Down River, and away down the must see list

Last night was a relatively easy one at the VFF. Sitting through the half hour of previews the night before had warned me away from It Was You, Charlie, for better or worse, leaving one film on the dance card: Down River. It is a Canadian independent film, appearing not to have any government money behind it. Although my mother never said it, I understand that it is wise, if you don't have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all. That is pretty much the rule with this one. Some of the acting was capable, but none of the players could make any headway against the sheer vertical cliff wall of this film's terrible script. Certainly they got no help from the director, for whom plausibility or restraint seem actually to be undesirable qualities. On reading the list of awards the film has won (see link above), I'm not optimistic about the state of the English Canadian film industry.

Three (!) promising films tonight, which will be an impossible goal. I hope to be more cheerful in the next report.

By the way, Helen cautions against At Middleton, which she saw while I was at Putzel. She is batting 0/2, unfortunately.