It wasn't hard to keep my attention for 2 hours lol! Shannon Brown gives me all the feels in all the places and as the main character, I'm pretty sure he's in every scene including a couple that made me envious of the actresses with him /you'll know what I mean when you watch/ I wouldn't mind switching places with them in a couple of those scenes and I also wouldn't mind if the actor playing Brown's best friend joined us. Mr. Chase, I would happily Chase you around, but I digress, lol.
Let me go ahead and park my hormones and get to the film itself. This is really an intense, beautiful story that certainly tugs at your heart strings. Eye pleasure aside, Shannon Brown masterfully carries the film. There is something very raw and authentic about his acting that's very alluring and he needed every bit of it for this challenging role. There are some tear jerker intense moments that he makes you almost feel through the screen. This seems to be a popular opinion as he added more best actor awards to his already impressive cache thanks to his performance in this role, which isn't surprising to any of us that follow his work.
Heidi Kurzejka is also very easy to like, it doesn't take long at all to connect with her, she has some delivery and expressions that are very natural, especially when she encounter's the main character's annoying friend who shows up uninvited along with an annoying ex that was also not invited. She impressed me and I'll keeping an eye out for more of her work. Quite a bit of steam when her and Brown are together, I had to pause the movie and have a cigarette and I don't even smoke, lol. She's a new face worth following.
Aside from being an obvious steamboat, the actor playing the best friend Chase is very likeable and relatable. He is the wise, trustworthy and calming force for Brown in a sea of chaotic characters. There is also a girl next door character that ends up vital to this story, she is also very easy to like and relate to. Then there's a homeless character that pops in and out that is also very likeable, kinda like a cool grandpa vibe. At first I got the feeling that it was the Chase character from the future, but it was not.
This story is very good, but one thing that gets me is that they advertise it as a true story but I haven't seen anywhere about who the true story is based on. That's kinda the allure of a true story is you get to find out who Lucas is based on. A small gripe, but it did bother me a little. There are also a couple pacing issues and there is a definite lack of production value but I think the story and performances are more than enough to overcome that.
There are a couple characters that I could have done without that really didn't bring much to the experience. One of the dates comes off as holier than thou, really annoying. I would assume most of us don't like people like that, I was kinda hoping she'd choke on a crouton. Also one of the friends was way over the top, seemed forced and distracting and also very annoying. It seemed like he was doing his own little skit while the rest of the characters were telling the story. He had a creepy Three Stooges vibe which isn't really funny if there is only one stooge. Thankfully both of these characters have really small roles and it doesn't hurt the overall story.
Luckily for the producers, none of these issues are enough to take away from a really heartfelt and beautiful story. I've never heard of the director, but overall he should be proud of this and i'll keep an eye out for any other work he's done. Plenty of positives that make this an indie worth picking up for sure.
