Pretty in the Face

Pretty in the Face is outstanding. The middling scores on this site seems to reflect only the Dogma-style production values and not the overwhelming quality of story and sincerity. I just saw this film (and a couple of other great ones--see Jake's Closet and Father G and the Homeboys) at the Dances with Films festival in Los Angeles and found it truly inspiring. With pretty much a one man crew and almost entirely non-actors, Nate Meyer has come up with probably the most affecting narrative film I've seen this year. It ranks up there with the Celebration and Lars Von Triers' work (when it comes to this bare bones genre) and should serve as a lesson to filmmakers that shooting on film or shelling out thousands of dollars to create Hollywood style production value is not necessary to make a truly compelling film. And I'm saying this as someone who has spent those thousands of dollars, not a critic. This film should empower any filmmaker with limited funds and enough heart to be driven to capture a moving story in the visual medium. Watch it if you like real drama.