Sam The Man
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Feature: C+
There is a real problem in independent feature production
these days that is embarrassing, which involves very independent projects
trying to be boutique product instead of trying to be original and trying
things from scratch. One of the reasons
for this laziness is that thousands of people (Dogme movement a factor or not)
are getting excited about digital video in a way that we could say is a huge
overreaction. Gary Winick’s Sam The Man
(2000) is a watchable-at-best production that makes every possible mistake with
this pitfall.
First, a few myths to expose: One, digital is not always High Definition. Two, plenty of great material was shot on
analog NTSC and PAL video for decades before the arrival of any digital. Three, digital is equal to or better than
film, as only the new 4,000 line HD is beginning to come close to 16mm film
overall. Four, the ease of digital
should make productions easier. Instead
in that case, it makes most of the productions more predictable, lazier,
flatter, duller, plus does not make it cinematic in the least. It instead is like watching an on-location
stage play, not a film and when shot in New York or Los Angeles, it shows the
same most overused locations in cinema and television history. Many hipsters, including older people who
should know better, keep perpetuating these myths. You wonder if some one is not being paid off here and there.
Winick is not part of that crowd, and he brings a fine
cast here. Sam (Fisher Stevens) is
another writer with writer’s block, complicated by his relationship with
fiancée Cass (Annabella Sciorra) who he is starting to drift away from. Ron Rifkin, Maria Bello, Luiz Guzman, Rob
Morrow and Griffin Dunne also star, bringing the project up a notch. The problem is that nothing truly new is
here. This is not as horrible as most
of the projects we have seen like this, but it could have been so much more.
The letterboxed 16 X9/1.78 X 1 image quality is
predictably limited via the 480 lines of the DV format, still in the NTSC
zone. Wolfgang held keeps the cameras
going in better than usual directions and angles than is usual for such
projects, but nothing memorable either.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is simple stereo, but is again not as bad as such
productions we usually run into. Extras
include a commentary by Stevens and Winick, deleted scenes (5:24), outtakes
(9:38), and a featurette (15:20) that show that these people were more sincere
in doing this. The point of this
critique is that good intentions go bad, no matter the talent, when the
director lacks enthusiasm. Film or
video is irrelevant, enthusiasm and love is.
If Winick can get it together, he can be “Gary The Man” for his next
project.
- Nicholas Sheffo
