2:37
(2006/IFC/MPI DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Feature: C
So many
bad teen films have been made that even ambitious ones can falter and in the
case of Murali K. Thalluri’s 2:37
(2006), the film has every kind of character you could imagine. Set in a British High School,
there are four different students with a secret. Among these are being a rapist, being gay (as
if they were equivalent), possibly being pregnant, a jock with a secret and
even a young man with a sexual deformity.
Add homophobes and teaches who don’t seem to care enough and you got
serious issues and people becoming formulized.
We get
on-camera confessions that never are believable, can be shrill and even
trivialize serious subjects. For all the
film brings up (brave or just to exploit the issues), it never can begin to
finish what it started (especially at 95 minutes) and for as graphic as it
gets, has little new to say and narrow substance or character development to
back it. Also, the characters seem too
much alike, which is a flaw on the part of the director’s script.
I give
the young actors credit for being as bold as they are, but the inexperience of
all holds back a production that could have been truly important if only the
director had something to say. Otherwise,
you have seen it all before, unless you do not see enough British TV or
films. Too bad, because this was a big
missed opportunity.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is shot with a mix of 16mm film, low
definition and high definition film. The
mix is lensed by Director of Photography and does not always make sense or
work. The black and white is bad, motion
blur when it shows up bad and editing mixed at best. Color is fair, but this is like watching a
phony documentary more often than it should be.
As for the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, it is remarkable that it has no
serious location audio issues, but it does not have much of a soundfield
either, so expect good playback at best.
Extras include a trailer and brief Making
Of featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
