Movie Review: The Lincoln Project
Ok, I was impressed. I had both low expectations and very high hopes. It definitely exceeded my low expectations and parts of it met my high hopes, but it wasn't quite spectacular. Most of the problem was the acting, or actually, the actors. It's hard to find actors, I know, especially ones who'll work for free, but choosing a teenager that looks younger than he is (he looked about 12) to play a serious professional bodyguard was a mistake. It just made it slightly laughable. There was also one girl who couldn't act at all, and she must be their friend or something, because she was in several scenes. Jeff was by far the best actor of the bunch, but he was a bit inconsistent. Understandable, really, if you put his job into context: he wrote, directed, produced, cast, scored, and edited the movie, in addition to playing one of the lead characters. (Also, omg Jeff half-naked FTFW.)
I got to Lincoln Square at about 20 till 7, and most of the time was spent in traffic about 50 feet from the parking garage entrance. >.< Anyway, my dad and I go up the escalators and it's so obvious who's there for the premiere because all the guys were wearing tuxes and ties and the girls were all wearing prom dresses. I guess it was easy for them to find dresses to wear, what with prom and everything. Anyway, I went to pick up my tickets at will-call (and I did end up having to pay for them, but I didn't mind, because HELLO, it's a movie by a guy I know, how awesome is that?) and when we got into the theater, it was already pretty packed. Luckily, we found seats near the middle. If we'd come in much later, we probably wouldn't have gotten seats together. It was SOLD. OUT. When Jeff and the other producer guys walked in, they got a round of applause. They took up the mic and I thought Jeff would do a bit of an introduction, but he pretty much just said welcome and enjoy the show.
The issues I had with the movie are as follows:
-- It was shot in video instead of film (for obvious reasons, but still); I think if they'd done film, it would've looked about five times better. But that would involve financing the film and processing, a camera, and a lot more lighting. So I mean, I know why they did video, and there's not much to do about it, but I'm just saying, it would've been better in film. But then, anything's better with film.
-- They decided to "go to London" for on part. Obviously, they couldn't really go to London. So... the cars were driving on the right ('direction', not 'correct') side of the road, they had Washington State license plates, and nobody had an English accent. Why bother? I'd have just set that part in another area of the US, so at least the cars would make sense. That part just really bothered me.
-- The blood was good in colour and consistency (for the most part, anyway), but the close-ups just showed blood and no wounds, which looked a bit silly. Again, they obviously didn't have the resources to make it that realistic, but, as I said before, I'm just mentioning how it could have been better.
-- The actors. They're kids, really. It looks strange to have kids with machine guns and SWAT gear and stuff like that. Also, most of them couldn't act, though some did (sorta). As I said before, Jeff was definitely the best actor; the other mostly just read their lines--not in monotone, really, but they couldn't put the right emotion (or level of emotion) to the words. That being said, the script was pretty clever, if you ignored the acting.
I think that's it for the main bad points, but now for the good points:
-- Jeff shirtless and sweaty and doing push-ups/crunches/pull-ups/practice fighting. That was hot. And it got applause. *g*
-- Jeff wearing fantastic clothes and bloody and beaten to a pulp. That was actually kinda sexy. How sadistic am I? :D
-- The stunt driving. Awesome, especially since they're not professionals. They had skids, spin-outs, dust flying up, and glass breaking, and it was awesome. The actual chase scenes weren't as great, but it's hard to film in a car, and it wasn't terrible.
-- The script: there were several great one-liners (not exactly jokes, but just perfectly written lines, and Jeff seemed to give his own character most of the good sarcastic stuff, which was great, because he could actually pull it off). The story's also pretty complicated, and it's impressive that they managed to keep everything straight. Although, a negative point here: it didn't really have a point. There's the petty thieves, they get trained up by their boss to be killers, a bunch of people want them dead, so they fight and the bad guys die, the FBI gets the theives on their side (sorta), and then there's a huge double-cross at the end, and then... ok, that's it. The characters basically learned how to fight and not to trust their boss, which... isn't really much of a point. Oh well. It was an entertaining action movie, to say the least.
