Sometimes I dislike reviewing indie films because I tend to screen earlier versions prior to a released version which has had the luxury of a test screening that would then constitute re-shoots and/or extensive editing. I say this in good faith as many films that I’ve screened could do with some trimming of the fat in order to get to the heart of the story being told.
This could go with the Aware Production release of PAPER BOYS (formerly BOYS OF THE WRECKING CREW), which was filmed in Georgia and had its World Premiere at the famous Plaza Theater, 1049 Ponce De Leon Ave., Atlanta, GA on Saturday, June 20th, 2009. There are some good things to say about the film and some bad but I give indie films a little more leeway (from Hollywood films) because of their unique nature of sometimes reveling in more risqué and unconventional stories. This is such a film.
The film begins with a subtle bang as after a young couple appear to be in the throws of love the woman commits suicide and the young man Sean is left broken. Sean’s (Louis Lavdas) way of dealing with the situation is to return to his job as a paper boy solicitor who goes door-to-door selling newspaper subscriptions. He is just one of a crew of young men guided by Ray (Chris Whitley) who try to make a living at this day in and day out. Sean has more to deal with then just a lover who killed herself but he also is haunted by his estranged relationship with his abusive father, he’s addicted to just about every drug known to mankind, and he’s having a sexual identity crisis. That’s a lot for one person to deal with and therein lies the biggest problem with the film.
The film has many technical issues as in many shots that linger on the screen for far longer then they should – one scene in particular is a POV shot of Sean in a drug induced state walking through a house in which he just participated in an orgy, not to mention that several shots are handheld and pan from one actor to another with no finesse or control and sometimes it’s even on background characters who aren’t even participating in the conversation at hand. Many of these incidents could be fixed if they were trimmed or cut altogether.
Technical issues aside (since many indie films suffer from this) I do have to say that the post-sound is excellent for the most part. There are very few incidents where the volume and quality were not at top form. Since sound is one of the biggest problems with indie productions it’s good to hear that the filmmakers took care with the post-sound work on this film.
Getting back to the plot of the film, PAPER BOYS suffers from trying to say too much with so little. Sean’s plight as an abused kid with a dead-in job that only helps to fuel his drug habit because his girlfriend killed herself and he’s not sure whether he’s gay or straight just makes it seem like the entire world is against him and he should just go ahead and join his girlfriend in a suicide pact. The story is best when it focuses on Sean’s inability to cope with the childhood abuse done to him by his father heavily handled in many of the flashback sequences (some of which are the most compelling in the film). If the film had stuck with this as it’s background and conflict and then handled Sean’s inability to cope through either drug abuse of sexual identity then the film’s theme might have come off stronger but the issues are defused because no time is given to any one of Sean’s problems. He just seems to be a kid with too many problems. This inability in the film’s focus also contributes to its lackluster and unsatisfactory ending (which I won’t give away here) but needless to say the film’s climax is all too easily solved and there is no satisfying closure with Sean’s character in terms of any of the problems that the film presents that he has. They just all seem to nicely go away.
The film’s climax is the real let down as it opts for a “feel good” ending that is not warranted due to everything that came before it not to mention that it is 15 minutes too long. The film wants to say so many things about sexual identity, drug abuse, physical abuse, and even suicide yet never really says anything about any of them as the message is lost in translation amongst the film’s other problems and the “happy ending.”
The film does have some questionable performances amongst its huge cast of Georgia actors but there are some great moments with Joe (Justin Riddick), who steals many of the scenes in the film with his womanizing ways and picture-perfect life (not mention lifestyle) but Whitley as Sean’s crew leader of the paper boys and in a sense “older brother” also gives a noteworthy performance.
Writer, producer, and director Bryan E. Hall has a great many cast and location to contend with on this film, which is good for the film as he doesn’t rely on the single location film shoot that can plague many an indie film. There are many great comedic moments in the film that release some of the tension from the heavy-handed subject matter (and sometimes I wish there was more). Overall PAPER BOYS is a film that’s sometimes over convoluted with what its trying to say that needs a little trimming and cutting in some places but it’s not a film completely devoid of any redeeming value.
