Aaron Coffman was kind enough to send me his short film, Stealing Home. I've been following his blog for a while now, and always thought through his stills & trailer that this movie looked pretty good. But, of course, the entire film could have sucked balls.
Well, it didn't. At all.
My review Of Stealing Home:
If I could describe it in one word I'd say "excellent." This is a fine, fine film. And I say film because, well, it was actually made on FILM. And it's a beautiful thing to see. God, I miss it. My last handful of projects have all been DV, and while DV is okay to use it simply does not compare. There is a beauty and quality to film that can't be topped.
The script - The story is about a mother & son trying to connect after a divorce. The script itself is good, Aaron uses minimal dialogue throughout, but what's most important is what's NOT being said. What these characters are feeling is the focus, and he really captured that. I went through a divorce myself, although I was 9 (months) old when it happened in my situation, the point is the aftermath is brutal, terrifying, and life shattering. Although this movie takes place after the divorce, you can see it's lasting effect on the son.
Sound - Was decent. A few minor sound problems, nothing that took me out of the film.
Direction - Perfect. The shots were solid, and not wasted. What I really liked was how Aaron kept the camera moving. Too many movies rely on boring/uninteresting static shots. But he wasn't moving it just the the hell of it either. The performances were top notch. Very natural. And the kid who played the son, Grady, (Mark Asser) was great, I've worked with plenty of kids who were not, let's just say, camera-ready. This kid was natural and he seemed to really nail the character and the emotions. Dad was good in a small role, and Mom (Libby Bibb) was excellent. All around, a well-casted movie. And this type of movie needed a solid cast who understood the material. They nailed it. Kudos to Aaron for getting these performances.
Cinematography - Well, like I said, I loved the look of it. But the lighting (both interiors & exteriors) also looked great. The colors really stood out, and the framing was perfect.
Pacing - Just a note that this flew by. It's a little over 15 minutes long, but I've seen plenty of shorts that feel like 3 hours. Not this. Like I said, not a shot was wasted.
Love to see a feature of this. I think the possibility is there, expanding the story/characters, etc. There's a ton of material here. It's nice & refreshing to see a filmmaker out there with some actual talent, even if he is from St. Louis.
Congrats, Aaron. Keep us posted!
Check out Aaron's website/blog here.
Check out Aaron's myspace page here.
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