I Believe I Can Fly ~ Movie Review of ‘Chronicle’

Andrew Detmer’s teenage angst is in hyper-drive for good reason; his mother is dying in the next room and his father, a former fireman who was injured on the job, is an abusive drunk.  His one consolation is that he has a camera (one of those heftier varieties from years gone by).  Ironically his cousin Matt is popular and drives him to school although Matt doesn’t want to be seen walking into the building with him.  You see, Andrew is that weird kid whose self esteem has been bruised and bloody by his father and now he is carrying around a camera filming everything…there is only so much a blood relative is willing to endure.

 

                  Andrew’s luck changes when he attends a party with Matt (Alex Russell) who is buds with the most popular kid at school Steve (Michael B. Jordon).  As popular kids go Steve is a generous soul and accepts Andrew as a guy he had a Freshman class with but didn’t know what become of him.  Steve’s the quarterback of the football team (cheerleader as a girlfriend of course) he’s running for student body president, and he is curious about the world around him – especially a crevice in the earth where there are strange things happening.  As movie magic would have it all three lads end up exploring the mysterious hole which leads to a cave where there is something shinny beckoning them to come further.

 

                They don’t know exactly what happened in the hole except that they blacked out but they soon discover that they can now do things that are against the law of physics…and Andrew (Dane DeHann) now sports a nicer newer camera. 

 

                ‘Chronicle’ reminded me of 2008’s ‘Cloverfield’ (BTW, apparently a sequel to that film is in the works).  Thankfully the hand held shakiness of the cinematography is kept to a minimum, but it is of the same genre except the monster/s are of a different flavor.  Here’s an interesting fact, there are two 2012 films with the title of ‘Chronicle’.  At times do you think the powers that be in Hollywood are playing chicken with other film studios?  Seriously, why have one Snow White themed film when you can have two?

 

                I really enjoyed ‘Chronicle’.  Despite having a cast who are playing high school aged kids there are real intellectual and psychological themes going through the storyline.  The plot is predictable but there is still enough going on that manages to impress.  The screenplay was written by Max Landis (son of John) who deserves a lot of credit for keeping things fairly real in the boys’ life despite their new abilities.  The film also marks the directing debut of 28 year-old Josh Trank who did an impressive job with the material giving it a nightmarish like quality – the film was made for only 15 million.

 

                The two acting standouts were Michael B. Jordon (many may remember him from ‘The Wire’ where he played Wallace) and Dane DeHann who reminiscent of a young Leonardo DiCaprio.  Both of these actors are ones to watch for future stardom.

 

                I would recommend ‘Chronicle’ for anyone wanting to see a decent, but smaller, science fiction film.  I think it will play on DVD and if you do see it in the theater and are over the age of twenty-five be aware that this film is popular with the teen crowd (in the North Kansas City theater where I saw the movie there was some scolding word play from an older viewer to younger ones…and no, it wasn’t me). 

 

                Until later, happy viewing!    

 

Westerfield © 2012