is the far superior one for it.

The GoodTimesKid (2005)

Shows great originality and craftsmanship without relying too much on dialog or plot.

[9/10 · 11 September 2009]

A very challenging and interesting film The Good Times Kid is short on plot and narrative and instead it portrays mood and atmosphere to the viewer. When we follow these characters throughout the day we get the sense of their aimlessness adrift in this world. No one directly says it or there is no voice over to state this, the film lets the mise-en-scene say all of this to us. A lengthy scene of two characters sitting on bus looking lost and sad with accompanying music speaks more and louder to the viewer than a few minutes of dialog or plot points. One of the most impressive aspects of the film was its use of focus. Quite often objects will go in and out of focus as well as the actors themselves. We get the see the world around the characters as it loses its meaning and clarity. There are some moments that are quite truthful and pure. Sara Diaz dancing in the kitchen, Sara and Gerardo Naranjo sitting in a dark boat with flashlights making faces to each other while his lover tries to kick down the door or that wonderful long take to end the film with one character sleeping and the other sitting looking into the world like a dear in headlights.

Dialog is sparse and far between but when there is dialog it is very realistic and quite introspective to add an extra layer to the film. While it is very bleak it never loses a sense of humor. Characters actions or expressions are often a source of comedy as well as some scenes like where Azazel Jacobs puts on boxing gloves and a cape and jumps into a large group of bikers starting a fight. While The Good Times Kid is very raw it is part of its charm. The acting is not the strongest aspect of the film it fits in quite well with the overall feel and never takes away or becomes distracting. Sara Diaz is the best aspect of the acting who is photogenic and has lots of personality though delivery of her lines could use some work. With the use of the music, playfulness of the subject matter and importance of the editing and camera I can't help but feel a connection to the early films of Jean-Luc Godard expect with less dialog. I am quite dismayed and saddened by some of the negative reviews it has received here so far. Frankly if you find yourself stumbling on this film you should be equipped with enough cinematic knowledge to enjoy this film. Nowadays when people in indie film try to make an overly quirky dramedy or the next installment of a "mumblecore" film it is nice to see Azazel Jacobs stand out and show great originality and craftsmanship without relying too much on dialog or plot.

The Brothers Bloom (2008)

A film can be fun and crowd pleasing without having to sacrifice depth and technical prowess

[9/10 · 23 May 2009]

A film can be fun and crowd pleasing without having to sacrifice depth and technical prowess and the Brothers Bloom proves it. After the amazing and innovative film that Brick was Rian Johnson had his work cut out for him for his second film. While the Brothers Bloom isn't as perfect as Brick was, it is quite close. Just like Brick took the noir genre and breathed life into it in new and interesting ways the Brothers Bloom does the same thing with the con film genre. There are steam boats and trains, characters always dressed up in fine clothing, globe trotting adventures to exotic locales and a web of events unfolding. One of the most impressive things about the film is just how different the aesthetic is from Brick. There is a bright and colorful palette and a light and breezy feeling. If you watched Brick and Brothers Bloom one after another and you didn't know who directed them you wouldn't have a clue they were from the same guy. The only thing linking the two would be Nora Zehetner as well as the finely crafted visuals. Rian Johnson incorporates terrific lighting and lightening effects in addition to the use of settings, time lapse shots, explosions and slow motion. Each scene has a huge amount of detail and care involved and each frame matters. The visuals have a heavy Wes Anderson influence with many scenes having a hand written chart for the part of the con they are on in addition to his love of British invasion music and tracking shots that zooms in tightly and then back out.

Nathan Johnson did a wonderful job of composing the music which is varied and sets the mood for each scene. Humor is sprinkled throughout the film with sight gags or funny dialog but all of the laughs the film gets it earns while at the same time balancing the drama between the characters and the story. The cast have wonderful chemistry together and each play their roles perfectly. Not one character over powers the others and each take turns stealing the scene. Dialog in the film is interesting and flows very well. There are some points in the film where the dialog gets to some deep emotional truths while other times it is more comical and light heated. The story itself is very well done and is quite unique. There are twists are turns throughout the film as the con evolves and we are left trying to figure out what is a con and what isn't and where exactly it is going. At the end however this serves as the one negative aspect of the film as it rushes to stay one step ahead of the audience it sputters a bit at the end but still manages to leaves on a high emotional note. This film works on many different levels and one thing that stuck me as being particularity interesting was how this film shows that film in general is a con and the director is the con man. Films shows us people acting a part written for them and the director tries to reflect this story in reality as closely as possible, but there is nothing real. The audience is the mark. The idea is to get our money. The most successful con is one where everyone gets what they want and the same is true with films. The audience is thrilled with being caught up in the reality of the film so they feel they have experienced or felt something and the film maker gets their money and a thrill from showing their art. By that measure the Brothers Bloom is a successful con. Rian Johnson has proved he is not a one hit wonder and that he is true auteur.

White Nights (1957)

Film that tries to reflect reality as well as a dream that falls a bit short

[7/10 · 22 May 2009]

Luchino Visconti has created a film that tried to reflect reality as well as a dream. The premise is something right out of a dream, two people meet by chance on a bridge and then the man proceeds to try and court the women. In the beginning the film is set up with the man is a realist and the women is a dreamer. While this premise is quite interesting and has much potential it does fall short on the execution. This is mainly caused by huge tonal shifts that occur during the film. The story goes between reality and dream so suddenly and drastically that it becomes distracting. Many times it has aspects of dream and reality in the same scene and characters cycle through the dream vs reality banter many times. The narrative is consistently too melodramatic with characters overacting to situations. This becomes all the more distracting when the aesthetic of the film is both dream like and realistic. Le Notti Bianche has grand sets made replicating a whole section of a city that feels real. At the same time there is a background with clouds that never move and a full moon that never changes. While the film often has a hazy and washed out feeling it often will have a straight forward typical shot reverse shot or tracking shot as well. It just feels like an opportunity that was missed with an interesting premise with a clash between reality and dream that the narrative has problems synchronizing with the aesthetic. As always Marcello Mastroianni gives a wonderful and charismatic performance. Maria Schell as well shines in the film which is no easy task with such a one dimensional character but she makes it work and gives those looks into the camera that stops you in your tracks. Perhaps if you are more of a romantic you might be able to forgive some of the short comings a bit more since there are good performances and visuals in the film.

Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Sometimes the simplest stories are the most effecting and the simplest characters are the most endearing

[9/10 · 18 May 2009]

Sometimes the simplest stories are the most effecting and the simplest characters are the most endearing. Wendy and Lucy is a perfect example of this. When discussing this film however one must praise Michelle Williams. Before she even utters a word with her body movement and her facial features we get a sense of who Wendy is. We have seen this character before and we know her. Wendy is a simple girl with a simple purpose but Michelle Williams gives her the grace and kindness that makes her seem real and is all the more gut wrenching when things start crashing down around her. Most actresses her age with her resume would scoff at the idea of playing such a simple and expressionless character who hasn't showered for days and wears cut off brown pants and an unflattering blue sweatshirt but she breathes life into Wendy and adds an extra dimension to her. Of course a great performance would be wasted without a narrative for Wendy.

As the film unfolds the narrative is quite simplistic. Wendy is stuck in a small town in Oregon on her way to Alaska and wants to get on her way as fast as possible before her money runs out. There however are events that will unfold that prevent this from happening. There is little surprise and in fact the narrative is quite predictable with most events foreshadowed. As these events unfold however they are still impactful and meaningful because Wendy does not see them coming. As simplistic as this narrative may be there is complexity to it in the form of political commentary on small town America and how the people that live there are struggling. Wendy herself is fleeing Indiana living in her car and managing a small sum of money to go to the promise land of Alaska since they are hiring. The town is suffering from the closing of a mill with few jobs and is inhabited by many disenfranchised individuals. While this film could be fixated on these points Kelly Reichardt has crafted them very subtlety into the character and the setting. Characters don't stand around saying small own America is dying, but we can easily pick this up from the plot and the visuals of a broken down town with many closed business and downtrodden individuals. Usually films of this type heap on background but instead there are only a few scenes to decipher Wendy's story and motivation.

