A High-Concept movie is one in which the entire story revolves around a single idea or concept. In 247 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, it is the idea of three people trapped in a Sauna, trying to survive long enough to either escape or be rescued.
I like high-concept movies because they satisfy my curiosity to see how much mileage the film gets out of a single idea, as that normally puts severe constraints on story development.
As it is the case for movies in general, high-concept films are all over the place in terms of how well they succeed with their material. I would consider this film a cut above average because it does several things well: The cinematography is good, the acting is convincing, and the story is plausible (It is apparently based on real-life events).
On the other hand, there could have been more story and character development, especially given that the main event did not connect with the prologue as well as it could have. For an excellent example of what I mean, I refer to BURIED, the Ryan Reynolds film in which for the entire duration of the movie, he is literally buried in a grave, and yet because of fantastic story development, the movie managed to be suspenseful non-stop.
The material that was given in this movie would have been ample for a short, but for a full-length feature, I feel it was not quite enough, so the film makers had to draw out the set-up and interject many scenes of events happening outside the Sauna. This, in turn, slowed the pace and also undermined the potential for developing a fully claustrophobic atmosphere in the sauna.
There is also a minor gripe that evidently the ex-physics major in the movie seems to not have realized that water can conduct electricity, but overall I still think it is a worthwhile entry for fans of high-concept movies.
I like high-concept movies because they satisfy my curiosity to see how much mileage the film gets out of a single idea, as that normally puts severe constraints on story development.
As it is the case for movies in general, high-concept films are all over the place in terms of how well they succeed with their material. I would consider this film a cut above average because it does several things well: The cinematography is good, the acting is convincing, and the story is plausible (It is apparently based on real-life events).
On the other hand, there could have been more story and character development, especially given that the main event did not connect with the prologue as well as it could have. For an excellent example of what I mean, I refer to BURIED, the Ryan Reynolds film in which for the entire duration of the movie, he is literally buried in a grave, and yet because of fantastic story development, the movie managed to be suspenseful non-stop.
The material that was given in this movie would have been ample for a short, but for a full-length feature, I feel it was not quite enough, so the film makers had to draw out the set-up and interject many scenes of events happening outside the Sauna. This, in turn, slowed the pace and also undermined the potential for developing a fully claustrophobic atmosphere in the sauna.
There is also a minor gripe that evidently the ex-physics major in the movie seems to not have realized that water can conduct electricity, but overall I still think it is a worthwhile entry for fans of high-concept movies.