Before making this, Carter Smith, who began his career
in fashion photography, had made a series of interesting shorts (including
Bugcrush) and a rather disappointing horror film, The Ruins. Jamie Marks Is Dead was a definite step
forward.
The story: In a wintry small
town, the body of a teenager named Jamie Marks (Noah Silver) is found by the
river. Adam (Cameron Monaghan), the star of his cross-country team, becomes
fascinated with Jamie - a boy nobody really knew or interacted with, except occasionally
to bully him. When Jamie's ghost begins to appear both to Adam and Gracie
(Morgan Saylor), the classmate who discovered the body, Adam is caught between
two worlds. He has a budding romance with Gracie, but he also feels a deep
connection to Jamie, who brings him closer to the world of the undead. The film
also contains solid supporting work by Liv Tyler and Judy Greer.
The review: "Watching
you run, feels like reading a poem", Jamie's ghost tells Adam. Watching
this movie, I would add, is like listening to your favorite adaggio, sweet yet
sorrowful. The ghosts are roaming around this small Northern US town, but
people don't see them, except for the sensitive ones - teenagers Gracie and
Adam. Yet Gracie chooses to look the other way, while Adam embraces them,
sincerely trying to help, even when this puts his life in danger. He does
indeed help, finally uttering the magic word, whispered to Jamie's lips, that
allows his spirit to finally rest. All
the while, it exposes the ugliness and underlying violence in this phenomenally
picturesque small town. Beautifully lensed in somber winter colors, expertly
carried by Cameron Monaghan's presence/performance, this is more of a coming of
age tale. Yet this is a bit of a coming out story too... even if it is post
mortem.
Grade: 8/10
The trailer:
Intriguing review, will check it out!
ReplyDeleteOn a sidenote- the comments section at TBL and NNN is gone, but Snicks doesn't seem to know it? He asks for comments. Do you know if people can be contacted someplace else?
I don't think I've ever heard of this movie but it sounds really interesting! I'll definitely check it out soon. My partner and I are big fans of Cameron Monaghan from his work on Shameless. Thanks for the recommendation!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful film. I would recommend it to anyone who likes movies that build slowly but have a big payoff. Cameron Monaghan continues to amaze.
ReplyDelete@afhi: I agree with you all the way!
ReplyDelete@ ScottD: I think that since you like Cameron, you will definitely enjoy the film, Scott.
@anonymous: If you remove the ad block from your browser, you will be able to see the comments in NNN/TBL and make some yourself, if you so wish. I hope that you'll enjoy this film.
ah, ok, thanks for the info. Is this a new policy? Because I could see the comments just fine with the adblocker on.
DeleteI mean last week I could see them.
DeleteI think that it's a glitch in their system that they're trying to fix. Are you using a Google browser and did you update it lately?
DeleteWe rented it last night. Wow! What a thought provoking and haunting end to our Easter Sunday! Really loved it. It was so sad but yet hopeful too, incredibly eerie at times. It brought to mind a bit of David Lynch and Donnie Darko. Cameron Monaghan was amazing though the whole cast was really good I thought. I did get a little distracted at times by how much Noah Silver reminded me of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter! Anyway, again, thanks for the great recommendation!
ReplyDeleteHey Scott! I'm so glad that you loved it! I totally agree with your assessment, the Lynch/Donnie Darko influences in particular, that was a very astute observation. Also, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that Noah Silver reminded me of Daniel Radcliffe. Have a great day!
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