CINEVEGAS! REPORT #2! By Adam Mast

CHOOSE CONNOR (R)

Choose Connor is a striking debut, and what's most astonishing about it, is that it was written by a seventeen year old. Luke Eberl wrote the screenplay when he was a teenager and had the film in the can by the time he was twenty. While this film does take a look at youth, it isn't like the early works of Harmony Korine (Kids). The protagonist in Choose Connor just so happens to be a well adjusted, extremely intelligent young individual.

Owen Norris (Alex Linz) has just graduated middle school with honors (if there is such a thing at that level). Even though this bright young man still has a good ten years of schooling ahead of him, it doesn't stop him from pursuing his political dreams.

After meeting potential future Senator Lawrence Connor (an effective Steven Weber), the idealistic Owen is quickly thrust into the world of real life politics after Connor offers him a job heading up the youth division of his campaign.

Where the film goes from there is most unexpected. Choose Connor is jam packed with plot developments and while at times, it is all a bit much, I completely admire Eberl's ambition and commitment. And again, I'm blown away that he was only seventeen when he wrote this script.

Eberl the director shows a surprising amount of maturity and restraint, particularly where the open book ending is concerned. True, Choose Connor is overloaded with plot threads, but I bought into it because these characters felt real to me. Eberl is also a master of tone, granted I didn't feel that way in the early goings on of the film. In the first act of the movie, Owen becomes good friends with Connor's loner nephew Caleb (Escher Holloway), and during a key scene featuring a conversation between these two teenagers and Connor, I detected a seemingly out of place vibe and it was disconcerting to me. It was almost homo erotic. As the film progressed however, I realized this was intentional. Eberl knew exactly what he was doing. He wants the audience to feel discomfort.

From there, Choose Connor goes into some pretty dark places. Through this political awakening, Owen Norris takes his first big step towards adulthood. This young idealist quickly learns how his potential profession and, more importantly, how the world really works.

Choose Connor is an intelligent, well thought out drama, and while it is a wee bit heavy handed, the performances by Steven Weber and young Alex Linz lend credibility and realism to this effective film. Luke Eberl is a talent to watch for.

Grade: B

LOREN CASS (R)

The young characters in Loren Cass are bored, tired, and frustrated. That's perfectly fitting because those exact same words describe my experience watching this movie.

Loren Cass takes place in St. Petersburg, Florida shortly after the infamous riots of 1996 (brought on after local white officer guns down a black motorist), and follows three characters around as they go about their daily lives in a dirty, gritty town they can't seem to escape.

Loren Cass doesn't really have a plot. It's more of a depiction of every day life for these troubled, misguided souls. In that respect, the movie sort of reminded me of one of those Gus Van Sant experimental efforts (think Elephant).

Director Chris Fuller doesn't do much here stylistically speaking, but I suppose that is his style. He isn't interested in character arcs or moral messages. He's simply presenting a world as seen through these eyes of three young individuals. These kids do what they do because it's all they know.

I liked the look of the picture. It is dark and gritty, but ultimately, I felt emotionally detached from this movie. I suppose that's probably the point, but still, I wanted to be engaged on some level, and I wasn't. Really, the only scene that got to me a was a bit of actual video archival footage featuring a man (I believe he was a politician) putting a gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. That shook me up because it was real.

For the most part, the three leads (Jimmy Morey, Kayla Tabish, and Travis Maynard) do a good job coming across as tired, bored, and frustrated, but there are moments in the picture when I found their hazy, spaced out, moments of silence laughable. As far as these characters not really learning anything? That didn't really bother me. For some folks, that's life. My big issue with Loren Cass is I just didn't find it all that interesting.

Grade: C-

Still plenty more to come including Look, My Name is Bruce, Broken English, and Blue Velvet.