User Reviews

Poor production values but a first-rate performance by the lead playing the {autistic?) young man. Somewhat surprised I haven't seen him in anything more "mainstream" given his ability.

The plot isn't exactly novel - mentally-handicapped young man with artistic gift bonds with his equally female young care giver at a mental hospital or some state facility. She's about to graduate college and has an outlook equal parts naive and pessimistic about her future as she's living with her alcohol-abusing boyfriend. Her fight to get Peter released and on his own is an obvious proxy battle for herself (a point that is re-enforced once too often) and the lead actresses' performance just isn't quite up to conveying these depths.

Despite all these flaws, the film is captivating in it's own way. Once the story starts, you're more or less hooked and wanting to know the ending. When Peter wigs out in public, clutching his head between his legs - all filmed from a distance in a creepy, voyeur sort of style - it feels so real you almost want to look away. I can't help but imagine what the film could have been with some money and better technical skill (both in front of and behind the camera).

'Peter' looks and feels like a theatrical production - a staged one. The camera lingers on scenes well past the edit point of most films and scenes between actors usually stay on a mid-level shot instead of at a minimum cutting between close-ups. The technique, if it is a technique and not just a sign of inexperience on the part of the filmmakers, is surprisingly effective in some of the dramatic scenes as we stay with the actors. You don't feel like you're sharing the moment, but you do feel like you're in the second row at the theatre watching two actors pour their hearts out.

Good performances by most of the cast and look for the guy playing the doctor - I've seen him in some 80's sitcom re-runs like "Benson" - which is as close as any of the cast comes to be "recognizable."