It will make my girlfriend scoff in frustration, but I do love a good monologue – not from me when irritated about something, but in the context of a play or film. A really well written and delivered monologue can be a great thing, and indeed I just recently finished watching a 50-episode series where each film was one performer delivering a specially written monologue, a series where the idea of this was enough to draw me in. With Method Actor, we join our older actor in his front room; it is an older property which, like him, has seen better days but is still filled with character. He relates his life on the boards as an actor.
There is no doubt that this is a richly delivered film that is based on a good idea. Like all good monologues the idea here is that as the person talks, the writing allows us to see between the words and to draw more conclusions and take more meaning that perhaps the speaker would want us to. The best writing does this, understanding the character enough to put that character throughout the words so that we understand them more and more, even though they are maybe telling a story about their day and not some great outpouring of who they are and why they are that way. This film seems to want to do that, and indeed the end of the film shows that there is more than just the words, however the way it does it is not as good as the idea.
In less than 3 minutes we move very quickly to the conclusion, and we do so with a monologue that is heading to that point directly. Along the way, quick edits to other poses, or other (dying, or slightly sinister) objects, tell us that this is going to a dark place. As such I must admit being a bit underwhelmed by the reveal ending, since it seemed so apparent that we would be heading to some dark place such as this. Although it would make it a different film, I was hoping that it would build for longer, and make the monologue a lot more engaging and a lot less direct. As it is, it seems all very functional.
The performance from Shrapnel is similarly focus on the directness. He has character and presence, but his dialogue and his direction is too obvious – he has the look of a man who could have done much more if he had been given the time, space and material to do so. I do not mean to suggest that Method Actor is bad, because it is not, it delivers on what it sets out to do and is professionally made; it is just the directness I was disappointed with – it puts its head down and goes right from A to B, which doesn't make the most of the idea, the monologue, or the actor.
There is no doubt that this is a richly delivered film that is based on a good idea. Like all good monologues the idea here is that as the person talks, the writing allows us to see between the words and to draw more conclusions and take more meaning that perhaps the speaker would want us to. The best writing does this, understanding the character enough to put that character throughout the words so that we understand them more and more, even though they are maybe telling a story about their day and not some great outpouring of who they are and why they are that way. This film seems to want to do that, and indeed the end of the film shows that there is more than just the words, however the way it does it is not as good as the idea.
In less than 3 minutes we move very quickly to the conclusion, and we do so with a monologue that is heading to that point directly. Along the way, quick edits to other poses, or other (dying, or slightly sinister) objects, tell us that this is going to a dark place. As such I must admit being a bit underwhelmed by the reveal ending, since it seemed so apparent that we would be heading to some dark place such as this. Although it would make it a different film, I was hoping that it would build for longer, and make the monologue a lot more engaging and a lot less direct. As it is, it seems all very functional.
The performance from Shrapnel is similarly focus on the directness. He has character and presence, but his dialogue and his direction is too obvious – he has the look of a man who could have done much more if he had been given the time, space and material to do so. I do not mean to suggest that Method Actor is bad, because it is not, it delivers on what it sets out to do and is professionally made; it is just the directness I was disappointed with – it puts its head down and goes right from A to B, which doesn't make the most of the idea, the monologue, or the actor.
