Film 10 (8/30/2005)

Mind the Gap (2004)

Director: Eric Schaeffer

Recommended by: nobody

Has Fentablar seen this before?: No.

Well, this film was actually better than I hoped it would be. It was not my original intention to watch this film, yet while I was at Blockbuster lamenting over the shoddy selection this film caught my attention. So, I took a chance - and I'm glad I did.

Mind the Gap is five separate emotional dramas wrapped into one, and surprisingly this is done in a fairly decent manner. Before viewing this film, all I really knew about it was the gist: a synchronous tale of five separate characters who somehow intertwine at the end. Throughout the first few scenes, I felt the characters were being presented rather well. Roughly around the midway point, I started to wonder how these characters would manage to connect and began to worry this would not turn out well at all. Either they never would actually connect or - perhaps even worse - they would connect in a very cliche and either convenient or illogical manner.

Yet, it turns out to be neither of those. In fact not all the characters tangibly connect, though they do so intangibly throughout various segments of their own story.

In the end, I will say this: at parts I laughed or smiled, at points I was rather moved (even shed a tear or two). To me, that makes a film good, even if it does not score well aesthetically.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: 5/5. I doubt that many, if even a few, will agree with me on this. But, this film worked for me and I truly appreciated how each character's storyline unfolded.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: 2/5. I really feel that this lacked, significantly. Considering the subject matter, there is a far greater level of visual emotion this film could have striven towards. Given that Eric Schaeffer wrote, directed and produced this film, it seems his skill in this area is either lacking or he decided to downplay this element by deciding its contribution unnecessary.

Overall Acting: 4/5. Nothing that was absolutely astounding, but none-the-less very good acting all-around.

Score/Soundtrack: 5/5. Here is another rating with which many may not concur. Again, this is something that worked for me and played well with the mood of each scene.

OVERALL RATING: 4/5

~Fentablar~