Directed by: David Spaltro Written by: Tawny Sorensen Genre: Drama 16 min |
THE CAT'S CRADLE
As the description states on the box, "The Cat's Cradle" begins as a night of intimacy and ends the complete opposite. Confessions, feelings and the complete turn-around of a relationship for long time couple Jim and Amy. That's what the description reads anyhow. The reality becomes more apparent as the film progresses, and it's not "exactly" what's on the tin. We do get the confessions, the emotions and even an interesting and entertaining short film. We also happen to see the potential of how much this relationship "could" change, after this stormy night. We don't however. The thing that struck me most after watching this fifteen minute short film is that we, the viewers, don't get to see much of the aftermath at all. The description on the box states this movie is about a night that changes "their" relationship forever, yet that's the one thing curiously left out. Tawny Sorensen has penned a great little lead-up. Full of drama, a little comedy and some electric acting. Yet that's all it felt like. A lead-up to something more, that we never get to see. If this sounds a little confusing let me put it like this. "The Cat's Cradle" feels like the first act of a larger film. All potential, with little follow-through. I'm a huge fan of open endings. Allowing us viewers to imagine what happens next. It "can" work, it just didn't here. The ending of the film plays out just as you originally thought it would when the film started, with a huge difference. The "feelings" behind the ending. If it were me, or maybe you, I would think the last scene would have went a completely different direction. Maybe I'm just old school.
The real beauty of this movie is within the acting itself. Directed by David Spaltro, our two leads manage to pull off quite the performance. "The Cat's Cradle" feels more like you're a fly on the wall during a real incident, not a fictional film. The anger and sadness of Jim, played by Nabil Vinas comes through loud and clear. Never an overly soft performance, or on the other end of the scale, completely over the top. This is matched with an excellent performance from Tawny Sorensen as Amy. As the writer of this production, she completely understood and nailed the fear and guilt required for such a part. The two play off one and other like they truly have a history and something to lose. As far as the general state of acting goes within independent productions, "The Cat's Cradle" managed to hold itself high above so many others. Other than that, this film manages to be a decent title production-wise. Especially for an indie. Although the lack of a standard shooting style exists, the shaking camera wasn't a huge issue as I watched this movie. It actually seemed to fit the general vibe of the film, and was handled nicely during production, and as it was edited in post. I'm not a big fan of this shooting method but the truth is, it seemed to work within this production rather well. It truly is a shame that more effort wasn't put into the final scenes, or at least a little more was shown. I'm not writing about the technicalities, rather the story itself. If more regarding the actual aftermath existed, I would have been a much happier person. When you are specifically asked or told something in the description, with questions such as: Will their love be enough to continue? You expect to actually get that answer. The main problem with "The Cat's Cradle" is that it essentially "plays out" what you've already read, and goes no further. A teaser, although one that is very well done. Did they stay together? Did they at least try? How about kids? Nothing was answered. No answer was even hinted at. This is one of those titles I actually wish was a little longer. As a teaser of sorts this was an excellent film. If I felt I actually got what I came for, I would have had no problem rating this movie higher. Lord knows it deserves it. I just couldn't get past the lack of story beyond what I read in the description. For what does happen to be here, excellent work. Excellent work indeed. |
