The Happiest Place on Earth

John Goshorn's feature film debut as a director manages to do something that even the most established directors shoot for, it puts a human (and tragic) face on the country's recent economic downturn. In less capable hands this morality tale might be too preachy, or overwrought, but we never find ourselves scolded by the film. Maggie and Jonah want take part in the American dream. They want to own a house. And so they buy a house, but for them, like for so many others that house becomes a noose around their necks when Jonah looses his job at the newspaper. Seeing no other options Jonah makes the ultimate sacrifice to help provide for Maggie. Jennifer Faith Ward and Tom Kemnitz Jr as Maggie and Jonah respectively are incredibly engaging and breathe life into their characters in way that reminds us of early Cassavetes. In fact, that filmmaker is the one that seems to have been this production's patron saint. Goshorn seems completely willing to enclose us in the claustrophobia of realism no matter how uncomfortable or horrific it may be for Maggie and Jonah, or for us.

I am not a film maker, but I can appreciate how difficult it is to make a movie. There is a lot good here. The story idea is good, but there are issues with the film that ultimately make it fall a little short. I understand it is a student film, so I suspect these things will improve with more experience on subsequent films.

First the cinematography is weak. There are too many extended scenes in near darkness that are off-putting. A bigger complaint is very weak acting by most of the secondary characters. The female lead does a pretty good job, though.

Second is there is a lack of clarity in the script. At times, I got lost if the person in scene was a lawyer or other professional (don't want to add a spoiler).

The acting and directing of this film were exceptional. Having heard from the director that only natural lighting and fixtures were used, that makes the film all the more impressive.

There were a couple of lines that seemed misplaced and it seemed to drag a bit in some places, but that's nothing one more edit couldn't amend.

All in all, a touching story, heartfelt acting, great directing and cinematography. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film. I would recommend for anyone interested in film or just the human condition to watch this.

I thought that this film was more a drama than a thriller. A woman and her husband fall on hard times when he loses his job. When he goes missing on a camping trip, both his wife and the audience have to decide if he's really dead or possibly trying to scam the insurance company.

I watch a lot of low-budget films on Amazon and Hulu, and this was one of the better ones I've seen . The acting is good, and even if I sometimes knew where the plot was going there were still a few surprises in there. The direction is solid and makes good use of the natural lighting and sets that they worked with.

The only thing that bothered me was that it didn't seem like either the husband or the wife was really willing to hustle to pay their bills--like, walk some dogs or bus some tables. But then again, I guess some people can't get their heads around the idea of working a "lesser" job.

In any event, I watched this one for free on Amazon Prime and I think it's worth checking out. It's a pretty brisk 80 minutes, and you'll know about 15 minutes in whether or not you're invested in the story.

You can tell from the opening moments that there is an anger and passion driving the film, which is necessary on a film of this scale. Despite it being a smaller movie, the film still manages to be incredibly well shot with striking compositions. It's biggest flaw is its passion for the subject matter, and how it relentlessly moves from one moment to the next. The film, being tight at under 90 minutes, could use more breathing room to let its conflict build to drive the devastation home, but its enthusiasm for the story its telling shows that there's a strong voice at the helm. The good news? Usually films like this are a bit overwrought in its need to get a message across, but the film allows the story to speak for the subject matter rather than blatantly tell you what to think.