PROXiMITY (2013)

recommended

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

"Proximity" is an 11-minute American short film from 2 years ago written and directed by Ryan Connolly. Connolly is considered one of the best short film directors currently working and many people are looking forward to his full feature films. This one here unfortunately does not really attract my attention. The only thing I kinda liked about it was the setting, the premise and the ending with the final plot twist. However, the action in-between felt a lot like style over substance to me. Good thing is if you are not an English speaker, you can still watch this one as there is almost no dialogue in here. But why am I writing this. You obviously cannot understand my review either. Anyway, Connolly cast a whole bunch of family members for this short film, but it's not really mediocre acting which keeps this film from being a success. In my opinion, it is the script which feels like a considerably weaker, more male-oriented version of "The Hunger Games". Not recommended.

Four men are in the back of a van with bags over their heads. They are released in a field by two armed men. Two of the men run off in separate directions only for a device on their ankle to arm then trigger, blowing their leg in half and leaving them at the mercy of the two armed men to finish off. Seeing this, one of the two remaining men (Jake) tries to ensure that the same does not happen to him.Proximity has what most short films needs, which is a great central idea which hooks you in very quickly. In this case it is the threat of death and the urgency of Jake that does it and although we do not understand the whys, the action still has good pace and keeps you involved. The cinematography is shaky but clear – it is a well used device to add urgency and excitement into the image but it is still an effective one and it mostly works here. In some ways the short and folded-in scenario helps the film be this way but on the other hand it would have been better with a bit more detail and finesse in the idea.So, for example, with four men, this "game" will almost always end with people with no legs within 100m of the truck – it is just by chance that in Jake's case his partner isn't one of the ones that run off, and I guess this is the minority of cases. The same lack of finesse is at the end of the film too because, without any context, it really doesn't mean anything other than that the writers couldn't come up with something that worked better. It still is worth a look because it is pretty tight and engaging in the way it feels urgent and tightly paced, but it really did need a bit more detail and fine-tuning around the edges to make it work better.

So I came across this movie on YouTube and decided to check it out. I'm not sure what the story behind this film was, exactly. I am just assuming that it was a school project. Some of the cinematography was nice... but that's about it. It comes off as more of a concept for a feature film. It is not very effective in telling a good story or drawing you in and making you care. It's pretty empty and feels like it was probably written in less than 30 minutes. The shaky camera work and tight edits try to trick you into a sense of tension (rather ineffectively, I might add). At the end of the day, it basically serves as a demo for the D.P. and doesn't do many favors for the writers and/or director. Acting-wise, there is not much to say... literally. The actors basically run around grunting most of the time. As far as I know, this movie is only available on YouTube, which should serve as a good indication of what the quality would be. I am giving this 2 stars for the cinematography. If the makers of this were in high school, then I will cut it some slack. If not, well, keep practicing.

I had been looking forward to this short film since i am a big fan of Filmriot.This Short film is totally different from their previous short films. Josh is awesome and his performance is perfect for this film.And Todd as a leading protagonist did a excellent job.His acting was really intense and matured. I like the visuals in this short film and the Soundtrack is really outstanding. Overall i love this film and i am looking forward this film as a Feature film. Love you Filmriot.(This is my First film review and i am so glad i have a chance to review Filmriot's Proximity Movie.)