The Movie
If there's anything worse than a film with no point, I have yet to find it. Watching a film is a pretty big investment of time, so when there's no payoff, the disappointment can be great. Such is the case with Suddenly. The story of a dumpy clerk who gets abducted by a pair of punk lesbians and taken on a "journey of self-discovery" simply doesn't have enough story to maintain interest when there isn't some gratuitous, yet rare chubby-girl nudity on-screen. There may be some neo-feminist moral or lesbian empowerment subtext that I'm missing, but somehow, I doubt it.

None of the characters in this film are particularly likable, especially Mao and Lenin, the sapphic punks at the center of the story. These rail-thin brunettes are bad girls for no particular reason, and have the motivation and vocabulary of a Hot Topic customer. When they first meet Marcia, the chick clerk, the fowl mouthed punks threaten and coerce the shy, sensitive woman into following them, though she may just be trying to break the monotony of her life, as established early on. The sense of dread is palpable as Marcia eyes everything and everyone with contempt and concern, as though she's too busy worrying to live.

Tagging along on Mao and Lenin's junior-league crime spree only serves to confuse Marcia, as she reconsiders her life, in terms of her sexuality, her past and he future. The title becomes a literal description of the changes that occur, all of which culminate in a ham-handed and cliched representation of change. By the time it happens, the characters have yet to create much in the way of sympathy in the audience, and the film seems unable to decide what should happen next. Without any payoff, the whole thing becomes an exercise in tediousness. Unfortunately for your humble reviewer, that wasn't revealed 86 minutes earlier.

Interestingly, the film is listed on the box as 94 minutes long, but it only clocks in at 88 minutes, and that includes some lengthy credits. That would be shorter than any of the versions listed on IMDB. That's probably the only good thing about this release.

The DVD
Empire Pictures has released Suddenly on one DVD, delivered in a standard keepcase, with an insert that lists the chapter stops. The main menu is animated and full-screen, with options to play the film, look at scene selections and check out the bonus features. Though in Spanish, the movie has English subtitles, which have been burned into the transfer. The scene selection menus are well-designed, with still previews and titles for the scenes. There are no language or subtitle options available, and there is no closed captioning.

The Quality
Presented in letterboxed widescreen, Suddenly is a grainy mess with darkness and light clashing in just about every scene. This may be the director's intention, but it looks like this low-budget film has been made to look as good as it could. I am not impressed. My roommate's senior film looked better than this. Probably because he actually used lights. At many points throughout the film, shadows ate scenes whole. Occasionally, the 2.0 soundtrack is as annoying as the first-semester film style, thanks to an excessive amount of background noise (which, sadly, seems intentional.) At its best, the soundtrack keeps things moving, without distortion. Ambient sound is the strongest part of the track, with the dialogue clocking in as above acceptable.

As far as the subtitles are concerned, this disc is disappointing. The subtitles are not optional, having been burned onto the image. Worse yet, there are plenty of errors, especially in the spelling. An annoying film deserves annoying subtitles, I guess.

The Extras
A text biography of director Diego Lerman is the biggest extra on this DVD, followed by four trailers, including a preview for Suddenly. There's also a small photo album of stills from the film, which is a pretty useless feature.

The Bottom Line
I've seen better shot college films and deeper plots on the backs of cereal boxes. How this film tied City of God at the Havana Film Festival is a mystery that should be investigated by the combined forces of Leonard Nemoy, "Unsolved Mysteries" and Mulder and Scully. Suddenly is a boring film without much about it to suggest to others, unless I'm looking to trim down my circle of friends. There are other, better produced films that cover the same ground. Look for them before subjecting yourself to this film.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.