Let Me Die Quietly

I saw Let me Die Quietly at a festival last week and I have been turning it over in my head for days this film really left me thinking ....and I loved it.

The slow pace allowed me to relax and absorbed the characters, Mario grabbed me and took me on his journey of wanting more in his life, the loathing he had of his visions and the torture it gave him. The development and honesty of the character really gave you the ability to root for Mario causing you to become suspicious of all the other characters because you were bonded to Mario by his vulnerability in the very first scene of the movie.

The audience became enveloped with the twist and turns of the intrigue in this film Noir' allowing you to be unable to resist rooting for Mario to get just a little peace of mind. Even with the seedy sex scene in the movie theatre and steam room you are still overcome with his honesty as a human being and his want of a normal quiet life.

The Cast all gave excellent performances and were credits to their characters with outstanding performances by Charles Casillo, Dana Perry and Paul Coughlin. If you sat and relaxed into the story line of this film the performance by these three actors really do put you on the edge of your seat by the end of the film.

Without a doubt,the 'build up' to Let Me Die Quietly has been a long one & finally the movie began to unfold right infront of me.Like the flickering flame of a candle,you simply can't take your eyes away from the screen. Charles Casillo's character MARIO is a very disturbed human being who sees very vivid scenes from past murders with more troubling visions of ones in the future.The psychic nature of the character is so believable,that throughout the entire run I didn't once think 'That's Charles Casillo' .Mario meets up with a young lady Gabrielle & the two of them embark on a 'relationship' that turns out to have so many twists that you will be left gasping so many times.Gabrielle is played by Dana Perry,whos likable vulnerability is a cover for the twisted 'side' of Gabrielle's 'character' Let Me Die Quietly is a strong movie with equally strong characters in each & every role.Behind Mario & Gabrielle,the strongest characters were Detective Devlin (Paul Coughlan) & Doctor Avery (Ian Tomaschik) Paul Coughlan's acting as the Detective was very natural & so bang on the mark. Ian Tomaschik's two-faced playing out of the Doctor couldn't of been any better! He extracted the hidden guilt from Mario in a fashion that shows many sides to his character...But,if I say too much it will give the plot away.LMDQ will leave you shocked at the ending,which even I didn't see coming...i've rarely been left so struck down by the climax of a movie as I have with this one.

I'm a fan of Charles and his writings as well as psychological thrillers. This is one of the best psychological thrillers I've seen. The acting was superb as are the actors. The story is believable which makes for a much better viewing. I've watched it twice and will probably watch it again this weekend. Have to find friends with Blu-Ray players before I can loan it (carefully). I have to write ten lines before this will post and I can't say enough about how great it is. Anyone who has not seen it needs to get their butts to Amazon and order it as soon as they read this. Seeing Charles on the screen was a thrill in and of itself and his acting ability is incredible. Have a feeling we'll be seeing much more of him in the future. Goes for you too, Ian! If you want a good read, pick up ANY of his books and you won't be able to put them down! Charles, you know you got it going on!

I recommend this movie because of the mature, intricate, screenplay and the excellent acting. On the other hand, from a technical filmmakers standpoint, there isn't really much more to recommend "Let Me Die Quietly." If there was a budget on this film I doubt it would add up to more than a decent dinner bill and although the movie is credited with two directors, which may have something to do with its patchiness, it really seems to have had no direction. The pacing is uneven and there are many missed opportunities for building dread and suspense.

When you have no budget to work with, for the most part all that you have to make a movie a success is the dialogue and acting and that is where "Let Me Die Quietly" succeeds. I love film noir--and the screenplay here strives hard to modernize the style. That means voice overs, shadowy locations, some handsome men, a gorgeous, mysterious woman, melodrama, occasional over the top dialogue, and a murderous plot. This movie has all of these things although sometimes it seems a bit all over the place. Reigned in and sharpened and this movie could be a classic.

As it is, "Let Me Die Quietly," actually belongs to the actors. Charles Casillo as the drugged and drunken, "Mario," rasps, broods, suffers, lusts, regrets, and eventually sheds everything in a complex and fascinating performance as a tortured psychic who "sees" things. No, he doesn't see dead people but his psychic ability does force him to live through the last moments of a victims moments before death. It is Casillo's shoulders that the first half of the film rests on--and his encounters with a priest, a stranger, his doctor, a detective, and most of all, a beautiful new friend, "Gabrielle." Casillo reacts differently to each character and I particularly enjoyed his interactions with the "seen it all" detective "Devlin." Paul Coughlan as "Devlin" is wonderful. At first he comes across as the all cliché, world-weary, homophobic, "seen it all" cop. But Mario also spills out all of his own cliché defense mechanisms to deal with the detective. In their first meeting Mario releases his vulnerability, flirts, gets angry, and then wearily sarcastic. Devlin is impervious to Mario's bag of "faggot" tricks. And as they match each other layer for layer, line for line, you can see a mutual respect growing and they begin develop into two men, from different worlds, with an unlikely fondness for each other. This is acting chemistry at its best, and Coughlan and Casillo's scenes demonstrate great interaction between two actors.

It would have been easy for lovely Dana Perry to fall into playing "Gabrielle,"--the other psychic Mario meets by chance--as a sultry, sexy, vixen. Instead Perry displays a touching sensitivity in the role and you understand why Mario, basically a homosexual, falls for her. He is desperate for more than sexual excitement and longs for an emotional connection, which Gabrielle provides. Perry, with her multi-dimensional acting makes that attraction and connection believable.

Mario also reveals his problems to his psychiatrist, Dr. Avery. From the start, Ian Tomaschik as the doctor gives off an oily charm. He is tough with Mario, but it seems like he is trying to break through his dream-like, drugged haze--his macabre fantasies--and force him to deal with reality. He doesn't believe in Mario's visions and hopes to get him to begin living in the real world. All of these encounters are the set up for the second half of the movie where the machinations going on surrounding Mario's life are revealed. It is in the last forty-five minutes that the movie shifts from being an art house character study into a more conventional Hollywood-type thriller.

I enjoyed "Let Me Die Quietly" for the good writing, clever twists, and most of all the fine performances all around. Although I would say it is certainly not for conventional movie audiences who have grown to expect a slicker execution.

I saw the movie at a Festival last night. The screenwriter, Charles Casillo, creates an evil web which seems to engulf an entire city. The central character Mario, though flawed, shows compassion and humanity as a sinister chain of events ignites that come together in the surprising end. Beautifully scripted, the actors seem to revel in their complex characters. Charles Casillo himself plays the lead role and is so easy to watch. He really gives a touching and deeply layered performance. Dana Perry,the lead actress is strikingly beautiful and mysterious. Ian Tomaschik as the psychiatrist is fantastic. Draped with a hauntingly beautiful score,this modern homage to Hitchcock, "Let Me Die Quietly", is a clever and sleek film that is rarely seen today.