Beeswax

No super.. (unrealistic stories, heroes, models etc.), it may happen next to our neighbors, I appreciate that..

+ believable actress + camera + story flow

= good for me :-)

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'Beeswax' is Andrew Bujalski's third feature film after two other independent features dealing with young,urbane 20 & 30-something hipsters (his two other feature films are 'Funny Ha,Ha' & 'Mutual Appreciation',as well as a short film,unseen by yours truly). This time,Bujalski's lens is turned to an area of Texas that may well be Austin. Two sisters,both fraternal twins,Lauren (played by Maggie Hatcher),and her wheelchair bound sister,Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher)share an apartment. Jeannie operates a vintage clothing shop that seems to be on the brink of collapse,due to the fact that Jeannie's business partner,Amanda (Anne Dodge)seems to want to drop out as a partner,but not before she decides to sue Jeannnie. Jeannie is getting very close to Lauren's ex boyfriend,Merrill (Alex Karpovsky),a would be lawyer who is just a breath away from passing his bar exam. Other characters drop in & out of this finely written & directed film (by Bujalski himself,who also wore a third hat as editor)that has to take it's time to sink under your skin to get the very real & true "fly on the wall" feel to it (the pacing is somewhat slow,but it's worth sticking with it until the end). Comparisons to the French film director,Eric Rohmer,or even John Cassavetes will be duly noted. This is a film with characters that are more real than the current dredge of cinedreck,conjured up by Hollywood...and certainly WAY more real than any of the (so called)reality TV shows that one can rot their brains on television with, can do. No MPAA rating,but contains some brief strong language & adult situations that would probably only land it a PG-13 rating if it was submitted,at the most.

.... because IMDb won't let me rank it any less.

Aimlessly directed and written with a ham fist, Beeswax is a movie that relies far too much on automatic indie film credibility and too little on making a cohesive story.

I understand that this was meant to be quasi-documentary style, and film snobs might tell me that I just don't "get it" - that it's a slice of life, and that life doesn't read as smoothly as a movie script. But there's a REASON that movie scripts go smoothly: Because it's painful to watch a story like this get mired in minutia with no accountability for pacing or telling a complete tale.

The cast did the best they could with what they were given, but this plays like someone's film school project. Self-indulgent, loaded with an unwarranted confidence that greatness is unfolding, Beeswax is strictly amateur night.

I just watched this movie, and I'm not even sure what I saw should be called a movie. It's seemed more like a voyeuristic peek into the lives of some unremarkable people. Watching it felt like being a bored fly on the wall. It was slow to get going, and once it did, I felt indifferent about the plot (what plot there was). It really was no more exciting than folding my laundry, and once I did start to finally take a little interest in the characters and what was happening to them, it ended with no resolution of the conflict. The only reason I'm even giving it a 3 is because the actors are actually rather good at playing the part of average people. Then again, perhaps they weren't acting at all.

I love independent and low budget films, but the production of this one was just a waste of equipment and editing time. I'm having a hard time believing it was actually written instead of made up as the filming progressed. Pass on it, and instead, go eavesdrop on a random stranger's conversation. You will get the same experience.

An earlier reviewer, Dom-Donald, wrote: "There were no developed characters, there was no plot, no beginning, middle or end. There were no interesting relationships, no questions asked of the audience, no explorations of ideas or emotions. There were no challenging subjects, nothing shocking or controversial. Nothing actually even happened, so there were no events for the characters to even discuss. Even the relationship between the two sisters wasn't explored in any way.

"The movie just started and then a bit later it finished at some random point (the camera ran out of film?) .... I challenge you to watch it, for that is probably the only valid reason for doing so!"

I accepted his challenge. He is right. The movie would have been better had they run out of film earlier. In fact the earlier the film ran out, the better it would have been.

Another reviewer, Mike Mellon, wrote: "I'm having a hard time believing it was actually written instead of made up as the filming progressed. Pass on it, and instead, go eavesdrop on a random stranger's conversation. You will get the same experience."

Mike is on the right track, but is not quite correct. I eavesdropped on some customers at a 99 Cents Store to test his theory. It was not the same experience. My experience at the 99 Cents Store was more entertaining and the strangers on whom I eavesdropped were more interesting.

The characters in Beeswax were dumber than they would have been in real life. The aspiring lawyer could not have gotten through law school without a sharper intellect than his character displays.

Like others who were disappointed in this film, I am not a consumer of mass market culture and I tend to favor the avant garde. So I don't think the people responsible for this film should have their artistic license revoked... just put on probation and be required to attend boredom management training, and make restitution. I think there are a lot of victims who want their 100 minutes back.