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"Where's That Young
Lad, Seth? He's Off To
Fire Creek!" |
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Directed by Jed Wells -
Written by Nathan
Keonaona Chai
Starring Seth Packard,
John Cannon, Dayne
Rockwood, Adam Daveline
Distributed Independent -
2006 - 95mins - Rated NR |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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C- |
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A student-directed feature length film... |
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I have a dilemma.
If I bash "Fire Creek," the debut feature film from Brigham Young
University undergraduate film student Jed Wells, I will likely be
accused of being meanspirited, unsupportive to beginning filmmakers
and not nearly as supportive of low-budget, indie flicks as I often
proclaim.
On the other hand, if I highly praise "Fire Creek," a film involving
numerous BYU students and grads, I will be, quite honestly, setting a
fairly modest benchmark for future productions.
The simple reality is that "Fire Creek" is a promising "work in
progress" by a young filmmaker, starring a young, talented actor named
Seth Packard who is also being seen this year in the much more
effective low-budget "Pirates of the Great Salt Lake." "Fire Creek"
has the look, feel and dialogue of the kind of low-budget, preachy
Christian films that most secular audiences hate and point to when
they try to explain why they don't enjoy Christian cinema.
However, if one were to look at two Christian films with the exact
same budget, this film and "Facing the Giants," the glaring
differences between this amateur, student-directed film and that other
more successful, widely released and profitable film would be obvious
and plentiful.
"Fire Creek" is the story of Jason Malek (Seth Packard), a young man
who returns from the war in Afghanistan questioning why a God he
didn't even believe in saved him during an attack that killed his best
friend, a faithful man of God. He believes there must be a purpose for
his survival, but he is isolated, bitter and confused. His girlfriend,
Allison (Melinda Lockwood), and Mother (Kim Abunuwara) attempt to
reach him with no success.
It is a most unexpected friendship with a young neighborhood teen, Lou
(Dayne Rockwood), that brings Jason out of his shell and back into
life. Lou's father (Paul Cannon) is dying, and they all share an
unexpected common bond from a tragic event of years ago.
As a first-time director, Jed Wells shows promise in his ability to
successfully build and bridge relationships between characters and his
trust of silence throughout the film. However, "Fire Creek" is plagued
by distracting technical issues that mute the impact of the
storyline's inherent drama. Camera work is shaky and, at times, even
changes focus mid-shot, while it also violates one of the very basic
tenets of successful cinematography...do not shoot into the sun.
Several shots are blurry or significantly hindered by being overly
bright. Wells shot the film on a $100,000 budget, but would do well to
watch Alyson Shelton's even lower budget "Eve of Understanding" for a
prime example of how to effectively use nature's unpredictable
lighting.
Seth Packard again offers a performance of great promise, though he
felt a tad unconvincing as an actual soldier. His scenes with Lou, in
particular, were remarkably touching. Clearly, this is an actor worth
watching.
In supporting roles, Rockwood also shows tremendous promise and is
utterly heartbreaking as he becomes increasingly aware of his father's
sickness. His scenes reading the Bible to his father during his
"attacks" are beautiful father/son moments seldom captured onscreen.
Though given less to do by Nathan Keonaona Chai's script, John Cannon
performs well as Lou's father. Lockwood and Abunuwara, too, offer fine
performances in supporting roles.
It is worth noting that Adam Daveline, as Jason's best friend Rooster,
nearly steals the film with an energetic, fun and sincere performance
that makes me wonder if this wouldn't have been an incredibly
entertaining buddy flick between Packard and Daveline.
The script for "Fire Creek" is a fairly textbook script for a
Christian family drama, however, it is worth noting for families that
some of the scenes of Lou's father as he becomes sicker may be too
intense for young children.
Being labeled a "student directed feature," it is very likely that
touch-ups will be done to "Fire Creek" based upon the feedback
received from its world premiere at the 2006 Heartland Film Festival
in Indianapolis. It is likely to play well on the typical LDS film
circuit, though I did find myself intrigued that a film featuring BYU
students and largely presented by BYU would, in fact, largely feature
a Bible rather than the usual Book of Mormon. Perhaps this is a sign
that the filmmakers intend to market to a more general Christian
audience rather than the built-in Mormon film audience.
Regardless, I come back to my dilemma. Truthfully, I haven't the heart
to be overly critical of a film from a new, quite young filmmaker who
does, in fact, show great promise. Likewise, I simply cannot be
unfaithful to my responsibilities as a film critic. The end result,
for me, is to rate "Fire Creek" as a slightly below average film from
a filmmaker, cast and crew with above average promise. "Fire Creek" is
a solid first effort with many strong points...here's hoping they
learn from this effort and continue to grow as actors, writers and and
directors.
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© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
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How We Rated This Film
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TC Candler -
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| Richard Propes
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C- |
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Jacob Hall
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TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob Hall's
Comment
n/a
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