Change Your Image
dave_mill
Reviews
Defying Gravity (1997)
A "Puppy Dog" film
When I saw this film the first time I had an uncontrollable urge to smile to myself and go "agghhh" rather like granny when she looks at a particularly embarrassing baby photo of me. The film has many flaws but I watch it over and over again. The plot is well developed although quite predictable as it progresses. This is however not a thriller. There is some quite good acting from Nicklaus Lange and Don Handfield. Daniel Chilson looks right for the part and tries his best. He is however on a few occasions fairly wooden and ill at ease. I can well understand that his film acting experience had been (still is?) a little low level.
The film is professionally produced with good production values.
The script was OK. It dealt with plot development well but some of the dialogue was appalling. Do intelligent people talk this way in America? Some of the characters were ghastly stereotypes of gay people. The camp pink shirted activist was I think cast for effect but he made my toes curl! I know these are flaws but don't let that put you off. This is a "feel good" film and rather made me think of "Beautiful Thing" (time shifted slightly and moved to America). I recommend it to all
Two Brothers (2001)
First class film
Frankly I bought the DVD from abroad as I had heard the film was worth a look. It is a shame that it has never been released in Europe. Richard Bell has produced a real gem here. Naturally the film was produced on less than a shoe string and more of that later. However the film was rich on creativity, talent and enthusiasm.
Good points:
A very good script that got even better when I saw the film the second time. The acting was generally good with some strong performances from all the main characters (some scenes were better acted than others) Good directing, editing and the music worked well
Bad points
There were technical issues. The sound was not good and the lighting was a bit "iffy" (hey the film only cost £250 so no real complaint)
The film ended with a lot of loose ends which was deliberate but personally I like a neat ending (minor gripe)
Richard Bell is a credit to the Canadian film industry