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Everything Put Together
Ventura // R // April 9, 2002
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE STRAIGHT DOPE:
Before his emotionally raw Monster's Ball, director Mark Forster made a low-budget film called Everything Put Together that explored the strengths and weaknesses of bonds between women. By taking one of the most delicate topics - childbirth - and one of the most devastating outcomes - sudden infant death - as his starting point, Forster guaranteed that his film would hit hard. Like David Gordon Green's George Washington, Everything Put Together calls attention to how fragile we are, so that mundane everyday occurrences feel like potential disasters. These are not characters who look like they can fight or run or jump. They are constantly on the verge of breaking and their physical frailty only helps accentuate the frailty of their psyches. The film is dominated by Radha Mitchell as Angie, a young mother whose child doesn't live long after birth. The shock of losing her baby takes a huge toll on Angie, but the ostracism that her friends put her through makes it even worse. They look at her almost as cursed and, since they are all either pregnant or recent mothers too, they don't want Angie around. The cold brush off they deal her hurts. She soon sees that the only thing any of them really have in common is their obsession with motherhood and that the rest of her clannish friends view her tragedy as some sort of failure. By the end of the film there is no way she can fool herself any more. The final moments have an ambiguous sense where everything may be crystal clear for Angie except for her future. The press material for Everything Put Together compares it to Roman Polanski's Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby, although that's not entirely accurate. There is a palpable sense of dread that it shares with those films but the otherworldly connection probably wouldn't be there for the audience if the publicists didn't force it. A closer connection exists between Everything Put Together and Todd Haynes' Safe, with its themes of suburban paranoia, betrayal, and bodily dysfunction. The cold, sterile world of cul de sac living in Everything Put Together and Safe puts a subversive face on a way of life that many Americans take for granted as normal and natural. The forced social circles, the emphasis on possessions and decoration, the design for a "perfect" life. Both films find that life unraveling from its own seams (as opposed to something like Panic Room, which introduces an outside element.) Everything Put Together is helped by a strong supporting cast, including familiar faces Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) and Catherine Lloyd Burns (Malcolm in the Middle, she also co-wrote the script) as two of Angie's friends, and Alan Ruck (Speed) and Mark Boone Jr. (Seven) as their husbands. Justin Louis is sensitive but ineffectual as Angie's husband and Matt Malloy (In the Company of Men) is just insincere enough as her doctor. Overall, the cast is uniformly solid and the film has the feel of one that was made with actors' input. In the end, however, it's Mitchell's film throughout (the actress is also credited as associate producer, so I wouldn't be surprised if she helped get it on screen) and her performance as the emotionally battered Angie makes the film as effective as it is. VIDEO:
Shot on widescreen digital video, Everything Put Together can be extremely ugly at times. Some may consider digital video the future of filmmaking, but if it all looks like this, it's more like a death knell. Everything Put Together gets by on acting, atmosphere, and ideas; The visuals are mostly well below the level of quality presented by the cast. AUDIO:
The stereo soundtrack displays some of the limitations of the low budget shoot, but isn't that bad. Voices are clear most of the time and the spare, eerie score is effective. English and French subtitles are available. EXTRAS:
A selection of deleted scenes available with an assortment of commentary tracks is available. These scenes are split between extended versions of scenes in the final cut and scenes completely removed. It's an interesting selection, especially since the various commentary tracks offer a variety of viewpoints. There are also two full-length commentary tracks. The first features director Mark Forster and the second features Radha Mitchell, Megan Mullally, and producer Seam Furst. These are both fine tracks filled with intelligent, eloquent comments about the making of the film and the theme of motherhood. There is also a good deal of talk about the making of the film, which contains some significant scenes of improvisation.
Before his emotionally raw Monster's Ball, director Mark Forster made a low-budget film called Everything Put Together that explored the strengths and weaknesses of bonds between women. By taking one of the most delicate topics - childbirth - and one of the most devastating outcomes - sudden infant death - as his starting point, Forster guaranteed that his film would hit hard. Like David Gordon Green's George Washington, Everything Put Together calls attention to how fragile we are, so that mundane everyday occurrences feel like potential disasters. These are not characters who look like they can fight or run or jump. They are constantly on the verge of breaking and their physical frailty only helps accentuate the frailty of their psyches. The film is dominated by Radha Mitchell as Angie, a young mother whose child doesn't live long after birth. The shock of losing her baby takes a huge toll on Angie, but the ostracism that her friends put her through makes it even worse. They look at her almost as cursed and, since they are all either pregnant or recent mothers too, they don't want Angie around. The cold brush off they deal her hurts. She soon sees that the only thing any of them really have in common is their obsession with motherhood and that the rest of her clannish friends view her tragedy as some sort of failure. By the end of the film there is no way she can fool herself any more. The final moments have an ambiguous sense where everything may be crystal clear for Angie except for her future. The press material for Everything Put Together compares it to Roman Polanski's Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby, although that's not entirely accurate. There is a palpable sense of dread that it shares with those films but the otherworldly connection probably wouldn't be there for the audience if the publicists didn't force it. A closer connection exists between Everything Put Together and Todd Haynes' Safe, with its themes of suburban paranoia, betrayal, and bodily dysfunction. The cold, sterile world of cul de sac living in Everything Put Together and Safe puts a subversive face on a way of life that many Americans take for granted as normal and natural. The forced social circles, the emphasis on possessions and decoration, the design for a "perfect" life. Both films find that life unraveling from its own seams (as opposed to something like Panic Room, which introduces an outside element.) Everything Put Together is helped by a strong supporting cast, including familiar faces Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) and Catherine Lloyd Burns (Malcolm in the Middle, she also co-wrote the script) as two of Angie's friends, and Alan Ruck (Speed) and Mark Boone Jr. (Seven) as their husbands. Justin Louis is sensitive but ineffectual as Angie's husband and Matt Malloy (In the Company of Men) is just insincere enough as her doctor. Overall, the cast is uniformly solid and the film has the feel of one that was made with actors' input. In the end, however, it's Mitchell's film throughout (the actress is also credited as associate producer, so I wouldn't be surprised if she helped get it on screen) and her performance as the emotionally battered Angie makes the film as effective as it is. VIDEO:
Shot on widescreen digital video, Everything Put Together can be extremely ugly at times. Some may consider digital video the future of filmmaking, but if it all looks like this, it's more like a death knell. Everything Put Together gets by on acting, atmosphere, and ideas; The visuals are mostly well below the level of quality presented by the cast. AUDIO:
The stereo soundtrack displays some of the limitations of the low budget shoot, but isn't that bad. Voices are clear most of the time and the spare, eerie score is effective. English and French subtitles are available. EXTRAS:
A selection of deleted scenes available with an assortment of commentary tracks is available. These scenes are split between extended versions of scenes in the final cut and scenes completely removed. It's an interesting selection, especially since the various commentary tracks offer a variety of viewpoints. There are also two full-length commentary tracks. The first features director Mark Forster and the second features Radha Mitchell, Megan Mullally, and producer Seam Furst. These are both fine tracks filled with intelligent, eloquent comments about the making of the film and the theme of motherhood. There is also a good deal of talk about the making of the film, which contains some significant scenes of improvisation.
There are also three trailers and one easily located easter egg which reveals some very strange footage.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Everything Put Together is an affecting and chilling film that deals with the very basics of storytelling: Characters and the way they interact. While not every moment works, the overall effect is to create an engaging atmosphere and to make a few comments on modern social situations. While the digital video that the film is shot on is a step down from truly thoughtful, artistic cinematography, the film overcomes it with acting, writing, and mood.
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