The Book
Written and Directed by Grant Goodman
Based upon `Down with America', written by Mary Hornbacher
Starring Joe Kaczkowski, Robb Sherman, Peter Roach, Jason Paulick, Paul Oppenheim, and Allen Goodman
As Reviewed by James Brundage
How many trilogies have I seen? First, there's the obvious Star Wars trilogy. Then, you have the Indiana Jones bunch. Then you have Kevin Smith 's ubiquitous (to a former Jersey resident) Redbank trilogy (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy). Then you have the two parts completed Scream trilogy. The Die Hard trilogy. The Alien trilogy. I lose count if I actually try to get them all in my head at once. The Godfather trilogy.
Add to this list the Down with America trilogy. This is the first short film trilogy that I have yet seen and, to put things mildly, an interesting twist on the genre.
Now, normally, when you have a trilogy, the second part of it is the strongest. It's expected. This is why, in the infamous discussion in Scream 2 about sequels sucking, Empire Strikes Back was put down quickly with the line: `not a sequel, part of a trilogy, exempt.' It bites into the standard idea that any trilogy is an expansion upon the basic three-act format to the script. In the three-act model for the script, the second act is invariably the most interesting. You spend your time truly getting to know the characters that were introduced in the first act and preparing yourself for the plot twists in the third act. It is the core of a film.
In the second installment of the Down with America trilogy, it breaks the mold (as you would expect), but ends up doing so in such a way as too annoy us. Were the trilogy of shorts to be viewed as a total film, I would say that the second act is what kills it. It isn't terrible, but its pretty bad.
Whereas the third part: Down with America: Moldy Kitten reminds me of Ed Wood, the Tim Burton film, The Book simply reminds me of Ed Wood. It has the same grade of plot, of special effects, and of camerawork. It was someone's bright idea to film in black and white and, from that point in, everything goes wrong.
Normally, the technical aspects of a film do not distract me from the watching experience but, in the case of The Book, they did. I spent my entire time squinting at the screen trying to make out exactly what was on it. There was no lighting, there was no filter, and the film, through some bizarre twist of fate, tries to be noir.
A tip to director Grant Goodman: when your script isn't noir, don't have your camera be noir.
The script is worse than shabby, packed with bad dialouge and absolutely no plot development, thus eliminating the need for a second act. We do indeed have a higher body count (as far as murders are concerned) in The Book, than in Down with America or Moldy Kitten, but, they seem to get us nowhere. The book changes hands about three times, and that is all that happens in the film.
The lines, unlike in Down with America, are poorly delivered. The characters make you lose any emotion you may have had invested in them. As part two of a trilogy, and thus as a second act, The Book fails. It does not do its job.
I said in my review of Down with America that I don't box with kid gloves. It's true. I know some people at Rigormortis Productions and consider them to be at least acquaintances, but that is no reason for me to give a positive verdict to this film. I have not had to do this before to someone I know, but, as the man says: `You gotta do what you gotta do.'
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