Close Range

source: Close Range

Off piste is an intimate study of how the actions of ones life impact the victims and how the adverse psychology created by such trauma ripples out to those with whom one interacts in the aftermath. The film is a study in the need for redemption, revenge and indeed forgiveness which leads to some very awkward moments of silence and emotional stand off. This is not a revenge/action movie it is more of a intricately weaved thriller with the action pretty much bookended at the beginning and end. Off piste is well written, acted and directed and in the end gives one the desired ending in that the two main protagonists survive. That they don't achieve a more emotional connection is fitting in that they come from what are historically diametrically opposed poles. Those who die in the present day of this movie's plot don't die for the politics of Northern Ireland, they die for unrequited love, perceived betrayal and the emotional damage wrought on the two main characters. That is quite an interesting irony as we hear characters from the violent past of Northern Ireland saying that the gun is no longer relevant in their struggle.

OFF PISTE is an indie drama masquerading as an action thriller. I was suckered into watching it by the video cover and the blurb, which sounded decent: a military guy hides out on the Alps, hunted by those he's hurt in the past. All well and good, except that this is one of those movies made with next to no money, so it just consists of characters chatting and occasionally arguing. The acting is as wooden as it gets, the Irish accents particularly ridiculous, and there's not a single moment of suspense or interest from beginning to end.

OK, I have been in Ireland, worked with Irish, etc., even someone from Belfast (but did not have a very heavy accent), but maybe are right the ones (actually, I think one) complaining a heavy fake Belfast accent (I guess the accent from Dublin, that I know better, is different). Also, I may agree it is not the best film around, but... Like many others, I was expecting a kind of action Hollywood "kill all" movie, in non-Hollywood imitation sauce - instead, it comes out as being a somehow intimate movie, with just enough action to keep the story, but a lot of focus on psychology of the characters, very good use and perfect choice of the scenery, good choice of the music, and at least some of the actors and dialogues are actually good. True, the characters could have been developed even a bit more (though rather because they were already clearly in the right direction), some of the actors were a bit "too little French to be in France" ;-), some dialogues could have been better, maybe some of the passages of scenes could have been done better - but I have seen more than one movie from Hollywood with good budget and even some big name, where the acting, dialogues and the movie were tons worst. And if the budget was a number of times what advertised, it would still be an very good result for the money, but for that money, it is exceptionally good - yes, I admit this last aspect and the aspect about the characters psychology have upped my rating a lot. Not the first title would come to mind to suggest to someone from an entertaining night, but I am definitively happy with the choice of watching it (and by the way, see what another reviewer wrote, no, I am not part of the family of anybody involved with this movie ;-))

I thought this film was really good! It had an interesting story-line and was extremely well- acted. I nearly didn't watch it because of the low ratings but very glad I did as it was tense and thrilling. I would definitely recommend it to others as I am sure they would enjoy it. Undeserving of such low ratings in my opinion.

OK, this contains a spoiler. Everyone dies in the end. No, I tell a lie. Everyone SHOULD die, in a sort of Hamlet-ish way, at the end. But sadly, they don't. The surviving characters will no doubt be recycled in another execrable movie. Even though we never want to see them again. Ever. This is a Movie With A Message. Unfortunately, it's a Boring Message and we are given the Message in the first fifteen turgid minutes. Then we get given it again. And again, and… you get the Message. And the accents. I've only been to Belfast once. But the sort of people who were out to kill our 'damaged goods' hero would never talk like that. True, if they spoke with authentic Belfast accents, we probably wouldn't be able to understand what they were saying. Which might come as a blessing, because then we could at least pretend that this was a foreign language movie. And of course, there's always subtitles. But no, cancel that last thought, because the worst bit? The dialogue. 'Wooden' doesn't do it justice. It's wearing a concrete overcoat. It's excruciating, toe-curling, wince- inducing. How do people put that sort of money together to make a movie this bad? I know they weren't *trying* to make a bad movie, so one can only assume that some dark, malevolent force took hold of all involved and caused them to come up with a terrible and implausible plot with wildly unbelievable characters, made them write such a clunky script that no actor could possibly make it work, and give such leaden and ponderous direction that a neighbour's two-hour home movie of their holiday in the Dordogne suddenly becomes an increasingly attractive option. Please don't waste your time watching this. It'll only encourage them. I watched it because I kept hoping that it would improve, that it would redeem itself somehow. But it did not. Now I'm going to have a quiet cry because I've wasted precious minutes watching this nonsense. Which is what I hope the director did when he saw the rushes.

Coming from N Ireland I was cringing with what was supposed to be an accent. The film was bad enough without listening to the atrocious dialogue - you would be better off sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting la la la la la la. If you are thinking of watching this film -dont - cut your toenails and watch them grow back, it would be more enjoyable.

I came to this film expecting to see a revenge movie with an ex SAS soldier remembering his training and skills to take out an avenging enemy. A bit like a budget version of any number of Hollywood blockbusters with INSERT ACTION STAR OF YOUR CHOICE with the enemy dispatched in a number of different, improvised ways. Well, if that's what you want to watch don't watch this film. Other reviewers have said the Northern Irish accents are terrible - well they didn't jar with me, they were strong, presumably Belfast, accents so not a cod Irish accent like Tom Cruise's in Far Away. A soldier did a terrible thing and has been suffering with the consequences ever since. He hides away in the mountains and seeks help from psychiatrists wanting them to wave a magic wand to absolve his sins but he seems to want to continue punishing himself. An Irish girl goes to find him for revenge but it doesn't quite work out that way. Meanwhile her unstable, obsessed with her friend chases after her with his equally dangerous mate. Here the film gets slightly silly. The 2 Irish men find her very quickly, she spurns the obsessed one - again - and the 2 men make an unbelievable decision. Cue sequence of events which is probably what you thought the film was about anyway. This may be a low budget film but it's done well. I've seen a lot of really, really terrible American films with bigger budgets which have dreadful scripts, awful CGI and are badly acted with known actors only doing it for the pay cheque. This film isn't perfect but it's not dreadful either. This film is about revenge and understanding. Wanting to die and wanting to live. It's about humanity.

A great intimate Trilher, which has a very interesting history and a little crazy too, in addition to relying on a unique landscape, the Alps with glaciers of France. A plot is about an accidental crime that causes mental sequels, I recommend !!!! Filmmaker Glen Kirby, a multi-professional (writes, produces and directs) premieres in its first place (in English, in English) and is presented in a good promise for new and great films. The actors do a great performance, the highlight of the protagonists Henry Douthwaite and Lara Lemon that make a great representation.

A moving and well done film unless you are distracted by the apparently poor Irish accents. Some of the constructs are a bit stretched but nothing like 99% of other films out right now. A mix of suspense, sadness and reflections on life, different from my expectation of a more typical action movie.