Film review: 'October Three'
Taking the form of an extended conference call between triplet brothers separated at birth, "October Three" refers to the day the jury reached a decision in the infamous Trial of the Century, a k a the O.J. verdict.
Recently receiving its world premiere screenings at the Houston International Film and Video Festival, this nonstop talk-a-thon -- a Simpson verdict postmortem presented in three-part disharmony -- might have worked better as a stage piece. On the screen, it's annoyingly static.
Written and directed by actor Joseph Brutsman, who also plays the part of all three brothers, the film consists of the long-distance interaction between David, a jury selection specialist for the Simpson defense (while no names are actually used for obvious reasons, the references are unmistakable), and his long-lost brothers Jack, a New York cabbie/stand-up comic and obsessed trial junkie; and Russ, a cop-hating redneck who has the Confederate flag hanging on his bedroom wall.
While David has ostensibly called up his surprise siblings to inform them of each other's existence, there are other things on the agenda; the next 90 minutes is spent taking sides and rehashing all the evidence as the remorseful David is about to make a revelation that is both preposterous and predictable.
To his credit, Brutsman manages to create a trio of very different characters that should fit nicely on his performance reel. As far as the rest of this ponderous discourse is concerned, it's a been-there, done-that case of enough already.
OCTOBER THREE
Brutsman Prods.
Director-screenwriter Joseph Brutsman
Producer Bud Brutsman
Director of photography Carl Bartels
Production designer Avra Douglas
Editor Steve Beebe
Music Jim Kee
Color/stereo
Cast:
David-Jack-Russ Joseph Brutsman
Janet Chelson-Calhoun Deborah H. Miller
Running time -- 88 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Recently receiving its world premiere screenings at the Houston International Film and Video Festival, this nonstop talk-a-thon -- a Simpson verdict postmortem presented in three-part disharmony -- might have worked better as a stage piece. On the screen, it's annoyingly static.
Written and directed by actor Joseph Brutsman, who also plays the part of all three brothers, the film consists of the long-distance interaction between David, a jury selection specialist for the Simpson defense (while no names are actually used for obvious reasons, the references are unmistakable), and his long-lost brothers Jack, a New York cabbie/stand-up comic and obsessed trial junkie; and Russ, a cop-hating redneck who has the Confederate flag hanging on his bedroom wall.
While David has ostensibly called up his surprise siblings to inform them of each other's existence, there are other things on the agenda; the next 90 minutes is spent taking sides and rehashing all the evidence as the remorseful David is about to make a revelation that is both preposterous and predictable.
To his credit, Brutsman manages to create a trio of very different characters that should fit nicely on his performance reel. As far as the rest of this ponderous discourse is concerned, it's a been-there, done-that case of enough already.
OCTOBER THREE
Brutsman Prods.
Director-screenwriter Joseph Brutsman
Producer Bud Brutsman
Director of photography Carl Bartels
Production designer Avra Douglas
Editor Steve Beebe
Music Jim Kee
Color/stereo
Cast:
David-Jack-Russ Joseph Brutsman
Janet Chelson-Calhoun Deborah H. Miller
Running time -- 88 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 4/16/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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