See, it's like "calamity" but with a "K", get it? Deliberate misspellings are so totally cool, dude! It's like a time machine back to 1996! Yes, the name doesn't tell us anything about the story and isn't inherently interesting
but it's "calamity" with a "K"! It's a good thing indy movies like this don't have to worry about stupid studio execs sticking them with absurd titles picked blindly out of a bag of marketing buzzwords. I mean, "calamity" with a "K"? It's genius!
Putting that inspired choice aside, this is a flabby film that feels much longer than its 98 minute run time. It gets its own essential mystery wrong, bollixes the psychology of its antagonist and has a protagonist so passive he's practically in a coma. The story rests entirely on a difference between two characters that is never examined or explained and writer/director James M. Hausler wastes an enormous amount of time on a narrative device that does nothing and goes nowhere. The basic premise of Kalamity is sound and Jonathan Jackson does a nice job playing the facets of a character who's never integrated into a believable person. It's also nice to see Patricia Kalember get work. Sisters was a criminally underrated show. The bottom line on this production, though, is that it's the proverbial sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Billy (Nick Stahl) is a mid-20something guy who's returned home to Virginia after breaking up with his college student girlfriend (Beau Garrett) in Ohio. And let me just stop right here. Nick Stahl is a talented performer but he can't play mid 20s anymore. He's got a lived-in actor's face that doesn't look like it's been injected, pulled back or retouched. It's a great face, but not for somebody in their mid 20s. When the film slaps a ball cap on him in a flashback to pass him off as even younger, it's pathetic. He's not acting too old for the part and maybe some make up and getting in a bit better shape would have helped, but Stahl's apparent age really screwed up the whole sensibility of Billy and put the film in a hole from the very beginning.
Anyway, Billy returns home to find his best friend Stan (Jonathan Jackson) has become a raging douche who gets violently angry at the mention of his ex-girlfriend's name. Then Billy learns that Stan's ex has gone missing and, well, he sorta waits around for someone else to do something, although he instantly suspects that Stan's involved in the disappearance. Oh, and Billy also goes through the whole movie seeing and talking to his ex-girlfriend as a daydream/hallucination.
Here's the crux of the problem with Kalamity. It's about two guys experiencing the same heartbreak where one merely mopes around and the other turns to murder, but why Billy reacts one way and Stan another is never touched on. There's no reason even vaguely referenced at any point in the film. Without that emotional context, the only thing this movie can be about is the mystery of what Stan did and why he did it. However, any reasonably intelligent viewer figures both those things out immediately and Billy understands it the moment he first hears about Stan's missing ex. The only mystery here is why the hell Billy never calls the cops. Well, that and what the hell writer/director Hausler thought he was doing with Billy's girlfriend delusions.
Kalamity is a hook and a theme that never develop into a story. It's unclear what these events are supposed to mean for Billy and his life. It's unclear what the audience is supposed to make of Stan's descent into evil. The only suspense is in wondering if this thing is going to wander into the general vicinity of a point. It doesn't. Billy's fantasies should have been dispensed with and replaced by a plot that gave him some purpose and Stan some rationale. This is a classic example of a filmmaker coming up with some good scenes but not realizing they don't add up to a film. A bunch of supporting characters should have been removed or greatly de-emphasized because they don't contribute anything to the conflict between Billy and Stan.
Kalamity isn't a katastrophe. It's just a bad movie.
Putting that inspired choice aside, this is a flabby film that feels much longer than its 98 minute run time. It gets its own essential mystery wrong, bollixes the psychology of its antagonist and has a protagonist so passive he's practically in a coma. The story rests entirely on a difference between two characters that is never examined or explained and writer/director James M. Hausler wastes an enormous amount of time on a narrative device that does nothing and goes nowhere. The basic premise of Kalamity is sound and Jonathan Jackson does a nice job playing the facets of a character who's never integrated into a believable person. It's also nice to see Patricia Kalember get work. Sisters was a criminally underrated show. The bottom line on this production, though, is that it's the proverbial sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Billy (Nick Stahl) is a mid-20something guy who's returned home to Virginia after breaking up with his college student girlfriend (Beau Garrett) in Ohio. And let me just stop right here. Nick Stahl is a talented performer but he can't play mid 20s anymore. He's got a lived-in actor's face that doesn't look like it's been injected, pulled back or retouched. It's a great face, but not for somebody in their mid 20s. When the film slaps a ball cap on him in a flashback to pass him off as even younger, it's pathetic. He's not acting too old for the part and maybe some make up and getting in a bit better shape would have helped, but Stahl's apparent age really screwed up the whole sensibility of Billy and put the film in a hole from the very beginning.
Anyway, Billy returns home to find his best friend Stan (Jonathan Jackson) has become a raging douche who gets violently angry at the mention of his ex-girlfriend's name. Then Billy learns that Stan's ex has gone missing and, well, he sorta waits around for someone else to do something, although he instantly suspects that Stan's involved in the disappearance. Oh, and Billy also goes through the whole movie seeing and talking to his ex-girlfriend as a daydream/hallucination.
Here's the crux of the problem with Kalamity. It's about two guys experiencing the same heartbreak where one merely mopes around and the other turns to murder, but why Billy reacts one way and Stan another is never touched on. There's no reason even vaguely referenced at any point in the film. Without that emotional context, the only thing this movie can be about is the mystery of what Stan did and why he did it. However, any reasonably intelligent viewer figures both those things out immediately and Billy understands it the moment he first hears about Stan's missing ex. The only mystery here is why the hell Billy never calls the cops. Well, that and what the hell writer/director Hausler thought he was doing with Billy's girlfriend delusions.
Kalamity is a hook and a theme that never develop into a story. It's unclear what these events are supposed to mean for Billy and his life. It's unclear what the audience is supposed to make of Stan's descent into evil. The only suspense is in wondering if this thing is going to wander into the general vicinity of a point. It doesn't. Billy's fantasies should have been dispensed with and replaced by a plot that gave him some purpose and Stan some rationale. This is a classic example of a filmmaker coming up with some good scenes but not realizing they don't add up to a film. A bunch of supporting characters should have been removed or greatly de-emphasized because they don't contribute anything to the conflict between Billy and Stan.
Kalamity isn't a katastrophe. It's just a bad movie.