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Kalamity

Kalamity

Where to begin, where to begin? Well, let me preface this by saying I tried watching this once before and couldn't get through it. Recently, however, I was visiting my buddy who lives in Alexandria, VA and I happened to remember that Kalamity was filmed in Fairfax, VA. My buddy grew up around there and lived there for a number of years. I thought, hey, if nothing else, maybe he'll see some familiar sites or, perhaps, someone he knows. Also, I was thinking that maybe I just needed to give this movie another shot. Perhaps I wasn't in the right headspace when I watched this the first time. Well, it was 60 minutes of pure tedium that would have been better served watching paint dry. Wait, you're saying, it's a 90 minute movie, not 60. Quite true, but we watched for about 50 minutes and then had to start fast forwarding to see if there was anything to sustain our interest. No such luck. We were teased early on by a great scene where Stanley popped Christian in the face with a hockey puck. We would soon learn that this would be the highlight of the entire movie. The acting was stilted in some scenes and OTT (over the top) in others. The university in Ohio looked suspiciously like George Mason University. And, come on, you end the movie on a traffic signal changing from red to green? What does that even mean?! Sounds like art for art's sake to me. Lastly one of the characters made a crack about a "* from Manassas." My grandmother lives in Manassas! I need to stop here and calm down before I can finish this review... Okay, If this movie could be saved (and that's a big "if"), I'd reedit it so there are only these scenes: 1) Billy comes home from college, 2) Stanley decks Christian with the hockey puck, 3) Billy has one of his girlfriend hallucinations in his Volvo, 4) Christian gets gunshot by Stanley, 5) Billy confronts Stanley, 6) The traffic light changes from red to green. That's it. Roll credits.

This is a hard movie to watch, but ultimately rewarding. My favorite scenes involved Robert Forster as Billy's father, Patricia Kalember as his mother and Sammi Hanratty as his adorable little sister Barbie. But Stan's creepy behavior is worth seeing too, I suppose. Toward the end we finally get a payoff, along with a mystery that never quite gets resolved. It takes a while, but it's finally clear to me who is going off the deep end, not who I thought. Some of the scenes have audio that sounds like it's coming from inside a trash can, and other visual or sound techniques that make it clear someone is not in his right mind. One of the better performances comes from an actress with a brief scene at the college Alice attends in Ohio. It's not clear half the time what Stan and Billy are talking about at one point since half the words had to be bleeped for broadcast TV. Is it any good? I suppose. It's not really my kind of movie.

I do not know the shills who reviewed this movie, but do they not understand that if YOU FIND A BODY In the woods and DO NOT REPORT IT, those that found it will face CHARGES??? This movie was so stupid, they find a BLOODY photo, but do they go to the police? NO! They instead decide to go searching for the last place the girl they thought was at. Okay, at least they are giving their friend the benefit of the doubt, though MOST people would have called THE POLICE! Then they actually find a murdered body, but do they call the police? NO! One guy goes home and gets murdered and the other goes home lays down then wakes up later to take a shower....and the idiot still does not call the police! Then he goes to the home of the murdered guy and confronts his friend. The people that wrote this garbage ought to be slapped! It has no basis in reality...NONE! If they were actual people then the guy at the end of the movie would have the police looking for him because he left his prints all over the place. What a stupid story!

Kalamity is a believable psychological thriller directed by James Hausler. Hausler anchors his cast with Nick Stahl in a lead role as well as veteran actors Robert Forster and Patricia Kalember. Stahl returns to his hometown after a broken romance in pretty bad emotional shape. Hoping to turn to his best friend, Stan, Billy (Stahl) soon learns that something is very wrong with Stan. As the plot unfolds, Hausler builds suspense keeping the audience completely engaged as the mystery unfolds. Jonathan Jackson, a relative newcomer in comparison to Stahl, believably portrays a disturbed young man, whose life changes in an instant.Christopher Clark has some difficulty in his off-beat role but does not detract from the overall quality.