The soundtrack for this film is Wendy humming quietly to herself which when employed help foster a sense of intimacy. Kelly Reichardt shoots the film with a naturalistic feel with a steady and fluid motion of the camera. There are many long takes with tracking shots as the camera follows Wendy as she walks around this town but this is contrasted with close ups where the camera gets in tight to see the expressions on Wendy's face. There is only natural light used and most of the scenes take place out doors with wind blowing through Wendy's hair and building being nothing more than a backdrop. All of these aspects together create a sense of intimacy with Wendy. Wendy and Lucy shows us that a great film really only needs a honest and meaningful connection to a character through narrative, acting and mise-en-scène.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

A Big Middle Finger to All X-Men Fans

[3/10 · 9 May 2009]

How on earth can you make a Wolverine film and have no concept of his character? Logan is supposed to be an animal, impulsive, angry and ready to pick a fight. Someone who is giving into his dark urges that makes a decision to be better than he is. It is this war that he wages within himself that makes him a complex and identifiable character. He represents an extreme example of the struggle that all of us face within ourselves. This is the Logan that was built up in X-Men and X2. Logan in Origins is so far removed from that character and it is supposed to be a prequel. In the first two films Logan is shown as someone who feels pain but in Origins Logan doesn't even bleed.

This film just plods along with events happening without any real significance to the plot, character development or any sort of climax. Without going into any spoilers the plot is convoluted and everything in the film is rushed. Origins is devoid of anyway for the audience to connect to any of the characters or even care about what is going on. It even fails on any basic level to engage an audience as a pure popcorn action film with poorly built up and sloppily shot fight scenes. Some of the special effects look downright awful especially Wolverine's claws. All of the humor in this film misses the mark with the exception of the one scene Ryan Reynold was in. Other mutants just pop up without any build up or reason. Deadpool was completely ruined by the end and Gambit is in only two scenes. They did do a better job with the character design for Sabertooth than the previous films and Liev Schreiber did an admiral job trying to portray him, but he isn't given much to go on. For all it's flaws if they had done a decent job portraying Wolverine right Origins could have been at least enjoyed but it fails on every level possible. Gavin Hood made a film that is a big middle finger to all X-Men fans and finds a way to further drag down the franchise.

Five Easy Pieces (1970)

When a man lacks the ability to connect with anyone or anything what does he do?

[9/10 · 10 April 2009]

Robert Dupea is a man that doesn't seem to fit in anywhere or with anyone. He was ill at ease with his upper class family of musicians. Robert never seems to blend into his surroundings as a middle class man working at an oil rig and dating a waitress. Even when he picks up some rebellious young women speaking against the evils of modern society and consumerism he just sit there silently looking at them with bewilderment. When a man lacks the ability to connect with anyone or anything what does he do? This is exactly what the film Five Easy Pieces explorers. Music, a simple life, family, women, friendship all of this he tries to fill in the void in his life and fails. This all works because of the amazing performance of Jack Nicholson. He brings this difficult character to life and gives a power house performance. Nicholson is able to portray a large range of emotions in this film and often does so within the same scene. Robert Dupea is a complex character running away from things unseen and Jack Nicholson makes it all seem so effortless. There is a reason why this movie launched the career of one of America's greatest actors.

The one flaw in the film was its inability to incorporate some of the more wonderful shots into the overall narrative of the film. Whenever there was a wide shot of a setting sun, Robert looking out at a lake or showing the wall of photos when we see the long shot of a wall of pictures while Robert play the piano for Catherine are such examples. These scenes should tell part of the story visually but instead they only seem like they are forced into the film because great film has these shots. While Bob Rafelson is a good director he lacks the overall talent to weave these moments with the rest of narrative. To his credit though these scenes do not feel disjointed from the rest of the film.

Some of the historical significance of this movie is a bit lost on me having not been living during this time and prevents me from connecting to the film as well as other may have during its era. Still the overall impact this film is a good display of some of the sentiment around that time. While everyone with good reason speaks about the chicken salad speech or even the scenes with the family at dinner I felt the best one is when Jack Nicholson is drunk and stuck in traffic and cursing out people for lining up in the best part of the day. He then proceeds to hop onto the back of a truck hauling junking and starts to play a out of tune piano while the truck turns off the highway away from his car and his friend. This scene perfectly shows Robert Dupea's plight as he drifts away out of tune with the world. Nicholson's performance alone is worth watching this film but it is a great film even if a bit short of amazing.

