Boy, did I think this movie was going to suck. It had all the classic signs. Cheap-looking DVD packaging, a cast full of unknowns and a writer/director I've never heard of. Then when it started, I was even more sure. It looked like one of those low budget indy flicks made on somebody's credit card. In my experience, those four things have heralded so much awful cinema that I couldn't help but expect One Take to join the long list of crap I've suffered through.
ThenÂ…something amazing happened. It turned out that this film doesn't suck at all. It's actually quite engaging and even sweet. The story's concept was interesting. The dialog was fairly clever. The acting and direction were both above average. Yes, One Take does build up to a big revelation at the end which would have been ridiculous in 1997 and has only gotten sillier as the years have passed, but that surprisingly doesn't ruin anything. This is a nice little film and I'm glad I watched it.
4 years after he broke up with his girlfriend and one week after he got a phone call that she died, Kevin (Jamison Selby) gets a photo in the mail. It's of he and his now-deceased girlfriend Jessica (Jessica Queller) on a hiking trip with Jessica's handwriting on the back. The problem is that Kevin was told a week ago that Jessica had died and the letter was mailed two days ago. To resolve this paradox, Kevin takes to the road to follow his crazy notion that his old girlfriend may not be dead after all. Accompanying him on his quest is Jerry (Karl Giant), Jessica's sullen and antisocial younger brother and Kevin's old friend Jon (Kevin Orton), a grimly focused and oddly well groomed hippie. Oh, and Kevin is also joined by a hallucination of Jessica that appeared and started talking to him when he was told of her death.
The threesome that's really a foursome head to upstate New York to Jessica's hometown to find out if anyone knows anything about the mystery photo. Kevin is stonewalled by Jessica's mom (Donna Hayden) and supported by Dawn (Sasha Graham), an old classmate of Jessica and Kevin's. While it's all going on, Kevin not only has Jessica around as an imaginary friend, he also has some weird dreams and memories of Jessica, memories where he's sometimes aware that he's remembering and is able to comment on what's going on. Eventually, Kevin gets to the aforementioned big revelation but by that time I liked One Take so much I couldn't do anything but indulgently roll my eyes at how nonsensical it was.
I think there are two major things, other than the decent quality of the material and performances, that make this movie so enjoyable. One is that it is decidedly uncynical. Nothing in the story nor any of the characters is kept at ironic distance. This film is not at all concerned about coming off cheesy or too sentimental, which enables it to be cheesy and sentimental without being annoying. This isn't a tale or a filmmaker trying to be hip or cool and that emotional earnestness is something to which the audience can honestly respond. Secondly, I love the way writer/director Dan Wachpress uses Kevin's dreams, memories and hallucinations of Jessica to represent the personal confusion and reassessment going on in his head and his heart. At first it seems like the sort of shtick used to pad out a film festival short to feature length, but Wachpress genuinely has a point and a purpose to it.
Praise must also be given to Jamison Selby, Jessica Queller and Sasha Graham as Kevin, his dead girlfriend and the woman who might come between them. All three give very relaxed and appealing performances, the sort of acting that makes you want to see them in other things.
One Take is a winning and well made bit of movie magic. If you see it at wherever you get DVDs, give it a try.
ThenÂ…something amazing happened. It turned out that this film doesn't suck at all. It's actually quite engaging and even sweet. The story's concept was interesting. The dialog was fairly clever. The acting and direction were both above average. Yes, One Take does build up to a big revelation at the end which would have been ridiculous in 1997 and has only gotten sillier as the years have passed, but that surprisingly doesn't ruin anything. This is a nice little film and I'm glad I watched it.
4 years after he broke up with his girlfriend and one week after he got a phone call that she died, Kevin (Jamison Selby) gets a photo in the mail. It's of he and his now-deceased girlfriend Jessica (Jessica Queller) on a hiking trip with Jessica's handwriting on the back. The problem is that Kevin was told a week ago that Jessica had died and the letter was mailed two days ago. To resolve this paradox, Kevin takes to the road to follow his crazy notion that his old girlfriend may not be dead after all. Accompanying him on his quest is Jerry (Karl Giant), Jessica's sullen and antisocial younger brother and Kevin's old friend Jon (Kevin Orton), a grimly focused and oddly well groomed hippie. Oh, and Kevin is also joined by a hallucination of Jessica that appeared and started talking to him when he was told of her death.
The threesome that's really a foursome head to upstate New York to Jessica's hometown to find out if anyone knows anything about the mystery photo. Kevin is stonewalled by Jessica's mom (Donna Hayden) and supported by Dawn (Sasha Graham), an old classmate of Jessica and Kevin's. While it's all going on, Kevin not only has Jessica around as an imaginary friend, he also has some weird dreams and memories of Jessica, memories where he's sometimes aware that he's remembering and is able to comment on what's going on. Eventually, Kevin gets to the aforementioned big revelation but by that time I liked One Take so much I couldn't do anything but indulgently roll my eyes at how nonsensical it was.
I think there are two major things, other than the decent quality of the material and performances, that make this movie so enjoyable. One is that it is decidedly uncynical. Nothing in the story nor any of the characters is kept at ironic distance. This film is not at all concerned about coming off cheesy or too sentimental, which enables it to be cheesy and sentimental without being annoying. This isn't a tale or a filmmaker trying to be hip or cool and that emotional earnestness is something to which the audience can honestly respond. Secondly, I love the way writer/director Dan Wachpress uses Kevin's dreams, memories and hallucinations of Jessica to represent the personal confusion and reassessment going on in his head and his heart. At first it seems like the sort of shtick used to pad out a film festival short to feature length, but Wachpress genuinely has a point and a purpose to it.
Praise must also be given to Jamison Selby, Jessica Queller and Sasha Graham as Kevin, his dead girlfriend and the woman who might come between them. All three give very relaxed and appealing performances, the sort of acting that makes you want to see them in other things.
One Take is a winning and well made bit of movie magic. If you see it at wherever you get DVDs, give it a try.
