Reviews

This is easily one of the most underrated Hollywood films of the nineties - it's got a compelling script, beautiful performances (particularly from Andy Garcia, Uma Thurman, and John Malkovitch in a short but unforgettable cameo.), some of the best cinematography ever set on film (director of photography Conrad Hall later went on to shoot 'American Beauty'.), and one of the greatest scores ever written by underrated composer Christopher Young. As it is, this film is heaven from a filmmaker's perspective and a pretty damn good drama to boot. Highly recommended.

The third in Jay Craven's series of film adaptations of Howard Frank Mosher novels (the others are 'High Water' (1991), 'Where the Rivers Flow North' (1993), and the upcoming 'Disappearances'.) By far Craven's darkest film to date, telling a story of murder and racism in a small 1950's Vermont town. A brilliantly executed piece of cinema which is at once both a compelling drama and a riveting whodunit, featuring top-drawer performances (particularly Rusty DeWees, Bill Raymond, and Ernie Hudson.), and an appropriately eerie score by the Horse Flies. Like all of Craven's films except for 'Rivers', it may be hard to find outside of Vermont, but well worth a rental if you do come across it.

A very wacky and disjointed film that is historically significant as the first project produced by Jay Craven's Fledgling Films Institute, which offers teenagers a chance to experience professional filmmaking. The film itself is full of teen actors, and was written by a committee of 43 teenagers under Craven's supervision. So if you want to see a teen film that was actually WRITTEN by teenagers, go for this one. It might not be available outside of Vermont, however, but can be ordered directly from Jay Craven's company, Kingdom County Productions - you can also check out the stats on later Fledgling Films projects, none of which have actually been released yet. Recommended for the novelty, if nothing else. Just don't mind the smelt song. (You'll understand what I'm talking about if you watch the film.) If nothing else, 'In Jest' is a good first foray into the realm of disproving Hollywood's ludicrous stereotypes about teenagers. Now if only they'd release the products of the 1999 and 2000 institutes, we could see some even better teen-written film....but until then, get this one and wait.