-- The fighting was great. Not perfect, and some of it was obviously choreographed, but for the most part, it looked realistic and really awesome.
-- Recognizing the locations and Jeff's shirt. LOL I know I said before that it wasn't good that they stayed in the same place or whatever, but it was kinda cool seeing places I knew on the big screen. At the very end, the two main characters (who've just made several million dollars) say to each other something along the lines of: "Where should be go?" "I've always wanted to go to New York..." and then it kinda zooms out and fades to black. My dad said they missed the opportunity for a PERFECT joke: "I hear it [New York] looks just like Seattle/Bellevue." because it was filmed entirely here and around here, and it was obvious to everyone who saw the movie that Miami was really Alki Beach and LA was really a dock on Lake Union. It would've been hilarious for them to acknowledge that at the end. LOL And I was amused by the fact that in one scene, Jeff's character David wore the same shirt Jeff wore to class last Thursday. What can I say, I'm easily amused.
-- The background music was AMAZING. The music itself probably isn't something I'd listen to on its own, but it actually worked very well with the scenes and added to them, without becoming too distracting or obnoxious or anything. I was very very impressed by the score and how... good it was.
About halfway through, I forgot it was a premiere, I forgot it was made by a friend of mine, I forgot that it wasn't a professional movie. It really sucked me in, and even though all those bad points kept needling at me, I managed to lose myself in the story. Although I always thought of Jeff's character as Jeff and not David. LOL I wonder how professional actors think of movies they watch; like, for instance, when Billy watches Lost, does he think "Charlie" or "Dom"? Interesting thing to ponder. Anyway, I noticed my teacher there and two of my classmates (besides Jeff), but I didn't get to speak to any of them because there was a traffic jam at the doorway and then a HUGE crowd of people, and my dad and I just left. I'll have to contact Jeff about getting a DVD, though, because even though it wasn't perfect, it'd be so cool to have a DVD like a real big-time movie. I'm sure that's how the actors felt seeing their names and faces on the big screen. It was pretty damn cool just being there.
*sigh* Wow, that was longer than I thought it was going to be. The gist of it is, the movie was great. Could'a been better, but it was pretty impressive. :)
I got to Lincoln Square at about 20 till 7, and most of the time was spent in traffic about 50 feet from the parking garage entrance. >.< Anyway, my dad and I go up the escalators and it's so obvious who's there for the premiere because all the guys were wearing tuxes and ties and the girls were all wearing prom dresses. I guess it was easy for them to find dresses to wear, what with prom and everything. Anyway, I went to pick up my tickets at will-call (and I did end up having to pay for them, but I didn't mind, because HELLO, it's a movie by a guy I know, how awesome is that?) and when we got into the theater, it was already pretty packed. Luckily, we found seats near the middle. If we'd come in much later, we probably wouldn't have gotten seats together. It was SOLD. OUT. When Jeff and the other producer guys walked in, they got a round of applause. They took up the mic and I thought Jeff would do a bit of an introduction, but he pretty much just said welcome and enjoy the show.
The issues I had with the movie are as follows:
-- It was shot in video instead of film (for obvious reasons, but still); I think if they'd done film, it would've looked about five times better. But that would involve financing the film and processing, a camera, and a lot more lighting. So I mean, I know why they did video, and there's not much to do about it, but I'm just saying, it would've been better in film. But then, anything's better with film.
-- They decided to "go to London" for on part. Obviously, they couldn't really go to London. So... the cars were driving on the right ('direction', not 'correct') side of the road, they had Washington State license plates, and nobody had an English accent. Why bother? I'd have just set that part in another area of the US, so at least the cars would make sense. That part just really bothered me.
