Meet Howard
Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Written by: Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, Damien Chazelle
Cast: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr.
Swift shot: Is he crazy, or has the world truly ended? That is the question that is swirling through the audience’s mind throughout the first act of the film. Our wayward victim, Michelle (Winstead) is convinced she’s been abducted, but is this maniac her savior or something else?
Dan Trachtenberg uses interstitial tension to shift the focus of the horror that surrounds Michelle. She begins the film in turmoil, as she’s leaving her fiancee or husband . . . I wasn’t clear on what he was, but she left a ring behind. Regardless, that story-line becomes an afterthought as she’s swiftly swooped up by stereotypical survivor archetype, Howard, played with a seething intensity by the always impressive thespian, Goodman. But, they aren’t alone.
There’s a young man named Emmett (Gallagher) who has an affable quality to him that makes Michelle wonder if maybe she is wrong about her new “protector.” The film is claustrophobic, as you feel the helplessness crushing Michelle. Emmett tries to provide comic relief, but Howard keeps reminding everyone of their new situation. Is this new reality the price Michelle has paid for leaving her fiancee?
By the second act, she and the audience aren’t sure what to believe. Things go from surreal, to real, back to horrific, and in the final act, the gloves come off. Well, actually, they go on . . . which is much worse! Trust me on that.
10 Cloverfield Lane is a film within a film, and while the focus of the horror flips, the peril of our heroine is clear. She’s never really out of the fire.
I have to be careful not to give too much away here, but the filmmakers did a superb job of keeping the scenes taut and void of boredom . . . for the most part. If you want a constant action film, this isn’t for you, but you also won’t be disappointed in several more dramatic sequences where Michelle is struggling to survive. The dialog is infrequent, but every word uttered is calculated to move the story and help give us a glimpse of who each one truly is.
If you are a fan of stormless thrillers, this one is for you. It had a definite Hitchcock feel to it, and the payoff was, I thought, quite inspired. It literally had me on the edge of my seat by the end.
Here’s our first #SnapRackBang review – for the short attention spanned folks that can’t read our reviews all the way through. I’ve uploaded the whole thing to YouTube for those that aren’t on Snapchat yet.
