Last Day Of Summer (2009/E1 DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: C Feature: C
DJ Qualls
is a very good actor and actually began as a model, but has not had enough of a
chance to show how good he is.
Writer/Director Vlad Yudin’s Last
Day Of Summer (2009) gives him his best chance yet to show how talented he
is. Though the story is somewhat
predictable and a little formulaic, Qualls give such an interesting performance
that it was easier to watch than if he had not been cast.
Working
at a fast food place Joe (Qualls) does his best just to make some money to
survive, but he is being harassed by his mean-spirited boss Mr. Crolick
(William Sadler from Kinsey, Shawshank Redemption, Die Hard 2) in a way that is rather
criminal, especially when it comes to cleaning toilets he is not necessarily
supposed to be cleaning. Either way,
they have a falling out and Joe is fired, but Joe considers revenge, plus
kidnaps a young lady (Nikki Reed) who rejects him when all he wanted to do was
talk.
Some of
the set-ups are interesting, as is the cast, but this becomes too much of a
live-action cartoon as the comedy causes the rest of the work to suffer and the
script uses the comedy as a crutch when it should have been bolder and more
daring in exploring why Joe is on the edge and how the world we live in today
puts too many younger men in this position against their will and not from the
fault of their circumstances. See it if
you are interested in the Qualls work, but otherwise, I was disappointed
because this could have been an indie gem but stops too short too soon.
The anamorphically
enhanced 2.35 X 1 image was shot on the Panavision Genesis HD camera and it is
a look that has grown tired, but is particularly soft in this transfer, but it
is hard to tell if it is the shoot, the downtraded transfer, the styling or any
combination thereof. The Dolby Digital 5.1
mix is very limited and sometimes comes across as monophonic, with some audio
dropouts from the low budget and location shoot and too much of the sound coming
from the front channels (even the center channel), plus some flaws in both they
may not have had a chance to re-record.
The only extra is a making of featurette, but it is worth seeing after
watching the show.
- Nicholas Sheffo
