FILM INFO: Chained to a radiator after a night out. Philip slowly pieces together the events of the previous night. He soon discovers that he is at the mercy of Wayne, an evangelical fundamentalist, who has been driven to revenge over the death of his wife and son.
WRITTEN BY: Marcus Scott, Heath Hetherington DIRECTED BY: Marcus Scott, Heath Hetherington GENRE: Horror, Thriller TIME: 71 minutes.
The cautionary story of drinking, driving and death. The never ending cliche, and overflowing bucket of reasons why we shouldn't do it. Only in the case of "Recovery" from writers, directors Marcus Scott and Heath Hetherington, this cautionary story goes above and beyond the immediate victims, and spins a yarn of kidnapping and murder. The simple version of this story, is one we've seen before. The death of a loved one or loved ones, the mentally righteous path to redemption, and of course, revenge. As the final scenes of "Recovery" play out, you may find you've been slightly duped by a twist ending of sorts - but it's nothing so earth shattering you're left with your jaw hanging open. In the end, "Recovery" strives to focus more on entertainment... with a side order of "don't do this or else" thrown in for good measure. Any way I look at it however, I can't deny some of the excellent elements that actually "do" make this a good film. The interesting twist at the end, the compelling back-story that really does getting you thinking about actions and consequences of the choices we make, and of course, the excellent cast that drive the nail home. "Recovery" truly is an entertaining film with many excellent qualities that help push the narrative forward. As a feature length, low budget indie film, we have a win-win production. That says a lot - considering the amount of low budget "short" films that fall flat. Keeping a viewer onscreen for anything more than fifteen minutes is tough. Let alone over an hour. Cigars should be given for sure. Mostly, the technical aspects of "Recovery" leave little to nit-pick. There is a good story, told well, with an interesting twist at the end. There is some nice camera work, audio, and colors dancing around, enticing interest from your senses. As I've hinted at above, the leading cast members all play their roles exceptionally well. Especially for an indie film. Adam Cryne and A.J. Salisbury not only play off one and other near perfectly, but also manage to capture and maintain said "interest" perfectly when onscreen together. A chemistry rarely seen with low budget productions. Where "Recovery" does falter slightly is with the editing. Or, more specifically, the choice to "fade to black" dozens of times through-out the film. Literally... we're talking five or six "fade to black" transitions within the first five minutes. This trend continues the entire film and quite frankly... drove me insane. We've been hard-wired, as viewers, to think a "fade to black" means time has passed. Lots of it. It's not meant to be used as a transition to change scenes. Even when "said" scenes are the lead-up to a current scenario. A straight cut is the norm for doing this. I'm all for "style" with indie productions, but this transition choice simply didn't work for me. At all. It kept driving me out of the film every time. Aside from that however, save a few corny "gore" sound effects used loudly at the end of the film, I really have nothing else to complain about. Generally writing, "Recovery" shows itself well to the critical eyes of most viewers. When it's all said and done, I was not only impressed with this production, I considered myself privileged to have had the chance to watch and throw in my two cents. This is a film I would gladly purchase for my home collection, when the time comes. We, especially myself, sometimes get all wrapped up in the production elements of an indie film... and forget to ask ourselves one crucial question. Did we enjoy the movie? When the credits roll, and we're thinking of what we liked or didn't like about the film... don't forget that in the end, our overall enjoyment is all that really matters. I did enjoy the film. It kept my eyes onscreen for over an hour. When and "if" asked for a recommendation, would I give it? Surely yes. A great job all around. If you're into tension inducing movies, that rely on atmosphere to keep you interested... this ones for you. No question about that.
