Well, what to say about this odd short movie? I like the music--Baroque, Bach-like, wistful. I like the use of black and white film. I like the way the characters are presented in a disjointed way. I like the idea of presenting a small suburban town "as it is." I like some of the dialogue. I like some of the acting.
But then there are some things in the film that seem like they were not really thought through completely by the director/writer. I like some of Madeline Kahn's character in this film, but other parts, I just don't get. The same goes for the characters portrayed by Edie Falco and Aaron Harnick. There's a sense for me that the writer doesn't know whether he wants to make all of these characters "real" or "melodramatized." Case in point would be scene when Kahn is talking to her neighbor during the eclipse and the dialogue sort of veers from reality-based to comic melodramatic. Perhaps this was intentional on the part of the writer/director, but for me, it was disconcerting. And what was up with the whole part where Kahn keeps saying, "We're spacemen"? That got annoying to me after about one minute.
I guess what bothered me, what I wanted from this film, was acting and dialogue that matched the melancholy-ish soundtrack better. Something more intimate, less distancing with moments of comedy. Lots of potential, but in the end, doesn't deliver in my opinion.
But then there are some things in the film that seem like they were not really thought through completely by the director/writer. I like some of Madeline Kahn's character in this film, but other parts, I just don't get. The same goes for the characters portrayed by Edie Falco and Aaron Harnick. There's a sense for me that the writer doesn't know whether he wants to make all of these characters "real" or "melodramatized." Case in point would be scene when Kahn is talking to her neighbor during the eclipse and the dialogue sort of veers from reality-based to comic melodramatic. Perhaps this was intentional on the part of the writer/director, but for me, it was disconcerting. And what was up with the whole part where Kahn keeps saying, "We're spacemen"? That got annoying to me after about one minute.
I guess what bothered me, what I wanted from this film, was acting and dialogue that matched the melancholy-ish soundtrack better. Something more intimate, less distancing with moments of comedy. Lots of potential, but in the end, doesn't deliver in my opinion.