The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I bought this movie because I wanted to watch more movies with David Hewlett. I have to say he is really good in this film. He makes his Murray a believable person with faults and good points. At first I couldn't see how he could win against the gang( he is in a tree for most of the film, trapped) but he is a good talker and that is a real advantage and at times he sticks his foot is his mouth big time. The rest of the actors are good and believable. Only thing is that all of the main people are not who you think they are. Funny how we all think we can tell who everybody is just by meeting them. This movie proves this to not be the case. The acting in this low budget film is great and the story line is not new just not over done.

I was really curious to see how the people involved in the making of this film would sustain the idea of a man hiding in a tree while being menaced by a gang. Now that I've watched the film I can see that they not only managed it, they managed it very well :)The plot of this film surprised me quite a few times and it avoided stereotypical behaviour that I would normally expect in films with these types of characters.David Hewlett's performance as Murray is excellent, as are the performances of the other actors - everyone did a really good job.If you get the chance to watch this film then take it, you won't be disappointed.

I was flicking through channels on my TV dial at 1:30am couple of nights ago when I stumbled upon this thing already deep into opening credits. Though the little that I saw of the introductory sequence had me convinced it was at best a corny Canadian TV 'project' or an episode of some US syndicated TV series shot in Toronto I still decided to keep watching. And I'm glad I did. Well, kind of.The first part of the movie (chase scene, Murray getting on the tree, first physical confrontations before the impasse, etc.) is truly riveting. It exploits every big city dweller's palpable fear - that of being victimized in a random, senseless act of violence. Basically, this is the same shtick Steven Spielberg built his movie empire on: introduce a rudimentary phobia every normal person harbours to some degree, extend it to extreme levels, and then exploit it cinematically to no end - his movie "Duel", and even "Jaws" to a lesser extent, often came to mind during the initial stages of "Treed Murray". So, kudos to William Philips for, at least, keeping me on the edge of my seat. At this point I still cared about all characters and was really interested in seeing where the plot takes them.Unfortunately, the movie starts derailing sometime into the public park tree standoff. Despite coming off as this great menacing force in the beginning, watching these 5 hoodlums gets to be a major drag as time goes on. The screenplay tries its hardest to put a human face on them through minor, halfassed subplots, in hopes of providing the story with fresh legs, but all the details they (in)voluntarily surrender about personal hardships pale in comparison with the fact they're chomping at the bit to kill this random guy for absolutely no reason. We also learn Murray is no choir boy himself, but again, the fact that he cheats on his pregnant wife, occasionally uses hard drugs, and generally seems to be a manipulative, self involved jerk is completely irrelevant when viewed against the insanely murderous path these kids are on.The fact that screenplay calls on the kid-gangsters to take turns at being evil, insightful, conniving, benevolent, barbaric, caring, bloodthirsty, poignant, etc. doesn't help either. That it comes off hokey is no great surprise as such series of transformations would be next to impossible even for seasoned pros to pull off, let alone a bunch of teen actors.One also can't help but notice the unrealistic touches throughout the film. Murray, lame ad-exec who probably never lifted anything heavier than a pencil in his life, exhibits remarkable balance and stamina in fighting off a couple of charging gangbangers from a narrow tree branch. While incapacitating one of them, the other manages to get on the tree and Murray amazingly further succeeds in cuffing and tying him using a personal belt - quite a feat considering for example that it usually takes two trained cops to cuff an overzealous protester on terra firma.Still, I'd be more than willing to overlook all the artificial moments had the movie been more brave and direct. It started off with a lot of potential but quickly started losing its punch.

I caught this on cable last night and have to say that this was as riveting and shocking in places as Larry Clark's "Kids". To have a movie shot in one location solely relying on its script-writing is unusual, but a script working as effectively as this certainly provides a breath of fresh air. A hugely inventive and original film - see this or miss out.