I rented "Trigger Man" last night because I was looking for something a little different, a little out of the "mainstream", and I'm not sorry I did.
Admittedly, you have to be in a certain mood to be appreciate this movie's minor pleasures. You have to be willing to sit back and let the movie unfold before you get to the "good part". I thought the minimalist digital film photography helped the beauty of the setting come across to the viewer, luring a person into a fairly bucolic mood before the abrupt shocking change of pace in the 2nd half. It's obvious that none of the previous reviewers were in that mood.
"Trigger Man" has a certain feel that reminds me a lot of "Blair Witch Project", and also "Deliverance", and maybe a bit of "The Most Dangerous Game." It isn't as good as any of those films, of course, but it tries hard to build and sustain a mood (actually two moods), and it does a decent job of it. The viewer has to be willing to accept a certain "flatness" in the tone of the film, instead of the usual jump cuts and musical "stings" and plot gimmicks that directors usually employ to manipulate the emotions of the viewer. I was OK with that, since I've come to regard even master manipulators like Spielberg as heavy handed exploiters of my basic instincts. This movie eschews all that...and some people may resent the lack of nice, comforting cinematic and plotting clichés that reassure the audience that they are on familiar territory.
Also in its favor is a nice, moody soundtrack with cleverly miked and treated strings instead the usual overworked synthesizers.
Yes, the actors aren't very photogenic, yes the plot relies on a several unlikely coincidences and at least two logical flaws that are hard to overlook.
But I enjoyed "Trigger Man" for what it was, and thought it worth the rental.
Admittedly, you have to be in a certain mood to be appreciate this movie's minor pleasures. You have to be willing to sit back and let the movie unfold before you get to the "good part". I thought the minimalist digital film photography helped the beauty of the setting come across to the viewer, luring a person into a fairly bucolic mood before the abrupt shocking change of pace in the 2nd half. It's obvious that none of the previous reviewers were in that mood.
"Trigger Man" has a certain feel that reminds me a lot of "Blair Witch Project", and also "Deliverance", and maybe a bit of "The Most Dangerous Game." It isn't as good as any of those films, of course, but it tries hard to build and sustain a mood (actually two moods), and it does a decent job of it. The viewer has to be willing to accept a certain "flatness" in the tone of the film, instead of the usual jump cuts and musical "stings" and plot gimmicks that directors usually employ to manipulate the emotions of the viewer. I was OK with that, since I've come to regard even master manipulators like Spielberg as heavy handed exploiters of my basic instincts. This movie eschews all that...and some people may resent the lack of nice, comforting cinematic and plotting clichés that reassure the audience that they are on familiar territory.
Also in its favor is a nice, moody soundtrack with cleverly miked and treated strings instead the usual overworked synthesizers.
Yes, the actors aren't very photogenic, yes the plot relies on a several unlikely coincidences and at least two logical flaws that are hard to overlook.
But I enjoyed "Trigger Man" for what it was, and thought it worth the rental.