Audience Member
Apart (Aaron Rottinghaus, 2011)
Sitting not terribly far beneath the surface of Apart is the best young adult movie you've ever seen. There are times-more than a few of them-that movie almost managed to come bubbling to the surface. Rottinghaus, normally an assistant editor (he has recently had a steady gig on the hit TV show Big Love), went very, very ambitious with his directorial debut. He almost succeeded. The story, which he co-wrote with male lead Josh Danziger, could have probably used another rewrite or two to help knock some of the less coherent bits into line; that would have made this into something that would have had a very, very good chance of landing pretty high up on my thousand-best list. Yes, the movie under the surface here is that good. Unfortunately, it has a nasty habit of shooting itself in the foot. That doesn't mean you shouldn't watch it-in fact, I think you probably should, and sooner rather than later-but you may well end up as frustrated as I was at getting the movie we got given how often you can see the movie we should have had.
Noah (Danziger, whose only other big-screen appearance to date came in 2006's The Lonely Ones) has been Away, in the sense that one is Away in movies, for some time. He has recently returned to his childhood hometown, of which he has no memory whatever. High school is just as much fun as it is anywhere, else, but soon he encounters Emily (High School Musical's Olesya Rulin), and suddenly he has a reason to go to high school. She, on the other hand, seems to want nothing to do with him, and Noah assumes it's just a case of unrequited infatuation. Until, that is, Emily lets slip during an emotional outburst that she knew Noah Before, in the sense that one has Before in movies. Suddenly, Noah has a link to his mysterious past, and he sets about trying to unlock a mystery he had given up on ever understanding.
A lot of good ideas here, but the script stumbles in a number of places. It occurred to me more than once while I was watching that the co-writers should have had a solid, underrated YA author-Mara Purnhagen or Pete Hautman or someone comparable-go over the script before they finalized it to check plot and pacing. Some of the more questionable scenes could have been streamlined, a few unanswered questions would have been wrapped up, etc. What's here will likely be more appealing to those who can recognize and appreciate the potential in a script, but what's here is not bad at all. ** 1/2
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
don s
This is an odd indie romantic drama that is confusing and leaves you with lots of questions. The questions are not about deep philosophical issues or ideas of import to the world; they are about what you just watched and what was it trying to convey - not good for a movie. Other than the adorable Olesya Rulin, there isn't much to recommend here. I don't even want to research this hokey disorder.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Did not really add up in the end given it was trying to be "true to life." Some very obvious signs of being a low budget, straight to DVD, independent film. Odd editing choices, hammy acting, and out of place music scoring. I enjoyed elements of the romance.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
All over the place. Very disjointed. Could've been good. Oh well.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/15/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Folie à deux (Induced delusional disorder (F.24) ICD-10) is in the literature; wikipedia has a nice article about it. However, this is the worst vanity indie film I've seen in months.
One line summary: Two defective children are bad for each other and those around them.
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In the first half or so of the film, we follow Noah around as he tries to remember his past. He's lost much of his memory in some acute personal event. Several people assure him that this is a good thing. He looks for Emily, finds her, gets past her thorny personality and direct resistance to visiting the past.
Supposedly Emily and Noah are linked by a psychiatric disorder which lets them know each other's minds. Even worse, they see visions of bad things happening to those around them. It's tough for Noah to recall. For similar reasons, it's tough for Emily as well. Even worse, they are not able to ward off the bad things happening.
The first such event was when they were around eight years old; the second around when they were high school seniors. The first was a bus crash. The two of them recuperate, more or less, in the same hospital. The second was a fire, the culmination of a sequence of unfortunate events during late high school.
All this is nonsense, and assigned to folie à deux, or induced delusional disorder. In this case, "She's crazy and made me do it," or "He's crazy and made me do it." The simpler explanation is "He is crazy and she is crazy." So, own up to it and get them off the streets: two crazy people are over-indulged and allowed to hurt others unnecessarily.
--------Scores---------
Cinematography: 10/10 Fine work. Amazingly good considering the foulness of the screenplay and most of the acting.
Sound: 10/10 No problems.
Acting: 3/10 The veteran actor Bruce McGill delivered as usual. The rest of the cast was terrible. The two principals were the worst. The three points are for Mr. McGill.
Screenplay: 0/10 This was a rat's nest of nonsense of endless re-interpretations. The script is as bad as the acting of the two principals. There is about five minutes of content stretched over 85 minutes. Rotten Tomatoes got it right at 11%.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
i found it odd and eerie but couldnt pull myself away from it. i had to see how it ended. i liked it very much. just because critics hate something doesnt mean its not any good.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
Full Review
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