Rosetta (1999)

Fight Against Circumstances

[9/10 · 27 March 2009]

It really is a shame there is no decent distribution for this film in the US. Rosetta is a film that deserves one. Rosetta is a poor girl fighting against the circumstances of her life. She fights a futile effort to keep a job to make a steady wage to be able to move out of the trailer park where she is stuck with her alcoholic mother. Being a teenager she gets a lower wage and does not get to work a job long enough to get unemployment or has not been unemployed long enough to get hired long term. She wants a normal life so badly but something seems to happen to get in the way. I could not help but draw many parallels to Robert Bresson's film Mouchette which is also about a girl living a tragic life. Unlike Mouchette though Rosetta is trying to do something about it and will fight the world if needed. There is a very touching scene where Rosetta gives herself a pep talk before going to sleep. She has a normal job, a friend and a normal life and she will not falter. Like always though circumstances are working against her.

The Dardenne brothers shot this film with hand held cameras and you can tell with the way it moves and sways as it tries to keep up with Rosetta who is constantly moving. It almost seems if she stands still for too long she will be stuck in her impossible situation forever. The Dardenne brothers as always do a great job of shooting the film with natural lighting in long takes often following the character almost if she is an animal in the wild and if they get too close she will run away. All throughout the film Rosetta suffers from sudden and extreme cases of stomach pain. This pain is never given a cause but the amount of different probable reasons that she might have this pain shows just further displays the challenges Rosetta must face. She uses a hair dryer on her stomach to ease the pain and the viewer cannot help but feel that this might just be a replacement for the human warmth Rosetta does not have in her life. Emilie Dequenne gives a subtle yet powerful performance of this woman who is in a desperate struggle against the hand she was dealt in this life.

Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)

All this had never happened before, now it will happen again

[10/10 · 24 March 2009]

This is quite simply the greatest show I have ever seen. In a medium that often strangles it shows creatively Battlestar Galactica has stood as a paragon of artistic integrity. There is an epic quality to these events and characters that stays with this show until the very end. Battlestar Galactica has never strayed from showing the darker side of life. It asks tough questions and gives tough answers. Still it shows us the tender and small moments that make life worthwhile. It is a show about humanity. Each character is a fully realized human being with dreams, hopes and flaws. As the show progresses we see these characters change and evolve. As I watched the last episode no one was the same person they were when the show started.

Was this show perfect? No, it has its flaws. There is a rare episode that misses its mark or a plot point that is never fully explored but these flaws are few are far between and are the result of reaching as far as they can pushing not only the SciFi genre to its limits but television itself. The quality of the production is also unlike anything I have seen before. This isn't just some low rent production but is worthy of anything you can find in the realm of cinema. There is great hand held camera work, wonderful effects and the best use of music on any show. The most impressive thing is how they use all this to enhance the characters and the plot. Battlestar Galactica is a show about people and they never forget that.

The greatest compliment of this show is the profound feeling of loss I feel after having seen the final episode. I deeply feel sadness and sorrow at having seen this end. The fact I will no longer be able to see Kara Thrace, Lee Adama, Saul Tigh or Gaius Baltar has left me with a feeling that something is missing. I never thought a piece of art would be able to do that let alone a television show. This show will last. This show will be talked about for years to come. This show will be the standard by which other shows are judged. This show will be the template other shows use to make worthwhile art on television.

