Alarm (2008/IFC/MPI DVD) + The Disappearance Of Alice Creed (2009/Anchor Bay Blu-ray) + Life In Flight (2008/IFC/MPI DVD)

 

Picture: C+/B-/C     Sound: C+/B/B-     Extras: C-/C/C-     Films: C+/C/B-

 

 

Independent feature production does not have to be bad, but the following three titles show how they can work if they do not turn to gimmicks and what happens when they do.

 

Gerard Stembridge’s Alarm (2008) is the first of two thrillers that could have worked, as Molly (Ruth Bradley) gets a new house and has to decide whether she is being stalked or just imagining it.  Before this, she gets a new boyfriend in Mal (Aidan Turner), but she even starts to imagine he is not on her side.  Of course, it is a nice house and she gets it by convincing the real estate guy to give it to her when it has already been promised to a male client.

 

When the suspense starts to kick in, the film’s question is an old one: is she losing her mind or is there someone out to get her?  Is it several people?  As well made as this can be, the resolution finds an odd way to have it both ways and it does not work, making it a cop out at the end.  Add the ways the mystery is set up and its resolution is impossible and the whole thing caves in when it should have worked.

 

The Disappearance Of Alice Creed (2009) is more blatant in its female lead (Gemma Arterton of Quantum Of Solace) is kidnapped and held hostage by two masked men who tell her she will not be harmed.  They are up to a convoluted plot for financial gain and know her, plus she may know them.  The background story is actually weak and an idiot plot, oversimplified and an excuse to tie Miss Arterton up so she can show her acting skills in being scarred, then getting angry and fighting back.  I like her very much, but this is an exploitation film trying to be clever and not working at all.

 

Life In Flight (2008) is not a thriller like the other two and is a big surprise of a drama about a married architect (Patrick Wilson in one of his best performances and roles to date) who has a happy family life, a good wife (Amy Smart of Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers), great son and is on the verge of making a bundle by merging his firm with a bigger one.  However, he is not totally happy and does not realize this until he meets another architect named Kate (Lynn Collins of Friedkin’s Bug and HBO’s True Blood) who he starts to fall for and realizes his life has become too mechanical.

 

What could have been a cliché-fest turns out to be a remarkably convincing, rich and very believable tale of a no-fault situation for all as Hecht proves her talents by hitting the nail on the head every time about how this kind of thing sadly happens.  How young adults get into family situations and sometimes do it for the wrong reasons.  That building a family, no matter the good intents and how much the coup0ole cares, can have a problematic foundation when they were not connecting fully to begin with.

 

This is the kind of smart, small, powerful, honest and for real film about relationships we used to see much more often decades ago and at only 78 minutes long, delivers much more impact than literally hundreds of similar formulaic Hollywood product (including from the now-folded boutique divisions) that would do the same, but with phony limitations and especially when it was men trying to feign the woman’s point of view.

 

Life In Flight is an all too rare gem all serious film fans will want to go out of their way for.  Would someone please green-light Miss Hecht’s next project, quickly?

 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Alarm is a little soft throughout, but is not a bad shoot, shot in HD.  However, this interferes with some good locations and camerawork and I wished it were on film.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not as good as it could have been, especially with a thriller, as the dialogue is not up to the music, but it is listenable.  The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Creed is the best of the three here as you would expect from a Blu-ray over DVDs, yet it is too soft too often (shot in HD instead of film) and the result is not too impressive.  The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix on many such Anchor Bay releases has been impressive of late and Creed is no exception, with a rich recording and solid soundfield throughout.  Too bad the film did not work.  That leaves the anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Flight, which is sadly the softest of the three with slight detail softness throughout despite the good camera angles, subjects and locations.  Too bad, because I liked the actual look of it.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is more active than expected, well recorded and nicely done for a low budget production.

 

The only extras on Alarm and Flight include their original trailers, while Creed has Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary, a Storyboards Featurette and Outtakes.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo