Truth be told, I wasn't in any big hurry to watch Hierarchy, a straight-forward character drama helmed by "Bloody" Mike Fredianelli. Oh, he's successfully dabbled with this kind of material before but it's always been supplemented with guns, gangsters, and guidos. Furthermore, such artsy/indie productions which attempt to explore the human condition have enormous potential for embarrassing failure, like the notoriously bad A Decision to Ask Why, resulting in a most pretentious and dull experience. Hierarchy doesn't quite steer clear of all those trappings (a reoccurring character in the form of a grotesque beach bum certainly means to convey some kind of sweeping critique on the film's themes
I'm sure I'll find it quite poignant and perhaps even weep at finally discovering what it is) but for the majority, the characters actually develop into real people, free (mostly) from unconvincing cinematic sentimentality, and without even realizing it, I felt drawn into their conflicted lives. I couldn't directly relate to any of their individual situations but their anger, guilt, depression, and doubt are universal feelings, and the full-layered characters are sure to hit home in some way with most viewers. In this sense, it's a pretty powerful motion picture.
Fredianelli wisely realizes that with a mature ensemble piece, moments of brevity are still a necessity. Scenes such as his character's (a mid-level movie producer named Jeff) highly theatrical lisping of a Shakespeare passage or the threatening Schwarzeneggerian priest will certainly bring smiles to the faces of everyone watching. And being a longtime fan of Wild Dogs cinema, I appreciated some of the subtler touches too, like the brief zoom on a passing 'geriatric in the wild' during a scene filmed at a park.
The success of Hierarchy heavily depended on the main cast (Fredianelli, Anthony Spears, Maggie VandenBerghe, Brian Gallegos, and Ronald Kaplan, who has a wonderful "old-time jazz" singing voice, on full display here), who were all up to task
they each turn in the convincing, naturalistic performances the film required. And the supporting cast is just as strong. Rusty Meyers, for example, is only in one scene (as a Hollywood studio head, he has it out with Jeff, and Jeff's integrity, over a script) but it's one of the film's most brilliant. Jeff's verbal duel of intimidation with Father Mulligan, played by Golden Globe winner Brett Halsey, was also quite noteworthy.
So, initial hesitations aside, I found Fredianelli's Hierarchy to be a thoughtful and very human film. Cheers to everyone involved.