Kalamity, directed by James Hausler, is a psychological thriller for everyone - male or female. This is a movie for people who enjoy getting into the mind of a killer. Starring Nick Stahl, Jonathan Jackson, Christopher Clark as the leads, Kalamity tells the story of college friends - in their post college years - when life becomes real. Back from a bad breakup, Billy (Stahl) is wounded and confused. Figuring he can count on a buddy to help him through the mess, he turns to Stan (Jackson), but he quickly realizes that Jackson is a bigger mess than he is and for far more serious reasons. The plot builds steadily as Billy (Stahl) and Christian (Clark) work through the maze of madness they find themselves in. This is a good movie, well-written with a key performance by Stahl. Get your popcorn before it starts; you do not want to have to leave the theater.

Written and directed by James Hausler, Kalamity claims its spot as an intriguing psychological thriller. Ripped to the bone by heartbreaking loss, Kalamity grasps Billy and Stan as its true victims. This film takes a different perspective since, for once, we hear from the men, witness their emotional bleed, and follow the horror of the 'subconscious rip'. The movie starts out with a haunting, compelling, and strikingly wise voice-over, which pulls the audience into the film. Grounded by Hollywood professionals Robert Forster and Nick Stahl who portrays the story's hero, Billy, Hausler's brilliant choice of Jonathan Jackson as the aggressive, uber-disturbed best friend, Stan, carries the suspenseful tone. Although Billy has problems of his own, he recognizes almost immediately that his good friend has some profound mental imbalance. The dialogue is real; it reflects the way real people feel and talk. Billy's reflection on his own lost love, Alice, speaks to that part in all of us who yearn for that lost love of our own – reliving snippets of moments in our own memories as Billy randomly does with Alice throughout the film. I saw this in the theater, and watched on demand repeatedly, each time unpeeling another layer of Hausler's tightly scripted, haunting film.

After breaking up with their girlfriends of five years, two friends handle it differently. After moving back to his hometown Billy (Stahl) learns that his girlfriend no longer wants a long distance relationship. He is not handling it well and goes to friend Stan (Jackson) for help coping. Stan is not handling his break up well either and soon his girlfriend winds up missing. This movie more then anything is a little disturbing, mainly for the fact that this is very believable and I'm sure at least part of this has happened to someone before. I don't want to give to much away but before you watch know that this is not a horror movie like the preview makes it seem like, but a very disturbing look at how an unstable person handles a break-up. I give it a B-. Would I watch again? - Not sure, I think I would but it may not have the same effect.

I love Stahl movies that's why i was excited to watch this one. Well, from the start the movie feels incomplete, this guy Billy gets back tohis town after splitting up with his girlfriend, he tries to get close to his friends after 5 years of absence, there is Stan also "recovering" from a messy break up and now he hates all women, and there is Christian, kind of dorky, shy fellow,who spends his time between working for Stan and watching TV..What make this movie slow and boring is the bloody break up IMHO,i expected a thriller, far from it!!! First of all we do not know the reasons of these break ups, until almost at the end when a "loony" Stan decide to give Al, Billy ex girlfriend, a visit. Before that all we see is inconsistency among these people, when it comes to use common sense. I still do not understand why when Billy and Christian found Ashley's body didn't call the cops, or somebody else, then if that was not enough to swallow, "moronoly" Chrisitan goes back to his home knowing that Stan is a killer! What a bloody nonsense!Furthermore Christian had already his suspicion on Stan, when he questioned him, about his shirt he changed when out with Ashley, like it was something shady, why? Also what really id annoyed me during the movies Billy's whining over his ex-girl, daydreaming too much, i was like what the heck is that all about???Get a grip DUDE!!!And the end well, after98 minutes of waiting for something to happen, instead of calling the cops again when Stan kill Chrisitan, and perhaps his girlfriend , i didn't get that part, Billy leaves Stan alone to kill himself, still we didn't know why they broke up only why he killed Ashley!!.Gosh what a pill!! I would not recommend to anyone to see this movie, it is not a horror, definitely not a thriller, only a simple story of three guys messed up but reacting in different ways, not really interesting to watch for 98 min..The only thing good about this movie is the acting, I still love Nick Stahl, and that's why i gave it 2 stars.