Title: BUREAUCRACY
Year: 2009
Directed by Mark Perreault
Writers Mark Perreault Rock Schroeter
Producers Andrew Perreault ... producer Rock Schroeter ... associate producer
Cast Jack Robinson ... Roger Van Gundy David Simon ... Mr. MacMurray Kaitlyn Black ... Patricia Jane Shepherd ... Mrs. Atwater Christine Haeberman ... Janice Alex Quattlander ... Eli Myles McLane ... Richard John Godley ... Detective Thompson Alvin Bellow ... Detective Highsmith Mike Holley ... Hardware Store Clerk Cheryl Murphy-Johnson ... Postal Clerk
Runtime: 87 mins
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Official website: www.bureaucracymovie.com
An underpaid, brown nosing and nerdy assistant to who takes care of a blind sister is driven to murder by his duplicitous boss when he finds out that he is being used, manipulated and driven into financial ruin.
The concept of obsession and corporate greed taken to an explosive extreme is not new. However it is always sympathetic and interesting. Unfortunately the most impressive thing about Bureaucracy is what it is about. What it has going for it in concept it lacks in execution.
The script although not overly wordy, lacks memorable lines and dialog. Positioned as a drama, at times the lines are so stilted that I couldn’t help waiting for the satiric punch line which never comes. Combined with long silences and close-ups, Bureaucracy has the feel of a 1950’s office melodrama with the high key lighting of a modern sitcom. If the sound or music track had at least given a cinematic clue I might have known what emotions were being elicited from the audience. Instead I remained distant from the story and constantly trying to figure out what was going on in the characters minds.
The acting, cinematography, directing and editing while pedestrian were not bad. Overall pretty good I would say. The production value was also not bad. So what is the problem with Bureaucracy? I have to conclude that it is neither nether fish nor fowl. It tries to do too much and does too little. The script and dialog are 1950’s but the lighting, sound and mis en scene are 2009. You would think that an 87 minute film would move quickly and yet it feels like three hours. By the end I felt that the story would have been better suited to a twenty five minute short. The payoff at the end just did not justify an hour and a half. Also, there are holes in the script that are incongruous. Because the lighting and sound do not help tell the story, the actions seem out of place and contrived; as does the ending. It is a hodge-podge of the cinematic language that it needs to tell the story effectively. Why?
This first outing for composer, director, writer, editor Mark Perrault is just that, a first outing. It suffers from a lack of experience and talent, as well as a lack of collaboration with experts in their specialties. In a different time, say the 1960’s, this film would have been simply a learning exercise to show once and then to move on from. In today’s democratized filmmaking era it is potential direct-to-DVD fare as well as festival submission. While I applaud his making of it, which is itself no easy task, I would recommend that he put it aside and move on. One Star.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments
Post a Comment