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The
Film:
This
is a love story. It is also a story about
dealing with the consequences of pain and looking to the future with
hope.
Early on in the film we are introduced to three pivotal characters to
the story:
Silence, Jude, and Ciel.
Silence
(Clark Johnson) is a boxer past his prime
who is now involved in some sort of underground fighting. Jude is a
single
mother working as a nurse while trying to provide for her son Ciel (who
happens
to love doing magic tricks). Thus encapsulates the core characters of
the film
that created the title Nurse.Fighter.Boy.
Early
in the narrative, Silence finds himself in a
brawl that leads him to the care of Jude. They quickly start a special
connection in the hospital and this bond grows and carries throughout
the
course of the film. It's interesting to think about this element to the
story
because these characters almost instantaneously (perhaps magically?)
connect.
It is hardly convincing that these two very different characters would
fall for
one another. Perhaps I was meant to view the characters as being
closely connected
through similarities unseen to the common eye. Unfortunately, I never
did see
these characters that way.
Jude's
son Ciel plays magic tricks and music with a
close friend while the two lovers are continuing to see that growing
formation
to their relationship. The days of the summer go by quickly and the
flirtation
and romance continues to brew and steam
between Silence and Jude - Hey,
perhaps it is it true love after all? While all of this is happening
the young
boy simply continues to have some pleasant times doing various
(seemingly redundant
and uninteresting) things with a close friend. Not everything is
pleasant
though... as Jude is actually becoming increasingly ill in one of the
worst
possible ways.
I
am not going to dive further into the plot as
there isn't much left to even explain. Doing so would simply help to
spoil what
surprises there are for new viewers. To be quite frank though -- hardly
anything actually happens during the entirety of the plot. While the
story
itself is underdeveloped and features questionable editing which
results in additional
pacing issues something to consider about this film is that the
interesting,
colorful cinematography and jazzy music was surprisingly strong and
evocative.
If the filmmaker had spent more time trying out creative visuals and
had more coordination
of these moments to the music some elements would have certainly become
more
involving simply through adding to one of the film's primary strengths.
It
pains me to say that this film doesn't work. The
story is just not as well developed as it could have been had it
reached its
full potential. Here is a film with a
heart in the right place and with a story that is deeply personal to
the
writer/director Charles Officer -- an artist who clearly invested a lot
of time
and energy into trying to bring this story to life for cinema-goers.
The
unfortunate thing to consider about all of this effort is that is
simply fails
to add up to a film that is ultimately that compelling to watch. Not a
lot seems
to even happen during the film. The pacing was slow and not with good
reason. One
might argue that the snail-pace was meant to evoke a certain mood and
yet the
film just doesn't quite manage to pull that mood off effectively. Nurse.Fighter.Boy is trying so hard to
succeed and in the end it simply cannot seem to muster enough strength
to. I
believe that is primarily due to a weak narrative structure.
The
DVD:
Video:
The film is presented in its
original 1:85:1 aspect ratio with anamorphic enhancement. The use of
color is
especially striking and noteworthy as the cinematography attempts some
interesting visual ideas. There is some film grain, though it is not
really an
issue with the presentation. This is the best the source material will
ever
look considering the low budget nature of the film.
Audio:
The
original English language audio is presented in Dolby
Digital 5.1. This was a surprise as it is not advertised on the back of
the
case. The surrounds occasionally open up for some nice effects but are
kept at
a minimum. This is a dialog heavy film. It was nice to have something a
bit
more enveloping than usual though for an indie production. The actor's
voices
were crisp and clear and I did not detect any audible distortions.
Extras:
The
extras were underwhelming. A short
film entitled Afterglow is included (from
director Lisa Blatter). This Swiss production is focused on three
people
having to deal with the loss of someone important in their lives. I did
not
particularly enjoy this short; in fact it was far less interesting than
the
main feature. Given its focus on three core characters and indie nature
it at least
made sense to see this inclusion.
Film
Movement trailers and short
biographies about those involved in Nurse.Fighter.Boy
are also included.
Final
Thoughts:
This
is an ambitious and disappointing slice of indie Canadian
film-making. It was clearly made from a passionate artist and yet the
final
product is never as interesting or as moving as it hoped it could be. The included extras are even less interesting.
I cannot recommend this film or release despite the fact it was clearly
made
with good intentions.
Skip
It.
Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema, and a student who aspires to make movies. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas. |
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