If you were asked to do something unthinkable and told that one act would benefit a great number of people, would you do it? If it was for the “greater good” would that make the act somewhat justifiable? That well describes how protagonist, Mark, being questioned by police, feels in the opening scene of the Andrew Douglas directed thriller U Want Me 2 Kill Him?, a drama based on events that occurred in 2003 in the UK. The Vanity Fair article released a couple of years after the incident occurs describes in detail the shocking events that took place. After reading both the article and viewing the film, I was astounded and in disbelief at the lengths to which an individual would go to gain the affections of another person.

This is the vivid picture that Andrew Douglas paints as he goes back in time and retells the true story of a troubled teen looking for friendship who becomes the unsuspecting victim in a tangled web of lies and deceit. 16-year-old Mark is an average teenager, he lives with both parents, has no trouble dating , excels at sports and is getting by relatively well with his schoolwork. However, behind closed doors, Mark leads a different life. Spending much of his time cooped up in his bedroom on internet chat rooms, where he encounters some interesting people. People he knows he would not associate with in real life but who, in the virtual world, garner his friendship. Mark develops a serious online relationship with a girl named Rachel who, along with her possessive and abusive boyfriend, are in the witness protection program. Mark and Rachel love each other but and have a deep friendship, so when Rachel asks Mark to look out for her younger brother, John, who attends the same school as Mark, he agrees. Over time, Rachel and Mark’s online fling brings them closer together though they have never actually met, and ultimately this leads to Rachel’s death at the hands of her boyfriend who grows increasingly jealous of their relationship.

After her death, Mark and John grow closer and an unlikely friendship develops. Though they spend a lot of time together and seemingly get along it is clear that in any other situation these two boys would not strike up a friendship. Mark’s outgoing, confident demeanor does not quite match John’s withdrawn, introverted self. What brings them closer is in fact their deep love for Rachel and hatred for the one who took her away from them, and their insatiable need to avenge her death. It is this need that ultimately blinds Mark  to the fact that John is not the friend that he appears. The death of Rachel is secondary to a bigger issue, one that Mark fails to realize. His friend is more manipulative than he first thought, and Mark learns John’s true motivations and priorities.

Frequently discussing the topic of Rachel’s death and his need for revenge in online chatrooms, Mark finds himself the target of Rachel’s boyfriend, and soon piques the interest of the British secret service. The authorities enlist Mark’s help in preventing a crime with large-scale casualties, and he’s faced with the serious dilemma of choosing between the good of many and the good of one.

U Want Me 2 Kill Him? succeeds in not only being a gripping drama but also magnifies the harrowing dangers that lie behind the screen of a computer. While based on a true story, it is refreshing to see that the events depicted are not portrayed as overly cliché exaggerations, nor is the message conveyed as a watered down version of the truth. Both Jamie Blackley and Toby Regbo deliver engaging portrayals of Mark and John. Douglas gives us a film which serves as an excellent character study, reminiscent of the film Primal Fear. Both contain characters whose boyish innocence plays to their manipulative advantage. The film is thought provoking and presents the sort of moral ambiguity that makes fact-based drama so intriguing.

Does being able to identify with these characters make their actions throughout the film any more justifiable? That’s up to the viewer, but one clear takeaway is a modern lesson in Internet use. Choosing our friends in real life is a gamble, choosing them online can be even more so.  The real fear evoked by Douglas’s film and the true events it’s based on, is that betrayal by those we trust can and does happen.

U Want Me 2 Kill Him? trailer

Gone Girl is the film adaptation of the Gillian Flynn best seller of the same name. The first official trailer for the film released earlier this week. Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as Nick, who on his 5th wedding anniversary finds his wife Amy has gone missing from their home. As the search for Amy begins, a case of suspected murder is building as lies and deceit come to the fore and fingers gradually point to beloved husband Nick. This all leads to that burgeoning question: is he guilty or innocent? With David Fincher at the helm of this thriller set to hit theatres on October 3rd, Gone Girl looks to have viewers gripping their seats in suspense.

Watch Gone Girl trailer

In this day and age, it can truly be said that bloggers have a remarkable influence on the general public, whether it be what music we listen to, what products we buy, or what trends we follow. More importantly bloggers encourage people in positive ways to share their unique voice with the public. With his upcoming film, American Blogger slated for release this summer, film maker Chris Wiegand shares the thoughts of over 40 bloggers in this documentary as he travels across the nation in his vintage airstream. Through his journey he documents the lives and stories of these passionate and creative individuals demonstrating that it is a community and that there is so much more to blogging than what’s written on a webpage.

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Andrew Fleming’s Barefoot falls short of being both an intriguing and emotionally moving film.  Coming from a director credited for cult classics such as The Craft and Dick, I had a level of expectation for this film, which by the end of the 90 minutes was not met. Barefoot left much to be desired. While it has some of the essential ingredients to be a perfect indie rom-com; a spoonful of  Evan Rachel Wood‘s kewpie, doe-eyed, Daisy, and a dose of ne’er-do-well bad boy with striking good looks, Jay, played by Scott Speedman, the film lacks the spark necessary to really label it a success. The pair is brought together through a seemingly subtle twist of fate; Jay owes some very “bad” people a lot of money and needs to charm his father (Treat Williams) into giving him the necessary funds to repay the debt. What better opportunity to ask for the loan then his brother’s upcoming wedding in New Orleans.

