All Reviews

Obviously with a first cut, there are going to be some technical issues (audio mix, pacing, etc). Fortunately this doesn't distract from the overall story. There are a few shots where the boom or a lav mic are visible - probably a simple matter of some time with AfterEffects to fix. Production value is otherwise very high and features some really good Seattle film talent (in front of and behind the camera). The one question I'm left with is: whose story is it? Not sure that Calliope's breaking of the fourth wall adds anything in her asides to the camera,except to take the viewer out of the moment. If it's her story, there's a lot going on with Kirby and his relationships and professional life. If it's his story, there's a lot of her internal monologue going on. If it's about the two of them, then consistency in the camera asides would help sell that (or get rid of them).

Love the premise, love the script, love the talent. Looking forward to seeing how it takes shape!

I came real close to giving this test film five stars. So far, it's the most enjoyable test film I've seen on the Amazon Studios site. The only weak points I can discern seem like just me being picky.

The premise was not real strong, as far as being real catchy or grabbing a mass audience. Not "high-concept" at all. That's okay, I lean more toward character-driven stories these days.

The story structure "hit all the notes" in textbook fashion.

The characters evoked sympathy and their motivation was authentic. I was so wrapped up in the romance that at one point I said out loud, "Oh, just kiss her, damnit!"

The dialog was mostly good, sometimes excellent, and a couple of times it fell a little short. I would have trimmed that some. The first scene with Kirby and Calliope's father seemed a little flat. The next scene with Calliope seemed too talky, although it did provide great insight into Calliope's character.

Some reviewers didn't like Calliope speaking directly to the camera. I loved it. It gave the movie verve and personality that you don't get from a movie that's directed "by the book." Voice-over would have done the job, but sometimes you can get away with breaking down that fourth wall. And in this case, it really worked.

This movie gets really high points from me for the acting. It was an incredible cast, all the more so for being a zero-budget production.

Notes on technical issues: I thought the lighting was great--soft and warm and natural. What I liked at first, that later became a bit annoying, was the shifting focus. The most annoying thing for me, though, was the sound. At times it was crystal clear, sometimes very noisy, and sometimes the levels were very inconsistent. At one point, in a conversation is a restaurant, the background noise level changed a lot between shots. (That could be fixed very easily by going back to the location during a busy time, recording more background noise, and inserting it in on a separate audio track on the movie editing software.)

Overall, though, this movie was very well done. I could see this actually being re-done very easily, winning awards and making some money at the box office.

I hope the cast and crew go on to great future succes.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film. From the beginning of the film I was drawn in. It keep me very interested in what was going to happen next. It brought out raw emotions in me. I was happy, sad and happy again. I loved how it ended. Well directed and written. Will recommend it to all my friends.

Great story line and actors for a zero budget movie. I am not a movie critic so i can't pick it apart, i just enjoyed the movie very much.

I liked it. I liked it a lot.
I've done many reviews of movies and scripts that I read or watched, and liked, but none of them were quite like this. This movie has a sort of sense of being outside the character's mind, which has it's questionable uses, but the story was very emotional, so that's probably the best you could do.

I have review so many movies, yet none of them being the same because this story consists of all the characters having to work Themselves out, instead of working out conflicts between others. This type of story is written for totally different people, (most of the time not people like me) so it was hard for me to relate this to many movies I've seen ever. which is good.

The characters evolved slowly, letting the viewer really know EVERYTHING about the character described. a character can sometimes change a story in all, in big good ways, or in small bad ways, or big bad ways and visa versa, this story had many of those changes, most of them being for the good. the character that annoyed me the most was Noah. I felt that his dialogue kept him from being real, if you know what I mean. He talked like a person would talk, not perfect, but he made so many mistakes that it was hard to like him, OR to hate him. He would say words like um, like, or so too many times that he seemed Made For the Movies, i you can see what I'm getting at here.
Calliope was very complex, and her character was great! she ad many, many, MANY levels, and her perspective and thoughts changed throughout the movie, as a real person's would, so her thoughts became more believable.
Frank was my favorite. some would say after watching this something like "Frank is a real hoot!" or "I wish my bookseller was like Frank." and they would be true. Frank was a character that seemed like he was easy to get, but it turned out that he had more feelings than came across. Also he was very funny, though not a character that goofed off throughout the movie, and diffused tension as well as any meaning of story, he was just a person who catches your attention as a human being, and gets a few laughs out of the audience.

The technical aspects were all in line at the beginning, though sound became a problem at the end of the movie. i heard changes in volume between shots, a lot of unneeded background noise, and fumbling with the camera, which i will add onto later. I took away from the viewing of the movie, so as to make the emotion, such an important part, less particular.
Also in the technical genre, the camera fumbling at the end. i noticed that the camera was starting to shake near the end of the movie, and a small bit during, which is not that big of a deal when starting out, but you don't see any accidental camera movement in transformers or any other big movie, so even a tripod that you're not holding would be sufficient, if you don't have it already.

Other than those small problems the movie was something I would recommend to many people, mostly people who like emotional dramas that take your whole brain to watch (which was a great aspect of this movie, the fact that I was thinking the whole time!)

The only reason I didn't give it five stars was that there were those small problems and it's not my kind of movie.

Other than that, Good luck!
, The Reviewist

I found this movie to be very intriguing. The characters drew me in and kept me wanting more. In a good way. The story line was somewhat predictable, but overall a good movie. I don't think I could have done better with the same budget.

I'll dispense with any normal digs that are obvious ones for beta/indy movies: production values, things that coudl have been edited, etc.--but even if one DIDN'T forgive this film those things, it's still an excellent film.

The writing, dialogue, and events are all very engaging. I'd say the only big parts of the film that missed it for me were Mandi Sterling as Calliope (she seemed more like an extra from a sit-com than the Luna Lovegood-like loveable eccentric she seemed to be going for). It's obvious that the viewer is meant to find her sympathetic and endearing, but it's never clear why and I tend to lay this more on this delivery of the character than on the character herself in concept--which seems very "tried and true" in general.

Josh Truax and Norman Newkirk were brilliant! Truax's general detached deadpan humor makes the parts of the film where he actually reacts with passion and emotion that much more satisfying. Trin Miller and Conner Marx do excellent jobs as foils and plot movers.

All in all, this is a very, very watchable indy film. Turn off your evening sitcoms one of these days and watch this instead!

I'm very impressed! The acting is SO good! I really enjoyed the story.

In short watch it for the acting. Connor Marx is Amazing and Josh Traux does a great job keeping the pace of the film in a very poetic way.

Okay, I loved all the characters. They were all believable, especially the leading male. There were a few shaky camera scenes that annoyed me a bit. I loved the thought put into the dialogue, but at times it was delivered so quickly that I could not understand, even after I reviewed the scenes several times.

I'm a sucker so a somewhat happy ending. Blame it on Disney. I am happy that I did not predict the ending. I wish the impact of a child meeting his or her mother after a lifetime of thinking she was dead could have been expressed deeper. I felt that the few scenes dedicated to this development weren't sufficient.

I can say I appreciate art more, and understand artists a little better. The lines at the end over the music were difficult to follow. I knew that it was supposed to be impacting, and the music was, but I could not hear the words clearly.

But, I really liked the story. It was a welcomed distraction in from my writing.