THE 25TH OPENING NIGHT
5 Feb
The 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival kicked off last night with remarks from the festival’s chairman of the board Jeff Barbakow, executive director Roger Durling, and founder Phyllis de Picciotto, followed by the world premiere of the Derek Magyar‘s “Flying Lessons” (trailer) and a fun opening night bash attended by festival volunteers and filmmakers alike.
Unlike the killer lineup of stars scheduled to attend the fest over the next 10 days, Magyar’s directorial debut left a lot to be desired. It was probably selected for the opening night slot because it was shot largely in the area (the nearby Santa Ynez Valley) and features a cast of first-rate actors — among them the Oscar-nominated actress Christine Lahti (who also appeared in the first SBIFF opening night film a quarter-century ago), the Oscar-nominated actor Hal Holbrook (who is just over a week shy of his 85th birthday), and the beautiful and talented up-and-comer Maggie Grace (who was a regular on “Lost” during its first two seasons) — which is fair enough, I guess. The actors all appear to be giving it their all and do a solid enough job, but strong pieces do not always mesh together to form a strong whole, and in this case the result is a meandering melodrama. To put it simply, the film bites off more topics than it can chew — Alzheimer’s Disease, a murder, alcoholism, a business scandal, and a long-simmering love affair, to name just a few.
Tomorrow, I hope to get to check out Holbrook’s other festival showcase, “That Evening Sun,” which generated some awards buzz this past season but never really got widely enough distributed to make a serious run, and/or “The Secret of Kells,” the animated film that snuck into the best animated feature category to the surprise of virtually all forecasters, before attending the tribute/presentation of the American Riviera Award presented by Chopin to Sandra Bullock, whose performance in “The Blind Side” has already brought her SAG and Golden Globe awards and is widely expected to bring her an Oscar on March 7.
Photo: SBIFF Opening Night Party. Credit: Scott Feinberg.
fair enough, scott, and yes, the film does take on a lot, but a “murder” is not one these things. is this a review of the film, or is this something you overheard at the after-party? do the work. the film wanders, yes, but in my estimation, this reflects where maggie grace’s character is…. she’s tangled up in the head, because of a lot of things, sure, and to present her story in a more stream-lined way, at least in terms of structure, wouldn’t serve the tone. having said that, the film could be tighter, there is too much air in some of those scenes, and it does tip into melodrama from time to time because of this. all in all, i felt it was an interesting piece – the interweaving of the stories, and the parallel themes of memory explored form two opposite perspectives was all very interesting for me. lots to think about. a lot to bite off for a first-time filmmaker, yes. yet the stellar cast believed in the story enough to sign on, and i have to say, after seeing the film, i believed too. a nice first outing. not without its flaws, but also not without its bright spots. a tighter cut would really reveal what i feel the filmmaker intended – there is fresh storytelling here.