Rating: C+
Dir: Nathan Blackwell
Star: Adam Rini, Megan Hughes Rini, Craig Curtis, Dallas Teat
There’s sometimes a tendency for aspiring film-makers to rush into feature production. After all, that’s the where the glory – and the money – can be found. This can backfire spectacularly, because if you don’t have a solid grounding, the results at extended length aren’t likely to be good. Blackwell certainly can’t be accused of such haste, having been making shorts for sixteen years (2010 short, Zombie Team Building, played at FearCon) before his feature debut. The experience shows in a film which is thoroughly competent, where the limited resources work for the film, in part due to the unarguably meta nature. For we have a low-budget film-maker making a film about being a low-budget film-maker.
That’s not particularly new. However, the twist here is the impending end of the world. Make that, the entire universe, which is actually a simulation that’s about to get turned off by its creators, who have kindly given the inhabitants 31 days to get their affairs in order. After the shock has worn off, Marshall (A. Rini) decides to make the unfinished film project he started long ago: thirties serial pastiche, Blast Sampson Saves the Universe. This involves getting his band of friends back together again, including ex-wife Audrey (M. Rini). Except, they have all since drifted apart and got on with their lives, in various ways. They therefore may not quire share Marshall’s enthusiasm for the project, especially with the apocalypse a couple of weeks away.
If one word could be used to sum up the movie, it would be “heart”. However, that may also be its main problem: it’s too warm and good-natured for its own purpose. The initial concept is a great one: the threat of a looming apocalypse, marvellously voiced by Benjamin Partridge, reminded me of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (and tell me the robot, top, doesn’t look like Marvin the Paranoid Android!), while the poignant obsession with things of no importance to anyone else in the face of oblivion, echoes Last Night. However, the more this goes on, the more the movie forgets about its own impetus. It’s relentlessly predictable: you just know Marshall and Audrey are going to re-unite by the end. Similarly, any problems during production are overcome with almost facile ease, and by the premiere (filmed in the Phoenix Center for the Arts), the end of the world is largely warded off with hugs.
You should still find a good deal to enjoy here, especially if you are in any way connected to micro-budget film-making, where skill, experience and talent are less important than showing up. For me, elements such as Marshall’s “auditions” were when the film was near-perfect, rather than when going down too well-trodden relationship drama. That said, having a real-life couple playing the leads, certainly helps make their relationship feel authentic, and the supporting cast have a similarly workaday nature to them, giving them authenticity. But I eventually found it a little too cloying, and so sweet I’m going to have to schedule a dentist’s appointment to check for cavities.