Roulette- A movie review Paul R. Sieber
I love movies. At the theater, at home Horror, comedy, thriller, action, all kinds.
Like many folks I love the theater experience, but I have a home theater too, so I kinda get it at home, with cheaper popcorn, and the ability to pause the flick while I go to the bathroom.
When I like a film, I see it more than once, each time, I look at it with a little bit of a different perspective focusing on the music, sound, lighting, cinematography, acting, directing maybe I can be a little critical, but if I like a film, I want to break it down into its parts and see what made it tick.
So, along came a locally made indie film called ROULETTE. As with most lower budget indie films, I went into it not knowing exactly what to expect. Filmmaker Erik Kristopher Myers boasted that he was trying to make a film on a tiny budget that would look like a 2 million dollar film.
That's a heck of a boast.
Now,I've been fortunate to see this film several times now, at a theater, on a screen at a festival, and on my big screen in my man-cave and it seems to hold up every time. In fact, it actually seemed to get better.
The film begins with our three principal actors in a support group meeting. Actors Mike Baldwin, Ali Lukowski and Will Haza begin to take us with them on an incredible journey of self-reflection as we enter a "suicide room" with them, where the three proceed to flash back on their lives leading up to the support meeting, while playing a drunken game of Russian roulette.
So we start off the film with a bizarre premise, that delves into the humanity and horrors of their lives, eventually converging to a climactic confrontation that shows why the three of them are ultimately connected. I called it a journey, and that's really what the actors deliver here. With award winning performances by both Haza and Lukowski (and it is criminal that there also wasn't one for Baldwin), and surrounded by an amazingly talented supporting cast, you are drawn into their world, and become a part of their lives. At times I hated them, and at times I felt great pity for them, but that is how they were trying to portray the characters, and I believed every moment of their screen time as those three troubled souls.
As for those supporting actors, not one gave me a performance that I could not believe, and they seemed as important to the audience as they were to the main stars casting in this film was very well done. Stand out amongst the supporting cast would be Jan-David Soutar as Lukowski's boyfriend, such a natural presence on screen, so I expect we will see a lot more of him in the future along with Haza, Lukowski and Baldwin. Well, we SHOULD see more of them the acting in this film was nothing short of remarkable.
After watching it the first time, I knew there had to be more to this film than just great acting. The story itself moves at a slow pace, and pulls you along with it kicking and screaming. Most filmmakers would not have made a film like that, But Myers managed to craft the film in such a way, that at no time do you become distracted by the pacing, in fact, it helps to make all the events seem more real and believable.
Lighting seemed to play an important role in the film as well. Myers and his team played with color, giving each of the principal characters their own color tone throughout the film, and as their stories intertwined, these colors muted together, culminating in the stark reds of the "suicide room" scenes. This was a subtle effect, probably one most audience members would not even notice, but it helped to draw you more into the story, and its eventually finish. It was this type of attention to detail, and an engaging screenplay, that makes a film like Roulette stand up to repeated viewings.
With a moody score by composer Dan Schepleng, we are drawn even deeper into the dark waters of our three stars No, this isn't a happy movie. It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be a powerful film, and there is where it succeeds. Now, many folks will talk about the "controversial" final scene with one of the main characters. It's harsh, brutal and difficult to watch, but like master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock did in the infamous PSYCHO shower scene, I'm betting most audience members are actually "SEEING" more than is actually being shown. To actually have the audience members imaginations take over at this point is unheard of, but Myers pulls it off.
This is what indie films could be. At what cost? It took Myers several years to see this project through plagued with production issues, and trying to perfect even the tiniest detail in the future one could hope that Myers could get the budget he deserves, so he could bring it to the screen quicker not with less quality, but frankly, I'd like to see more of what he has in his twisted mind.
So, did he make a 2 million dollar film on a small budget? No. More like 3. Will I watch it again? Most likely. On a scale of Small popcorn to Large popcorn with extra butter:
I give it a Large popcorn with extra butter.
