The characters suddenly "change" throughout the film, inconsistently and illogically - there is no "why." For instance, at the beginning of the movie, William/Charles is in it for the money. A little later on, he becomes overly critical of his fiancé, Fiona... and earns her wrath. Yet, if his motives are monetary, why would he do this? And then, he "loves" her... Huh? I'm not faulting the acting. It's the writing. There is no reason for the characters to grow and change. Their arcs just appear out of nowhere.
There is an eventual peeling back Charles' grifter-like nature and a reveal of his moral/kind underbelly. Not too badly done... (except for the out-of-the-blue change for the better regarding his relationship with Leonard, his brother, at the end).
I suppose the change in William/Charles was intended to be juxtaposed with a peeling back of Fiona's family members' socially correct demeanor and impeccable lineage to reveal a quite improper (lots of expletives), false (lots of dissatisfaction), and even "grifter-like" side (in the case of Fiona) true nature.
Unfortunately, it all falls flat and is little more than a fait accompli through the use of conclusory dialog. There are no motivations. There is no real character angst and growth.
Too bad. Likable characters, likable actors. But a very tepid end result. Even the music was one-note...
Insult was added to injury by the use of gratuitous shock-value elements that were totally out of place and overdone... The "licking" that was to occur is but one, small example.
Shame on you, Jason Mann - twice (as co-writer and director). The film looked nice enough. All of your suffering (film versus video, locale, night/day, the car crash... and even Ms Browns' overblown tangles with you) were for naught. A good movie begins with a good script and ends with good storytelling. Unfortunately, neither was present in your film.
There is an eventual peeling back Charles' grifter-like nature and a reveal of his moral/kind underbelly. Not too badly done... (except for the out-of-the-blue change for the better regarding his relationship with Leonard, his brother, at the end).
I suppose the change in William/Charles was intended to be juxtaposed with a peeling back of Fiona's family members' socially correct demeanor and impeccable lineage to reveal a quite improper (lots of expletives), false (lots of dissatisfaction), and even "grifter-like" side (in the case of Fiona) true nature.
Unfortunately, it all falls flat and is little more than a fait accompli through the use of conclusory dialog. There are no motivations. There is no real character angst and growth.
Too bad. Likable characters, likable actors. But a very tepid end result. Even the music was one-note...
Insult was added to injury by the use of gratuitous shock-value elements that were totally out of place and overdone... The "licking" that was to occur is but one, small example.
Shame on you, Jason Mann - twice (as co-writer and director). The film looked nice enough. All of your suffering (film versus video, locale, night/day, the car crash... and even Ms Browns' overblown tangles with you) were for naught. A good movie begins with a good script and ends with good storytelling. Unfortunately, neither was present in your film.