This could go with the Aware Production release of PAPER BOYS (formerly BOYS OF THE WRECKING CREW), which was filmed in Georgia and had its World Premiere at the famous Plaza Theater, 1049 Ponce De Leon Ave., Atlanta, GA on Saturday, June 20th, 2009. There are some good things to say about the film and some bad but I give indie films a little more leeway (from Hollywood films) because of their unique nature of sometimes reveling in more risqué and unconventional stories. This is such a film.
The film begins with a subtle bang as after a young couple appear to be in the throws of love the woman commits suicide and the young man Sean is left broken. Sean’s (Louis Lavdas) way of dealing with the situation is to return to his job as a paper boy solicitor who goes door-to-door selling newspaper subscriptions. He is just one of a crew of young men guided by Ray (Chris Whitley) who try to make a living at this day in and day out. Sean has more to deal with then just a lover who killed herself but he also is haunted by his estranged relationship with his abusive father, he’s addicted to just about every drug known to mankind, and he’s having a sexual identity crisis. That’s a lot for one person to deal with and therein lies the biggest problem with the film.
The film has many technical issues as in many shots that linger on the screen for far longer then they should – one scene in particular is a POV shot of Sean in a drug induced state walking through a house in which he just participated in an orgy, not to mention that several shots are handheld and pan from one actor to another with no finesse or control and sometimes it’s even on background characters who aren’t even participating in the conversation at hand. Many of these incidents could be fixed if they were trimmed or cut altogether.
Technical issues aside (since many indie films suffer from this) I do have to say that the post-sound is excellent for the most part. There are very few incidents where the volume and quality were not at top form. Since sound is one of the biggest problems with indie productions it’s good to hear that the filmmakers took care with the post-sound work on this film.
Getting back to the plot of the film, PAPER BOYS suffers from trying to say too much with so little. Sean’s plight as an abused kid with a dead-in job that only helps to fuel his drug habit because his girlfriend killed herself and he’s not sure whether he’s gay or straight just makes it seem like the entire world is against him and he should just go ahead and join his girlfriend in a suicide pact. The story is best when it focuses on Sean’s inability to cope with the childhood abuse done to him by his father heavily handled in many of the flashback sequences (some of which are the most compelling in the film). If the film had stuck with this as it’s background and conflict and then handled Sean’s inability to cope through either drug abuse of sexual identity then the film’s theme might have come off stronger but the issues are defused because no time is given to any one of Sean’s problems. He just seems to be a kid with too many problems. This inability in the film’s focus also contributes to its lackluster and unsatisfactory ending (which I won’t give away here) but needless to say the film’s climax is all too easily solved and there is no satisfying closure with Sean’s character in terms of any of the problems that the film presents that he has. They just all seem to nicely go away.
The film’s climax is the real let down as it opts for a “feel good” ending that is not warranted due to everything that came before it not to mention that it is 15 minutes too long. The film wants to say so many things about sexual identity, drug abuse, physical abuse, and even suicide yet never really says anything about any of them as the message is lost in translation amongst the film’s other problems and the “happy ending.”
The film does have some questionable performances amongst its huge cast of Georgia actors but there are some great moments with Joe (Justin Riddick), who steals many of the scenes in the film with his womanizing ways and picture-perfect life (not mention lifestyle) but Whitley as Sean’s crew leader of the paper boys and in a sense “older brother” also gives a noteworthy performance.
Writer, producer, and director Bryan E. Hall has a great many cast and location to contend with on this film, which is good for the film as he doesn’t rely on the single location film shoot that can plague many an indie film. There are many great comedic moments in the film that release some of the tension from the heavy-handed subject matter (and sometimes I wish there was more). Overall PAPER BOYS is a film that’s sometimes over convoluted with what its trying to say that needs a little trimming and cutting in some places but it’s not a film completely devoid of any redeeming value.
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3 comments:
I am not a blogger, a movie reviewer or anything special but... Wow, I just didn't see the same movie. I thought it was unique and not just for the sake of being unique, but did something interesting in a very new way with a sensitivity to a very misunderstood generation. I am only 19 and this is the first film I have seen that dealt with bicuriosity as simply "a factor" rather than "a problem". The films message on drugs was not preachy, in fact left me with a sense of moderation as the ideal.