Hallam Foe (2007)

Character Study of Caricatures

[6/10 · 28 December 2008]

Mister Foe is another "indie coming of age dramedy" with a hip indie soundtrack about a charismatic teen with psychological problems. Hallam is a film about a boy who misses his dead mother and ends up striking up a relationship with a women who looks like her. Normally films handle the Oedipus complex a little tactfully but Mister Foe goes right for it and pulls no punches. Even after they set it up they go to the well once too often. Each character has a broadly drawn idea of their personality but we never get a sense of who they are. The fact that both of them have such emotional baggage is what is supposed to make it interesting, but they have that baggage because the film says they do. The baggage exists to create the characters and not that characters exist because of the baggage. At the end the character development seems to serve the plot more the the characters themselves. The best parts of this film is the voyeurism angle and even that seems to get lost in the shuffle and even downplayed to other aspects like a weak and unnecessary family drama in addition to a murder mystery that it seems even David Mackenzie tries to downplay and holds off as long as he can. Jamie Bell does give a great performance as Hallam playing a somber yet energetic teenager even if he doesn't have much to work with. David Mackenzie also does a great job of framing the film with some beautiful backdrops and backgrounds. It seems his weakest aspect is filming characters as his character moments are flat and uninteresting with the backgrounds being what gives it flare. Mister Foe is a character study of caricatures. It is fun and odd but at the same time shallow.

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Rarely is there a film that blends the talents of all the actors and all the people behind the camera so well

[9/10 · 6 December 2008]

Rachel Getting Married is a wonderful film that feels like watching home movies. The camera work is nothing short of spectacular. While using a hand held camera is nothing new in modern cinema to enhance the realism for a film it was always done at the sacrifice of the picture quality. Rachel Getting Married shows us with the current technology you can have the flexibility of a hand held camera while having the picture quality of a more traditional camera. Of course the quality of the picture alone doesn't just measure the quality of a film. Jonathan Demme and Declan Quinn do a fantastic job of making the camera react in ways that an actual person would shifting focus to any movement and panning around when entering a room. This film is shot in a way that makes it feel very intimate and pulls you right into the reality of the film. After the end you feel like you have attended this wedding and befriended the family. Rachel Getting Married has breathed new life into Jonathan Demme's career. For the last 15 years he has been doing mediocre work and I long thought his career was dead but has has proved with one fell swoop he is not done yet. Anne Hathaway gives the best performance by an actress this year. Kym is such a complex character who has so much strength in her but yet has such vulnerability. The rest of the cast does a great job and there are no weak links anywhere with strong performances throughout the film. Jenny Lumet skillfully penned the screenplay which gives us all the moments of family. The tender moments make you feel the love you have from your own moments with your family while the quarrels feel like watching a family argument with feelings of discomfort. Normally when there is a film with this caliber of performance in it the film itself becomes a starring vehicle and hurts the overall quality. This is so far removed from this film. Rarely is there a film that blends the talents of all the actors and all the people behind the camera so well.

The Visitor (I) (2007)

Richard Jenkins Gives a Powerful Performance in a Well Written Film

[8/10 · 5 December 2008]

The Visitor is a very well done character piece. Richard Jenkins plays Walter a man who has lost his wife and his subsequent attempts to try to connect to her through learning the piano (the instrument she played) have failed. Walter has become increasingly disinterested in his job as a professor where he teaches only one class and tells everyone he is working on a book he isn't writing. As a result of this Walter has become isolated and just going through the motions of life without actually living. He treats his fellow colleges, students and neighbors with a general apathetic and dismissive tone keeping his distance. Walter gets forced to go to New York to present a paper and there he runs into a young couple that have been duped into thinking the apartment that is actually Walter's is being lent to them by a friend since Walter has not gone there for years. The couple leaves but when Walter sees them standing on the sidewalk with all their belongings scrambling to find somewhere to stay Walter decides to extend an act of kindness and offers to let them stay until they find a permanent place to stay. It seems like a small gesture but this one act of kindness will eventually transform his life. One day Walter comes home and sees that Tarek is playing the African drum. Eventually Tarek teaches Walter how to play the drum. This seems like such a trivial thing but by learning a musical instrument it helps Walter to feel a connection to his wife and gives him something in life to feel passionate about. Coming back from a drum circle that they played in Tarek gets stuck in a subway turnstile and arrested. We then find out he is illegal and gets sent to a detention center. Eventually Tarek mom comes and her and Walter form a bond over the care for his son. From that one act of kindness it sets into motion Walter's humanity getting restored. Richard Jenkins gives a fantastic portrayal of Walter and is . He truly is a blank slate with an empty look in the beginning of the movie and eventually you see more and more of Walter's will being restored by the way Walter interacts with others and from the looks on his face. It truly is one of the remarkable performances of the year. Thomas McCarthy wrote a wonderful screenplay where the plot unfolds itself incredibility naturally. One thing I admire greatly about the film is when the characters say important and intimate details about themselves they only do so when they have achieved a bond with each other. They don't go baring their soul to just anyone that listens. The only aspect that I felt was missing was some visual flair or some great cinematography. The visuals feel a bit bland and with the exception of the final scene the film has pretty standard cinematography for an independent film. Still, the Visitor succeeds because we care deeply about all of these characters.

