DOUBLEFEATUREPREACHERS
  • Home
    • David's Reviews
    • Shannon's Reviews
    • DFP Reviews
  • Browse
  • About
  • Contact

What Was Lost - B

12/21/2018

0 Comments

 
​Quick Hit: Varied tonal output but some solid writing and acting carry this short across the finish line. 

Picture
Joel (John-Patrick Driscoll) is a professor consumed by the search for a missing poet and her work. Eventually this leads him to lose his job, because he hasn’t been doing his normal job duties. He returns home to find his wife (Elsa Carette) cheating on him with another man (Dustin Kyle).

First, this short started and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I didn’t think it was going to be something that I thought about much later. In fact, the opening scenes of Joel in the office are very similar to another Don Swanson film I reviewed: A Wish For Giants. As the short continued, it evolved into a much deeper story, with some snappy humor and some deeply dramatic scenes. The drama mainly is pulled from the performance of Driscoll, who manages a lot on scenes when he is given a chance to flex his acting muscles. I thought some of the scenes later in the film were really effective because of his performance.

This performance clashed a bit with some of the humor in the film, which was probably my biggest issue with the whole thing. It caused a tonal imbalance between Driscoll’s performance and the work of someone like Dustin Kyle, who is just as good, but in a completely different way. Kyle really allows some of the lines to grow as he says them, and it makes them that much funnier (though I think Driscoll has the best line with his comparison of Kyle to Spartacus). But this doesn’t work very well with the images of Driscoll’s life falling apart, or the passionate sex scene that takes place in the short. 
Picture

There are some other aspects to the film that don’t make sense, probably partially because of the short’s length (total including credits is only about 24 minutes). For instance, why doesn’t Kyle’s character cut and run? Why doesn’t Driscoll use some other formats to find this mysterious poet in his free time? And what makes Carette so deeply affected by his search? It’s all not quite laid out enough, even for a short film.

The only other complaint I had with the film was that the fight stunts probably need a little bit of work – there was some scenes that looked a bit like older Kung Fu movies with the rapid punching.
​
Despite the story shortcomings, there are other aspects to Swanson’s film I thought were well-handled. The set design was good, and always helped to tell the story of what was going on. I also thought the score played a huge part in the emotional ending, swelling at exactly the right portions with a beautiful, haunting piano medley.  

In conclusion, I think that this film is a good step in the right direction, and that Swanson should be proud of what he and the team accomplished. I’m giving it a “B”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    David

    ​"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" 
                      -Jack Torrance                         (Shining)

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Animated
    Based On A True Story
    Comedy
    Crime
    Drama
    Family
    Fantasy
    Horror/Thriller
    Musical
    Mystery
    Romance
    Science Fiction
    Superhero
    Western

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
    • David's Reviews
    • Shannon's Reviews
    • DFP Reviews
  • Browse
  • About
  • Contact