Michael Fredianelli returns to comedy with CROSS CUT. In some ways, it's an interesting change of pace for the director because it has a much different sense of humor than we've come to expect from irreverent tour de-farces like THE BIG SLEAZE. It's a witty film that is highly self-referential and brings to mind works like the Ted Post directed TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE "A World of Difference" and the famous Chuck Jones cartoon DUCK AMUCK. As with those pieces, CROSS CUT is a meta movie with actor characters that are being manipulated by the crew in charge of them. It's a highly suspenseful film and director Fredianelli keeps up the pace with plenty of amusing twists and turns. The cast is a solid ensemble built around Maralynn Adams, Jeremy Koerner, and Fredianelli himself as the leads. All give good turns in their roles, but Adams comes off as most memorable in her first starring role. Female leads are somewhat less common among Fredianelli's oeuvre and Adams nails her character's Marilyn Monroe type routine and demeanor. Other movie highlights include a first act full of gloriously sleazy 70s art direction (easily rivaling much of the aesthetics of Fredianelli's real 70s set film THE BLACKFACE KILLER!), scenic ski lodge locations, and a wonderful appearance by canine star Martini. Somehow Martini seems right at home in front of the camera and is almost disgustingly cute in this. There's also a killer climax full of brutal (and yet still darkly hilarious in tone) wanton gun violence. While the filmmaker characters on screen are humorously slipshod indie types, the movie might have benefited from a Hollywood location or two as did HIERARCHY (yep, another past Fredianelli film!) as it would have given the movie making subject matter a bit more credence. This is a minor gripe however and CROSS CUT plays as a unique piece of indie filmmaking that entertains in spades!