As for the acting, I have seen a lot of Atlanta films and I have never seen better acting in others. No, other than Justin Riddick and the black actor who played Leon, there were no shockingly good performances, but they were all authentic and interesting, and gorgeous to look at without being a bunch of dumb models.
I like the way the filmmaker allowed the audience to make its own value judgments, and despite the films overall length, 2h5m, the pacing was good. It allowed me to ponder the music and the internal angst of the main character. Frankly, at times when Hollywood films would have rushed through a moment, this film allowed me to reflect on the previous scenes in a way that helped me to understand the complex problems. This is a very hard thing to do, when the conflict is inside. Usually, modern film is all about what is on the outside, action and visual sensation. This film was subtle in many ways and blunt in others, appropriately so.
And, as for the climax, twist and ending, it was textbook cool, without being cliche. The cliche would be to have him do the thing (homophobes would want) I tried not to give it away. Let's face it, every film about guys with sexual identity issues seems to either have the problem neatly resolved by the end of the film or he dies.
This director resisted that and allowed for the end to be open-ended, just the end of a chapter; appropriate for a coming-of-age film. I mean, who really figures shit out by the time they are 18 anyway; you just survive and get along.
I have seen this kind of successful (though not quite so edgy) film since "Requiem for a Dream" in dealing with the harsh effects of drugs on one's perception of life. One thing "Paper Boys" actually did better, was to show legitimate excuses for drug use. The main character had some really bad shit going on, and friends with more going on for themselves than he had.
The music and sound was fantastic and this was not even in a good theater for sound or even projection. I will definitely buy the soundtrack and wait to see if the Bluray is good.
The Plaza's video projection really sucks and I have a better system at home. I am just happy someone has finally made something noteworthy that is NOT a horror movie or redneck spoof.
Atlanta is so uncool even if it is a big city, it is so small minded. Even those who think they are cool here are homophobes if they are guys over 40 especially. Even California showed it had plenty of homophobes and they are thought of as "progressive"
I think this film will do well with open-minded young people and progressive older audiences, but I can't imagine many Forty + straight, black men or white rednecks liking it. If there were any of those in the audience, I feel sorry for them! As for the gay and gay friendly audiences (in other words, non-bigots) in Atlanta, and there are many... this film is awesome!
The film's climax is the real let down as it opts for a "feel good" ending that is not warranted due to everything that came before it not to mention that it is 15 minutes too long. The film wants to say so many things about sexual identity, drug abuse, physical abuse, and even suicide yet never really says anything about any of them as the message is lost in translation amongst the film's other problems and the "happy ending."
In reference to the above, so you think it is more appropriate to kill yourself than not to, if you are a bicurious kid with a dysfunctional family history (that he survived)? That would be cliche...
Everyone is entitled to their opinions and as I have been on the board of a film festival for two years in the past I've seen a lot of indie and no-budget films of all genres that tend to do the same mistakes time and time again because the filmmakers that make the film tend to be too close to the material.
There are many inherent problems with the film that can be fixed but by no means is the film ready for a broader audience which is the point I'm trying to make. Many films that I've seen will never be good regardless of how much re-cutting to the film there is but for this film which never even addresses the main conflict of the story - which is the fact that the main character has issues from his childhood stemming from the abuse of his father which has made him into the person he is today, it's kind of a let down not to see the character address this at the end of the film. Instead, the film's climax is the main character pretending to commit suicide in front of the house of the school principal (whom is in only 1 other scene of the film) all to get back his iPod. Then we see all his friends gathered together in a house who believe he is dead even though he hasn't been missing for even 12 hours - seems like a very weak and compromised ending to me especially considering that having the main character confront his abusive father at the end (however executed) would've made for not only a much more profound ending but would have allowed the character to address the issues that have plagued his life and kept him from achieving some type of peace of mind.
Many films can be destroyed by a weak or otherwise bad ending as is plainly seen here by its lackluster ending.
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