Vagrant

Apperently you don't need $300 Million to make an engaging film.

Start with an original slice-of-life tale, good enough acting, and overall decent direction (though done in a cinema verité style, so feeling more documentary in form than slickly edited), and you have a movie with an emotional heart - much more than a superhero blockbuster.

I call the story original because I didn't know what to expect in the upcoming scenes. While the framework might in synopsis seem like an old cliche, the movie was just so evenly paced from beginning to end that you could almost call this a "reality motion picture" since you just step into one man's life and his experiences. You quickly feel that you know these people - or at least see them in your community - and with such intimate observation you may even begin to care about them, and hopefully want their lives to improve.

I might even give it more than an 8 except that it is so low budget (reportedly $40,000 Canadian) that aspiring filmmakers will feel that they could readily make this themselves on their smartphone with home computer editing - and they'd be right.

But they'd need a story worth watching first. And that this is.

I found this movie on a streaming service and was compelled by the synopsis.

Luke Oparah plays a very sympathetic main character, and while the shooting and cinematography is spectacular, there is an unrealistic amount of disdain towards his character from all sides.

The acting from all surrounding characters feels rushed and the dialogue seems forced. The pacing is all the same through every scene, leaving little room for convincing emotional performances. Still, the story kept me interested until the end.

Kudos to the writer/director, Caleb Ryan for creating a great story. I think it could be a much bigger film with an assistance in direction and many different cast. Still worth a watch, as it shows a very real side of struggles and stigmas that our homeless face, but the dialogue is inorganic and unbelievable.

This is no Hollywood blockbuster, it's an indie film. With that being said it does something not a lot or indie films can do on a $40,000 Canadian dollar budget. It keeps you engaged. It keeps you watching. You care about the main character. You care about the dog. The acting by the principle is excellent. He does a phenomenal job. I was emotionally invested in this film and the ending broke my heart. Worth a watch. Well done! 9/10.

Reflects the sad reality of societical prejudices and unfairness. The main story is about Frank who starts turning his life around, and the victim is innocence, in the form of the dog.

This is an exceptional film considering it was obviously produced with a very limited budget. The script, pacing, and cinematography were all good quality and it was a truly touching story.

The acting was probably the biggest weakness, as if the director just wrangled up a gang of friends for parts in the movie. The main actor was actually relatively decent though. Some really silly parts like the obviously well off guy trying to rob a homeless man for his watch or the bylaw officer busting his chops for daring to have a dog and not feeding it proper dog food or whatever. Aside from that though, if you can get past the amateur acting it's a decent and engaging.