-- The blood was good in colour and consistency (for the most part, anyway), but the close-ups just showed blood and no wounds, which looked a bit silly. Again, they obviously didn't have the resources to make it that realistic, but, as I said before, I'm just mentioning how it could have been better.
-- The actors. They're kids, really. It looks strange to have kids with machine guns and SWAT gear and stuff like that. Also, most of them couldn't act, though some did (sorta). As I said before, Jeff was definitely the best actor; the other mostly just read their lines--not in monotone, really, but they couldn't put the right emotion (or level of emotion) to the words. That being said, the script was pretty clever, if you ignored the acting.
I think that's it for the main bad points, but now for the good points:
-- Jeff shirtless and sweaty and doing push-ups/crunches/pull-ups/practice fighting. That was hot. And it got applause. *g*
-- Jeff wearing fantastic clothes and bloody and beaten to a pulp. That was actually kinda sexy. How sadistic am I? :D
-- The stunt driving. Awesome, especially since they're not professionals. They had skids, spin-outs, dust flying up, and glass breaking, and it was awesome. The actual chase scenes weren't as great, but it's hard to film in a car, and it wasn't terrible.
-- The script: there were several great one-liners (not exactly jokes, but just perfectly written lines, and Jeff seemed to give his own character most of the good sarcastic stuff, which was great, because he could actually pull it off). The story's also pretty complicated, and it's impressive that they managed to keep everything straight. Although, a negative point here: it didn't really have a point. There's the petty thieves, they get trained up by their boss to be killers, a bunch of people want them dead, so they fight and the bad guys die, the FBI gets the theives on their side (sorta), and then there's a huge double-cross at the end, and then... ok, that's it. The characters basically learned how to fight and not to trust their boss, which... isn't really much of a point. Oh well. It was an entertaining action movie, to say the least.
-- The fighting was great. Not perfect, and some of it was obviously choreographed, but for the most part, it looked realistic and really awesome.
-- Recognizing the locations and Jeff's shirt. LOL I know I said before that it wasn't good that they stayed in the same place or whatever, but it was kinda cool seeing places I knew on the big screen. At the very end, the two main characters (who've just made several million dollars) say to each other something along the lines of: "Where should be go?" "I've always wanted to go to New York..." and then it kinda zooms out and fades to black. My dad said they missed the opportunity for a PERFECT joke: "I hear it [New York] looks just like Seattle/Bellevue." because it was filmed entirely here and around here, and it was obvious to everyone who saw the movie that Miami was really Alki Beach and LA was really a dock on Lake Union. It would've been hilarious for them to acknowledge that at the end. LOL And I was amused by the fact that in one scene, Jeff's character David wore the same shirt Jeff wore to class last Thursday. What can I say, I'm easily amused.
-- The background music was AMAZING. The music itself probably isn't something I'd listen to on its own, but it actually worked very well with the scenes and added to them, without becoming too distracting or obnoxious or anything. I was very very impressed by the score and how... good it was.
About halfway through, I forgot it was a premiere, I forgot it was made by a friend of mine, I forgot that it wasn't a professional movie. It really sucked me in, and even though all those bad points kept needling at me, I managed to lose myself in the story. Although I always thought of Jeff's character as Jeff and not David. LOL I wonder how professional actors think of movies they watch; like, for instance, when Billy watches Lost, does he think "Charlie" or "Dom"? Interesting thing to ponder. Anyway, I noticed my teacher there and two of my classmates (besides Jeff), but I didn't get to speak to any of them because there was a traffic jam at the doorway and then a HUGE crowd of people, and my dad and I just left. I'll have to contact Jeff about getting a DVD, though, because even though it wasn't perfect, it'd be so cool to have a DVD like a real big-time movie. I'm sure that's how the actors felt seeing their names and faces on the big screen. It was pretty damn cool just being there.
*sigh* Wow, that was longer than I thought it was going to be. The gist of it is, the movie was great. Could'a been better, but it was pretty impressive. :)