Strong and Moving!

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

***SPOILERS*** Somewhat over plotted film about communications with the dead involving film makers Jen Zellan, Elisabeth Rohm, and her departed from the scene boyfriend Wayne Monroe, Waylon Rayne. It was after a big party that the two attended that Jen had this strange dream of Wade making out with her friend and Wade's former girlfriend Stacey, Alicia Saunders! Wade didn't at all looked surprised in Jen finding him in such a compromising position and told her to wake up which in fact she did!It' later that day that Jen is visited by detectives Amos & Childers, Roma Maffia & David E.Webb, who give her the bad news that Wade was killed in a car accident going to his and Jen's place of work! Shocked at the loss of Wade Jen reviewing a video he left for her just before he was killed notices that he's actually trying to not only get in contact with her from beyond the grave but also warning Jen about her life being in danger from the person who's responsible, by cutting his cars' break wires, for his murder!Flipping out over what she saw on the video tape Jen's worst fears, that she's suppressed over the years, start to come to the surface to haunt her! The fact that when Jen was 12 years old she was responsible for the death, also in a car accident, of her entire family by trying to grab her kid sisters Susan's, Anamllse Basso, doll! That caused her father to lose control of the car and drive head first into an 18 wheeler killing himself Jen's mom and little Susan!To bring Jen back to the real world there's also this big sinister looking man who's stalking her all throughout the movie! As we later see this guy was at the party that both Jen & Wade attended the night before Wade's tragic death! And on top of all that Wade unsuspectingly took a video of him and the guest of honor Missouri Senator Steve Berwinn, Patrick Stanley, taking what looks like a payoff from both Jen and Wade's friend at the party Stan, Joel Lewis! Was that,the video that Wade took,the reason Wade was murdered!***SPOILERS*** The film has Jen slowly going out of her mind as she feels that her seeing Wade come to life,in her video editing machine, has something to do with the medication she's been on! It's only later when Wade proves to her satisfaction that he's, the guy on the TV screen, the real deal that really has Jen going over the deep end! All this weirdness on Jen's part has the police on the case, Amos & Childers, suspect that she in fact was the person responsible for Wade's murder! It's only when to guy stalking Jan after clubbing her new boyfriend Tucker McSweeney, Matthew Del Negro, and attempting to murder her, whom Jen shot with Tucker's gun, was revealed that the police finally realized that she was in fact,in her own mind, was telling the truth! The big surprise came,like it usually does, at the end when Wade's killer came out of the shadows to finish Jen off, with a overdoes of barbiturates slipped into her wine glass, before she uncovered the truth!

After about 45 minutes of developing characters that we don't care about, the director, writer, and editor seem to run out of ideas. Lots of red herrings are set out. Then they tie it all together with some voice over and flashback. Rohm tries hard, and probably does what the director asks, but she comes out looking like a pretty bad actress. It is hard to tell if the problem is her or the outtakes. Each individual scene is decent, but linked together they are inconsistent and contradictory in tone and emotion. I finished with the feeling that this film could have been a lot better if the crew had worked a little harder.

I caught this a few days ago on Showtime while flipping through the cable guide. I'm a fan of Elisabeth Rohm from her Law and Order days and a huge fan of Roma Maffia from the first time I saw her in Disclosure with Michael Douglas. I'd never heard of this film so I didn't know what to expect, but the opening scene hooked me right in and I immediately found myself engrossed in the story.I thought all the characters were engaging and I became caught up in the various story lines and plot twists throughout. Elisabeth plays the main character, Jennifer, a complex woman both fragile and strong who's life is an endless series of tragedies. She's on psychiatric medication due to her feelings of guilt on being the only survivor of a car crash that killed the rest of her family when she was little. If that isn't bad enough, the morning after her and her boyfriend host a party she loses him in a car crash and then some really strange things start happening.As you watch, you question many things such as is her boyfriend really communicating with her through video footage from the party or is it all in her head? Is her dead, bloody little sister really appearing to her or is that also in her head? Was her boyfriend's death really an accident? And if not, was she the intended target? And who is stalking her? As the homicide detective, played by Roma, begins to wonder if Jennifer is responsible for her boyfriend's death, Jennifer starts to wonder too! Though I could tell this was a low-budget film due to the mostly TV-actor cast and the limited locations, I thought, for the most part, the acting was superb as was the writing and directing. And the cinematography and score were outstanding! As I watched the film I wondered how they were going to resolve the plot twists and, considering the setup and tragedies surrounding Jennifer's life, how it could possibly have a satisfying ending. But to my surprise I found the ending very satisfying and emotionally uplifting. Check it out, it'll be well worth it.

Although this is a low-budget film, one would never know it given such a good story with solid acting. You'll see a few familiar faces and a few news ones that play a convincing roll. I was impressed with the cinematography. Great cityscapes and good locations were chosen wisely. It is clear that the director of this film has a solid grasp of the important elements of making good films! Impressively, you won't find a cheesy 'canned' soundtrack either. The music fits nicely with the storyline. I couldn't find any flaws that often plague low-budget movies.You'll want to check this out on DVD for sure. The special features are just one more nice bonus for a good film. It also includes a video for the ending song. What could be better ?! Overall a film worth seeing. I would highly recommend this film to anyone!