Juncture (2007)

A Disappointing Continuation

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

When this thing finished, I was a bit flabbergasted. I had to go an look at the "making of" featurette on the DVD to try and make sense of what I just saw. During it, they spent more time talking about the soundtrack than they did about the story. They spent more time talking about the set design than they did about the story. They spent more time talking about the camera they used to shoot Juncture than they did the story. And that helped me to understand this movie. A lot of reasonably talented filmmakers and performers made a great deal of effort, but all their work was undermined by a horribly conceived and terribly executed script.Anna Carter (Kristine Blackport) is a pretty young woman who runs the multi-million dollar charity of business tycoon Jonathan Lamont (John Hutton). Anna has a beautiful home, a best friend named Chloe (Elizabeth Rose) who works as a legal secretary in the district attorney's office and flies around the country in a private jet for meetings related to the work of the Lamont Foundation. She also has a brain tumor and takes time out on her business trips to murder people she feels haven't been punished for their sins.Let me stop right here and ask a question. Based on what I've described, what is the most important and interesting question you have about the character of Anna Carter? Isn't it, why did she decide to start killing people? And maybe some secondary questions also leap to mind, like how does she decide who to kill or how does she actually kill them? Those sorts of things are the most important things to know about this woman, right? The answers to those kind of questions will more clearly and more powerfully define Anna's character than anything else, won't they?Well, those questions are never answered in Juncture. Those questions are never even asked. We join Anna already well into her deadly spree with how and why she got to that point left almost totally unexplored. I say almost, because there's a point toward the end when Anna explains herself to her newly acquired boyfriend (Bill LeVasseur). Just as she starts, though, the dialog is muted and the soundtrack rises up so we can only see Anna talking and can't hear anything she says. That either shows off an astounding lack of awareness, or that director James Seale knew he was leaving out the most significant part of his story, did it for a particular reason and filmed Anna's explanation that way to thumb his nose at anyone in the audience who didn't understand why he left it out. Well, I don't understand it. I know I'm not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but I think Seale's the one who doesn't know what the heck's he was doing.In addition to leaving out the best part, this film is riddled with other bad writing. There are too many characters. Anna's boyfriend is almost totally superfluous. He's only necessary so the movie can have a sex scene and to introduce another character who turns out to be vital at the end. Of course, the character that's vital for the end doesn't get introduced until Juncture is almost two-thirds over. I mean, come on! That's basic stuff. If something is going to be important for the conclusion of your tale, you establish it at the beginning. You don't chuck it into the mix when the film's more than halfway over. The dialog is also utterly unexceptional and the whole thing ends on a cliffhanger that leaves Anna's internal and external conflicts unresolved. It's like this is a long, boring prologue and the real movie should start just as the closing credits role.All of which is a shame, because this is a very nice looking motion picture. It's not all that flashy, but it covers an amazing number of locations for an indy flick and there's a real breadth and depth to a lot of the imagery. The cast also do fine work, though they're often dragged down by sketchily drawn roles and badly thought out scenarios.There's also an oddly dated quality to some of Juncture. A dinner party monologue by Anna sounds like a deleted scene from a 1970s vigilante movie. Anna also has files on all of her targets. However, they're not computer files. She has manila folders full of sheets of paper and newspaper clippings, like they came straight out of the office a private investigator from the year 1982.The people behind Juncture look like they could make a pretty good film. This is a fairly bad one, but there's enough evident talent to give you some hope for the future. As long as that future isn't an interminable sequel to this movie.

It's a pretty simple plot that doesn't require much attention to follow but nevertheless makes for a reasonable background film. I definitely would have been disappointed to see this in a cinema, but as a DVD movie it was passable. The filming is pretty good while the acting is only so-so. The lead role actress was particularly uninspiring in her delivery.There were a few goofs, e.g.: SPOILER: where the lead lady gets whacked a few times with an iron poker across the back hard enough to leave severe bruising, but within seconds recovers enough to leap across the room. END SPOILER. Silly little things like that spoil what would otherwise have been an OK film, but as I said it's an acceptable film to have on in the background while chatting with a few friends.

Don't ever get involved in committing a crime, at least not if Anna Carter is around and gets your number. You've better watch out! This young lady has seen her share of hard times in her lifetime. She was the sole survivor of a crime meant for another family. You see, the killer got the wrong address and ended offing Anna's parents and sister. Now, when we meet her, she is hellbent in getting justice done, if not to the assassin of her folks, she will take care of those who commit serious crimes in our society.To make matters worse, Anna discovers her headaches are related to a malignant tumor. She gets bad migraines all the time. Her doctor doesn't give her much to live. That's why Anna must rush to eliminate the scum out of the same society in which she lives, trying , perhaps to avenge her family. Since she has the use of a private corporate jet, she is a frequent traveler with benefits that include being in the targeted areas, thus combining work with her avenging activities. Not even the hunky boyfriend that appears in her life will get her away from what she has set out to do. There is an interesting twist at the end when a detective figures it all out, but he too, sees things from Anna's perspective."Juncture", as directed by James Seale, shows a lot can be done on a small budget, something to give him credit for. Mr. Seale has a great eye for the locations in which he shot the film with glossy detail. The cinematography of Richard Lerner is one of the highlights of the movie. The acting is adequate as it shows a leading lady, Kristine Blackport with a beauty and affinity for the material.

I didn't know what to expect but this was a really great movie. I felt the pacing was good, the lead actress was engaging and the story had some unexpected twists. It is a daring story. The lead character is a murderer and yet I felt sympathy for her. I think the credit goes to the filmmakers for constructing such an intriguing story. It's controversial enough to make the lead character a murderer and a woman, but some of the targets could definitely raise some eyebrows depending on how one feels about the justice system.I think if anyone gives this movie a 1 or thinks its bad is either lying or they didn't really watch it.I thought it was more of a drama with some thriller elements, too. But otherwise, it delivered.Overall- definitely worth watching.