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"Amanda" was the very first movie I watched for this year's Indianapolis International Film Festival. Just a few minutes in, it quickly became apparent this is one of the weaker entries among this year's American narrative films.
Then the main characters walked out onto a balcony overlooking a cityscape. It was all lit up at night, beautiful and majestic. It was also very familiar. Then I recognized that it was Indianapolis' skyline -- which meant that this awful movie was a local production, shot here.
Ugh.
Film production is practically zilch in Indiana -- even movies and TV shows that are set here ("Parks and Recreation," "An American Crime") take a few outdoor shots for the opening credits, and film somewhere else with better tax breaks. So I don't relish dumping on a movie that dared to set their story in Circle City, actually photographed it here, and helped boost our profile a little bit.
But "Amanda," written and directed by Steve Marra, is just not a good movie. It has a hackneyed plot that registers like a bad TV pilot, features consistently poor acting performances, and has a big surprise twist that is both unbelievable and silly.
Randy Ryan plays Joe Bender, a stockbroker who's just turned 40 but is still a carousing horndog. Then he meets Amanda (Ariana Dubynin), a mystery woman who crashes Joe's birthday party and immediately makes him start thinking about something more permanent.
But Amanda's got a big secret, which she doesn't even bother to tell him about until after they're married. Obviously I can't give it away, but let's just say her name is a clue.
Marra's script veers wildly in tone. It starts out as a sex comedy, with Joe's buddy Craig (Doug Johnson) acting as his horny loser wing man. The dialogue is stilted and fake-sounding, and the cast speaks it with often amateurish delivery.
Here's a taste, when Craig and Joe first lay eyes on Amanda: "There's not going to be a dry seat in the house tonight, my friend. Every testicle in this place just went into overdrive."
Then the movie morphs into a sweet love story, followed by the big twist, when it grows all serious and slightly preachy.
Argh.
I could go on and on about why I think this film is doesn't work. But since it's a local effort, I feel compelled to say some nice things about it.
The production values are generally quite high. The film looks like it was shot on high-definition digital video, and the image is crisp and vibrant. Editing, sound, etc. are all top-notch.
The city of Indianapolis comes off looking great. There are tons of scenes set at real, recognizable places like Monument Circle, Elements nightclub, White River State Park, Lockerbie Square and more. Watching this movie you think: "Man, I'd really like to live in such a cool place!"
"Amanda" features a great-looking cast. Even Joe's sixtysomething parents looked like they stepped out of a fashion magazine. (They're played by Bill Bannister and Jan Jamison, who's had a long Hollywood career as a hairstylist.)
I want to encourage local filmmakers to strive and create, and I'd love for them to do make their movies here. But any film critic worth their salt knows that honesty is central to their integrity. Homerism is the bane of sportswriting, and it turns out it is for reviewing movies, too.
So while I commend the cast and crew of "Amanda" for shooting their film here, I can't recommend it to audiences.
2 Yaps