"Stand Clear of the Closing Doors" received universally positive reviews on Metacritic. Stephen Holden writing in the "NY Times" called it a "small miracle of a film." If I could speak with Mr. Holden, I would ask him, "did we see the same film?" Obviously, it's the visual palate that mostly entrances critics such as Mr. Holden. He adds that the movie, "captures the grass-roots swirl of New York City with an extraordinary sensory attuning to urban life."
"Stand Clear" in actuality features a feeble story. A 13 year old boy, Ricky, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome (and is possibly borderline autistic) lives with his mother, Mariana, and 15 year old sister, Carla, in Far Rockaway, Queens. One day Ricky walks out of the apartment, and his mother soon calls 911, reporting that her child is missing.
While Ricky rides the subway, we see virtually everything from his point of view. He encounters various miscreants, typical of the type of unpleasant people one expects to meet on a NYC subway or in a subway station, every day. Ricky's confusion is heightened on Halloween, when various costumed characters make their entrance. This is perhaps the "Grass-roots swirl" that Mr. Holden refers to. Keep in mind that Ricky's travails go on ad infinitum and contributes to the overall tediousness of the narrative.
Meanwhile, Mariana pines away for her lost son, argues with her resentful daughter and expresses her deep disappointment with the father, Ricardo Sr., who is been away at work and hasn't joined the search for little Ricky, fast enough.
"Stand Clear" is nothing more than a short expanded into a feature and all the "experimental" cinematography is not sufficient enough to cover up for the fact that this is a story that begs to be called "soporific." Credit the actors for trying, but beware: this is a real slow grind!
"Stand Clear" in actuality features a feeble story. A 13 year old boy, Ricky, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome (and is possibly borderline autistic) lives with his mother, Mariana, and 15 year old sister, Carla, in Far Rockaway, Queens. One day Ricky walks out of the apartment, and his mother soon calls 911, reporting that her child is missing.
While Ricky rides the subway, we see virtually everything from his point of view. He encounters various miscreants, typical of the type of unpleasant people one expects to meet on a NYC subway or in a subway station, every day. Ricky's confusion is heightened on Halloween, when various costumed characters make their entrance. This is perhaps the "Grass-roots swirl" that Mr. Holden refers to. Keep in mind that Ricky's travails go on ad infinitum and contributes to the overall tediousness of the narrative.
Meanwhile, Mariana pines away for her lost son, argues with her resentful daughter and expresses her deep disappointment with the father, Ricardo Sr., who is been away at work and hasn't joined the search for little Ricky, fast enough.
"Stand Clear" is nothing more than a short expanded into a feature and all the "experimental" cinematography is not sufficient enough to cover up for the fact that this is a story that begs to be called "soporific." Credit the actors for trying, but beware: this is a real slow grind!