Fever

I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival. It blew me away. It's a really detailed examination of paranoia and psychosis - without spoiling the story. I was really impressed with the way the film looked, and the quality of the acting. Alex Winter is from my home town (St. Louis) and I was surprised by how different this film was from his older comedy work. It's a deeply thought-out film, different in a lot of ways from everything else that's out there in the indie scene right now. It takes its subject matter seriously, and doesn't treat the audience like idiots. I had some problems with the pacing of the film - it's slow in some places. And it could have used more of a soundtrack. But it's a really cool movie in spite of its weaknesses. The weird images stayed with me for weeks afterwards. They haunt your dreams.

Extremely atmospheric thriller starts out great, as young artist (Thomas) living in hellish urban apartment grows more and more paranoid as other tenants end up dead. The high production value and Thomas' performance maintain the interest, but the script -- reminiscent of other, better pictures -- goes nowhere fast, with a been there, done that "surprize" ending you can predict 20 minutes into the film. Seriously ruined by a slapped on, cop-out finale that leaves you furious and unsatisfied.

Fever is a difficult film, and I mean that in a good way. I think the director is creating a story about the raw emotions and desires in a young man caught in the modern world. We follow a painter in New York City who is not able to achieve his goals and dreams, and as a result, escapes into an alternate reality. However, this reality is as much of nightmare as his waking life. If not worse. Like Lynch and Cocteau, Winter forces us into this man's subconcious, and asks us to feel the terror and despair that affects this confused mind. I really enjoyed the trip.

Fever is an unusual movie for today's moviegoers, slow, disguieting and legitimately frightening. Henry Thomas plays a neurotic urban artist, barely eking out a living and refusing the help of friends and family. A murder in his squalid apartment building knocks the artist off kilter and begins an increasingly paranoid and hallucinatory chain of events. Thomas's performance is an amazing balance of subtlety and intensity. He has the difficult task of appearing in almost every frame and we never grow tired of his presence. Instead the audience is pulled into the mind of this suffering character and forced to confront his demons and dilemmas. The film does not set out to ask "whodunnit", rather to make us experience the singular nightmare of a struggling and sensitive young man alone in the modern world.

For its mere 90 minutes, this film packs a lot of punch. Intriguing, beguiling story ... excellent cinematography ... first rate sets ... solid, even direction ... all around good acting ... wonderfully ambiguous ending. Total treat!