Scalene

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Audience Member Ambitious! Technically vibrant! The cast are immaculate! But the script needed some major work done. Especially the second half. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Scalene (Zack Parker, 2011) The main problem with Scalene is that it is roughly half of a very interesting movie. We get all of the setup, and then just when the story is about to kick into gear, the movie ends and you realize that what you thought was the crucial piece of the setup was, in fact, meant as a twist ending. And to be fair to the movie, it does function that way, but it still feels like setup—and that makes it lack the twist-ending punch that would at least give it the gravitas necessary to perform its function in that regard. Jakob Trimble (Stake Land's Adam Scarimbolo) is twenty-six, mute, and somewhat mentally challenged. His mother Janice (Justified's Margo Martindale) has done most of the caregiving, though she mentions in one scene that he has also had a series of outside caregivers as well. The most recent of them is Paige (The Virgin Suicides' Hanna Hall). The film gives us a year of Paige working for Janice and Jakob through the eyes of all three participants. Something has gone terribly wrong, however; in the opening shot, we see Janice showing up at Paige's front door brandishing a gun. From there, we go back to when Paige is initially hired, and we see how we get from point A to point B. While I think this is a minor spoiler (I have been trying to avoid spoilers throughout despite a number of them appearing in every synopsis of the movie I have read), it's really something you want to know heading into this: it is a nasty little movie. There are no good guys here. That's interesting, because the movie is set up to be all good guys; Parker is playing the meta here, and he's pretty effective about it. (There is a scene early in the movie that you may spend some time wondering about. That scene is the one that tips Parker's hand that there are no good guys, not even the most obvious one.) Balancing that out , of course, is the missing second half of this movie. What should have been setup for the actual movie, which I think would have ended up being a bang-up trial thriller, is instead climax. The trade-off is that it does work in that it seems to inspire a good deal of discussion in the places one finds such things on the Internet, and I will certainly not complain about a filmmaker leaving unanswered questions when it makes sense in the context (it does here). I wonder if there's going to be a sequel? ** ½ Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Great use of multiple POV. Great director. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member intresting story telling...even though sum scenes seem to drag. Less scary more thinky Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting film, good performances. Love Margo. But anyone know what that ending was about?? Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member A frantic mother. Her invalid son. An unsuspecting caretaker. The perceived realities of these three individuals will result in a terrible crime, but who is the real victim? Zack Parker takes us on a twisted journey through the human psyche in his new thriller SCALENE. The events unfold from three unique perspectives as we are transported backwards and forwards in time to better understand the intentions and circumstances leading up to an apparent rape, mirroring a similar stylistic device used by Christopher Nolan in the cult thriller MEMENTO. Parker demonstrates a cautious sense of control as he begins and ends each new vignette, skillfully avoiding any contradictions in the space-time continuum that is laid out before us. By opening with the story's ending, Parker is also able to better perceive the audience's expectations, only to thwart them once the viewers have settled in on their opinions. SCALENE is led by a talented cast, including powerful performances by Margo Martindale as Janice Trimble, Hanna Hall as the seemingly-altruistic Paige Alexander, and Adam Scarimbolo as Janice's brain-damaged son Jakob. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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