This film is all about New Zealander Hayden Weal. He wrote, produced, directed and takes the lead, on screen almost throughout, and this is his feature debut. It has likely been produced on a shoestring budget and it's one of the film's best points that this isn't ever apparent - all departments doing a thoroughly professional job.
I didn't find this film so very wonderful, though it's better than a lot of high-budget rubbish coming out of Hollywood. When I wrote this, there were only five reviews posted, all by people who loved it, and I thought it worthwhile enough to add a bit of perspective. The best things: Weal seems to be good at everything. He's a convincing actor, with the rest of the cast all doing a good job too. His direction has a couple of glitches where things get unnecessarily confusing, but never for long and most of the time the pacing is fine and he keeps control of a complex plot. He also writes some great dialogue.
I wasn't so happy about the plot itself, and the main character, who dominates the film, is very irritating at times. He goes through the early scenes mostly just not replying when people speak to him - the kind of guy who, despite his good looks, would end up alone, watching TV or playing computer games. In this case he's very fortunate that several well-meaning people make determined efforts to get through to him. Once he sets his sights on Sophia, things do improve, with a likeable caring personality starting to emerge. He's somewhat inconsistent though, reacting differently for plot purposes in identical situations - as when one time he chases the mysterious stranger, who runs away from him, while another time, the two simply look at each other, then walk away with no word spoken.
As for the plot, it makes a kind of sense and mostly works in that its oddness keeps the film feeling fresh and interesting through most of the journey - often a feature of Australian or New Zealand cinema. However everything is based on a long series of coincidences, which go beyond unlikely to silly to ridiculous and sometimes give the impression that these half-dozen intertwined characters inhabit a cut-off village where they make up around half the population and that's why they keep meeting up around every corner turned. For this reason the film needs to be viewed as a fantasy or morality play, rather than anything anywhere close to real.
Right at the end everything sadly falls apart, all quirkiness abandoned for more piled-on clichéd coincidence as the director rushes to tie up every possible loose end. I personally don't like over-neat endings - though many others do. In this case it's just another reminder that the real world was never invited anywhere near this party.
I felt I should have got some message here, following the morality play interpretation, and perhaps there is something there for more perceptive viewers. The very obvious one, 'actions have consequences', which gets spread on very thickly, seems belied by that cliché ending, which suggests that things would end up that way more or less regardless of what anyone does or says. Two things I did take from this film though: Summer is definitely a cool person: and Beni really, really cannot play!