In order to do so he needs to convince his father that he has cleaned up his act and is ready to settle down. How do you convince your parents that you’re ready to settle down? With a serious girlfriend, of course. Unable to find a suitable stand-in girlfriend from among his stripper acquaintances, Jay finally settles on heading to the wedding on his own, until one evening when he rescues Daisy at the mental institution where he works as a janitor. Daisy is beautiful and upon seeing her, Jay feels that she would be the perfect candidate for his plan . There is a catch, Daisy is a patient at the mental institution. Once Daisy follows him and sneaks out of the hospital, Jay has no choice but to take her under his wing as they embark on a roller coaster of an adventure across the country.

Throughout the course of their journey together, Daisy reveals that she is not like most girls, having been raised by an overprotective mother who kept her sheltered from the outside world for much of her life; she has grown up lacking the social skills and worldliness necessary to get by in society. I am a fan of Wood’s previous work, think Thirteen, Across the Universe and even recent indie rom-com A Case of You alongside Justin Long. However, Wood portrays Daisy’s childlike nature with such overemphasis that it is difficult to believe the naiveté in her actions as she experiences many firsts–her first time flying on a plane; her first time drinking champagne; her first time on a roller coaster. Her behavior comes across as trite, and insincere. Speedman has an easier time portraying Jay, though only because there really is not much to his character. Displays of cliché bad boy behavior are present–a one night stand, gambling issues, visits to the strip club and of course the presence of the gangsters to whom he owes the debt, as mentioned in the outset. The various cliches of the film are so blatant throughout that their obvious emotional responses seem almost dictated. But they result in only general detachment.

The characters and the storyline are underdeveloped which result in the lack of any emotional connection to either of the protagonists, or even an understanding of their connection. As much as the director is telling me to root for them to be together, and as much as I would like to believe that Daisy is just the change Jay needs to turn his aimless life around, it’s all just wishful thinking.

Barefoot trailer

Crispian Mills’ A Fantastic Fear of Everything, while it falls short of being fantastic itself, offers a character study in what it is like to be an individual coming to terms with past childhood experiences. Enter Jack (Simon Pegg), a children’s author dealing with severe abandonment issues that have over the years translated into an irrational fear of pretty much everything, as the title implies.

Throughout the first half of the film, we get to know Jack as an emotional wreck, who can’t quite seem to get his life together. The premise is similar to many other films of the same genre, in that we see an individual on the verge of success but there is something holding them back. In this case it is Jack’s own mental state and as the film progresses he slips further and further into his world of paranoia.

A meeting with his agent (Clare Higgins) set’s the plot in motion as she sets up a meeting with a Hollywood producer interested in Jack’s latest project Decades of Death. This could be the big break that Jack needs to get out of his rut. If only he could muster up the courage to go out and…get a suit! As he gets ready for the meeting he becomes convinced that this producer he is slated to meet is somehow related to one of the murderers whose pictures line the walls of his apartment. He also realizes that he does not own a suit, and that he needs to do laundry in order to at least have something presentable to wear, if he decides to actually make it to the meeting. Coming to the realization of this fact, he grows even more fearful as we learn that the launderette is where his insecurity stems from for this is the exact location where he was abandoned as a child.

The film is shot in a very unique manner, which aids in demonstrating how far gone Jack truly is. For much of the first half of the film, he’s clad in his robe and underwear as he frantically makes his way through his apartment. The flat is eery and dark in atmosphere, as Jack flees from shadows looming around almost every corner. The angles and the lighting in which it is shot lend themselves nicely to the hallucinations and distorted vantage point that crowd out Jack’s ability to think clearly. He fears the outside world, so much so that he does not dare risk his life to leave his home, even to go to the launderette to do his dirty laundry. Pegg’s delivery is convincing and it’s easy to believe there truly is someone out to get him.

Pegg is the strongest part of this film and as usual delivers the necessary comedic highlights in the film. However, as great of a character actor as Pegg is, this is not enough, as much of the time Pegg is a “one man show” and though he is fully committed to the role and he tries to keep the plot alive, it still manages to fall short of what it could be.

The second half of the movie comes across as disjointed, as Jack finally makes his way to the launderette, and sets off an unraveling of events where he almost meets an untimely end. Rather than helping to drive the story along, this action sequences only succeeds in confusing us further and adding to an already drawn out story. Through it all, Jack eventually comes to terms with and faces his fears and ultimately recovers his lost self, acknowledging that the defense mechanisms he put into place actually played a role in his recovery.

One important principle can be gleaned from this film, that at the end of it all, no matter how difficult it may be to get ourselves out of painful situations, once released from the things that haunt us, we may truly be able to move on.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything trailer