I love movies. At the theater, at home Horror, comedy, thriller, action, all kinds.
Like many folks I love the theater experience, but I have a home theater too, so I kinda get it at home, with cheaper popcorn, and the ability to pause the flick while I go to the bathroom.
When I like a film, I see it more than once, each time, I look at it with a little bit of a different perspective focusing on the music, sound, lighting, cinematography, acting, directing maybe I can be a little critical, but if I like a film, I want to break it down into its parts and see what made it tick.
So, along came a locally made indie film called ROULETTE. As with most lower budget indie films, I went into it not knowing exactly what to expect. Filmmaker Erik Kristopher Myers boasted that he was trying to make a film on a tiny budget that would look like a 2 million dollar film.
That's a heck of a boast.
Now,I've been fortunate to see this film several times now, at a theater, on a screen at a festival, and on my big screen in my man-cave and it seems to hold up every time. In fact, it actually seemed to get better.
The film begins with our three principal actors in a support group meeting. Actors Mike Baldwin, Ali Lukowski and Will Haza begin to take us with them on an incredible journey of self-reflection as we enter a "suicide room" with them, where the three proceed to flash back on their lives leading up to the support meeting, while playing a drunken game of Russian roulette.
So we start off the film with a bizarre premise, that delves into the humanity and horrors of their lives, eventually converging to a climactic confrontation that shows why the three of them are ultimately connected. I called it a journey, and that's really what the actors deliver here. With award winning performances by both Haza and Lukowski (and it is criminal that there also wasn't one for Baldwin), and surrounded by an amazingly talented supporting cast, you are drawn into their world, and become a part of their lives. At times I hated them, and at times I felt great pity for them, but that is how they were trying to portray the characters, and I believed every moment of their screen time as those three troubled souls.
As for those supporting actors, not one gave me a performance that I could not believe, and they seemed as important to the audience as they were to the main stars casting in this film was very well done. Stand out amongst the supporting cast would be Jan-David Soutar as Lukowski's boyfriend, such a natural presence on screen, so I expect we will see a lot more of him in the future along with Haza, Lukowski and Baldwin. Well, we SHOULD see more of them the acting in this film was nothing short of remarkable.
After watching it the first time, I knew there had to be more to this film than just great acting. The story itself moves at a slow pace, and pulls you along with it kicking and screaming. Most filmmakers would not have made a film like that, But Myers managed to craft the film in such a way, that at no time do you become distracted by the pacing, in fact, it helps to make all the events seem more real and believable.
Lighting seemed to play an important role in the film as well. Myers and his team played with color, giving each of the principal characters their own color tone throughout the film, and as their stories intertwined, these colors muted together, culminating in the stark reds of the "suicide room" scenes. This was a subtle effect, probably one most audience members would not even notice, but it helped to draw you more into the story, and its eventually finish. It was this type of attention to detail, and an engaging screenplay, that makes a film like Roulette stand up to repeated viewings.
With a moody score by composer Dan Schepleng, we are drawn even deeper into the dark waters of our three stars No, this isn't a happy movie. It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be a powerful film, and there is where it succeeds. Now, many folks will talk about the "controversial" final scene with one of the main characters. It's harsh, brutal and difficult to watch, but like master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock did in the infamous PSYCHO shower scene, I'm betting most audience members are actually "SEEING" more than is actually being shown. To actually have the audience members imaginations take over at this point is unheard of, but Myers pulls it off.
This is what indie films could be. At what cost? It took Myers several years to see this project through plagued with production issues, and trying to perfect even the tiniest detail in the future one could hope that Myers could get the budget he deserves, so he could bring it to the screen quicker not with less quality, but frankly, I'd like to see more of what he has in his twisted mind.
So, did he make a 2 million dollar film on a small budget? No. More like 3. Will I watch it again? Most likely. On a scale of Small popcorn to Large popcorn with extra butter:
I give it a Large popcorn with extra butter.