Always Shine (2016)

Charming and brutal

Better Late Then Never

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A Proud Indie Production that wears its Independence like so many Accessories on a Woman's Dresser. Every Shot and Line of Dialog Smacks of Profundity and is as Obvious as it is Agenda Driven.Unshackled Minority Baggage left over from Less Enlightened Times Resides and Clings to the Film and is a Brightly Lit Magnifying Mirror that Reflects its Frustrated Female Angst and is Relentless in the Narrative Drive to the Point of We Get the Point...Moving On...Please.The Movie Arrives at a Conclusion that Many will Find Familiar in the Schizo Sub Genre of the Psychological Thriller with Directors like Hitchcock, DePalma, Lynch and Others Peppering Their Filmography with the Likes of this one.It's too Heavy Handed and Obvious from the First Act that these Two Characters, formerly Best Friends are Going to Split at some Point because the Tension is Telling Us that. One Stares, Glares, and is Confrontational and the other Shrinks with Self-Deprecation Routinely.It's an Acting Showcase for Makenzie Davis and Caitlin Fitzgerald and both are Up to the Task and are Compelling. The Writer (Lawrence Michael Divine) and the Director (Sophia Takal) are Gaming a Well Worn System of Cinematic Clichés and Camera, Editing, Film Flourishes that are Signature Stylistic Touchstones from the Toolbox of other Filmmakers.Influence is a Kind Description of what Goes On here. It's a Good Try from just Getting Started Film Artists but while Their Creativity is Not in Doubt, Their Ability to Punctuate the Picture with a Period or an Exclamation Point leaves the Audience with a Frustrating Question Mark that makes for an Unsatisfying Conclusion for all the Hard Work.

The only reason I give this movie a 7 is because I was enjoying it right up until the last few minutes. I was so disappointed with the ending that I considered rating it a 4 (due to the script not being very philosophical or interesting for an indie flick with a clear agenda), but Mackenzie Davis SAVED this.If you watch the movie knowing the ending is going to disappoint you, then you may just enjoy it that much more. I wish I had known. I felt that it ended abruptly and had no point. The dialogue wasn't great throughout, and I was disappointed in basically all of the acting, aside from Mackenzie. She was so magnetic in this, she really pulled me in. By the end, I wanted to be her. In that sense, this movie is worth seeing. However, if you like films with a beginning, middle, and a proper end, then just pass this one up and save yourself the time.

Always Shine is in the ilk of Certain Women. Meaning that because its leads are women, it's about women, and its director is a woman (Sophia Takal)... it must, by default, be spectacular.Well, sorry to say, it most definitely is not!Not a single review here to-date touches on the fact that this film borrows — LIFTS — heavily (and poorly) from Ingmar Bergman's 'Persona'. Nor do any of this film's fawning fans notice how it is over-dabbling with the currently overused device of Multiple Personality Disorder (now known as D.I.D.).This is an appallingly bad film. There are enough hints dropped to suggest these girls ARE split personalities of the one character, however... there is also either an abundant LACK of evidence to confirm it, or CONTRADICTORY evidence to refute it.Make up your friggen mind!Seriously, nothing makes sufficient sense here. And because this film is going out of its way to raise questions, but does it so illogically, I will not waste my time rifling thru the trash to unveil the hidden truths. This film does not deserve that sort of rigour. That sort of introspection.Always Shine also bears no capacity for concealing its feminist agenda. Shame on you for being so blatant. There also exists no intelligence in this script to neither do that sublimely nor tell a coherent story.At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself what the point was? What was really worth telling here? And why tell it in such an intentionally obscure way? Could it be because they thought that being obscure meant being smart? Clever? Original?Then we have the typical indie ending. A useless long shot of nothing (this time, our lead walking up a hill in a forest); then the moment of long staring; then... the notorious abrupt cut to black.Praising the acting, which is indeed excellent, makes up for none of the poor choices made repeatedly in both the writing and the directing. To think that investors were talked into throwing money at this concept. What a waste.See it only if you have an old TV you're looking to toss out, so you can throw things at the screen, then put your foot thru it at the end.

The main thing which struck me about the movie is the brilliant acting by the 2 girls. Its a very good movie about how dynamics of friendship change in face of competition and jealousy. It also makes one think about what makes people likable. This is such a fragile subject and deals with core of human emotions and dynamics of relationship. The movie was quite engaging even though it is simply about 2 characters on vacation. The viewer is attracted to learn more and more about them which makes it good watch. The girls come out as really charming and I was stunned by the acting skills. Its really awesome to watch them play out those emotions.