The Passenger (1975)

Another Masterpiece from Michelangelo Antonioni

[10/10 · 4 December 2008]

The Passenger is a beautiful and vivid portrait of escapism. Jack Nicholson plays David Locke a man who is in a personal crisis and drowning in his aimless world. After befriending a man he meets in an African hotel and finds him dead. David Locke quickly escapes his own life and transforms himself with the freedom of this new man's life by assuming his identity. Nicholson gets accused of overacting in many of his more popular films, but with The Passenger he shows he can give a subtle and subdued performance yet powerful at the same time when it is called for. Despite the great job done by Nicholson it is Michelangelo Antonioni who really is the star of this film. His direction and camera work is a thing of beauty. The penultimate shot of the film is a single 7 minute long shot that starts in a hotel room, goes out the window and then back around the hotel room. This shot is just amazingly done and concludes all of the plots in the films. All the little things that happen with this shot is just stunning like when Maria Schneider meets with the thugs after Locke to distract the viewer from watching Locke's killer in the reflection in the glass. With all of the difficultly of everything happening in this shot it is quite an achievement it went off flawlessly and is the perfect ending of the film. Antonioni also films some beautiful and exotic locales from the African desert to the roof of la Pedrera in Barcelona to a church in Munich and many places in between. All of these locales help to enforce the theme of the film that Locke is a man who is just a passenger in life going where he is expected to go without any conviction or control in his destination. Even the writing is strong. The story that Nicholson tells with the 40 year old blind man that finally is able to see and is eventually appalled to see the world is full of dirt and sadness and kills himself is perfectly done to juxtapose both of their lives. It gives us great insight into David Locke before the end. This is a must see for any fan of Antonioni or anyone who enjoys finely crafted cinema.

The Go-Getter (2007)

Fantastic Cinematography and Acting Separate Film from the Pack

[9/10 · 2 December 2008]

On first glance the Go-Getter seems like another cliché coming of age road film but it does a great job of taking the familiar plot but focusing the film in an unique way. Lou Taylor Pucci plays Mercer a 19 year old who steals a car in order to inform his half brother he has not seen in many years that their mother has died. Mercer is all alone with no family but starts to strike up a unique friendship with Kate the women whose car he stole played by Zooey Deschanel who gives a wonderful performance and is one of the most talented and beautiful young actresses working today. The road trip is just a backdrop for developing the relationship between Kate and Mercer. Martin Hynes does a good job developing this relationship while at the same time juggling Mercer's journey to find his brother as well as his journey of self discovery. Hynes also shows some of his skill behind the camera by setting up some beautiful shots. There is a dream sequence where Mercer and Kate are running across a beach with cowboy hats shooting at each other with old western style cap guns in slow motion with wash out colors and a glaring sun. There is even a great Godard reference with a recreation of that fantastic dancing scene in Band of Outsiders in addition to jump cuts used when Mercer and Kate first meet under duress. The conversations between Mercer and Kate are well written and shot and make up the core of this film. These conversations happen over the phone and as the film progresses and the better they get to know each other these scenes are shot with the actors talking directly to each other but with their voices dubbed with how they sound coming out of the phone. There is an impressive soundtrack with many great indie rock songs to set the mood such as tons of songs from M. Ward (who has a small cameo), Black Keys, Animal Collective and even an Elliot Smith song. This film may look like the same in a long line of "quirky" indie films but the cinematography, unique structure and acting really give this film a polish some of its contemporaries may lack.