 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Interview with the Assassin- 11/15/02 - Unrated - 88m
Raymond J. Barry
Dylan Haggerty
Director: Neil Burger
JEF
Wow. I was very surprised with this movie. I was really looking forward
to seeing this, but at the same time, I was expecting to see the same
ol’ "conspiracy movie". But this movie was terrific.
The Storyline: Ron Kobeleski played by Dylan Haggerty, is a recently out
of work TV Cameraman for the local news. He meets his neighbor from across
the street Walter Ohlinger, played by Raymond J. Barry. Walter is retired,
and has a story to tell. Not just any story, but one that he’s kept
secret for 30 plus years. Walter learns that Ron is a TV cameraman, and
decides to tell his story on film for the entire world to know. If you
haven’t guessed by now, Walter is claiming to be the second gunmen,
in the JFK assassination. Ron does not believe him at first, but then
Walter starts to introduce evidence, and a series of facts, that leads
Ron to believe he could actually be the fabled second gunman. This is
where the movie differs from the standard "conspiracy" movie,
It’s not so much a movie to try and get us to believe in the conspiracy,
but rather the series of adventures that Walter takes Ron on, in discovering
the "so called" truth.
Raymond Barry, who plays Walter, was fantastic. His cold hearted, retired
Marine persona was a great character. At times while looking through the
eyes of the camera, you start to feel like your in the same hallway with
Walter, and that’s not a place you want to be. It’s kinda
like when someone you really don’t like, starts to stand too close
to you while your talking. Not so much a sense of fear, but rather just
feeling uncomfortable.
There was some good camera work in this movie, but you also have to be
able to accept the "home video" look of the movie. It was a
low budget style film, similar to "The Blair Witch Project".
Some camerawork is shaky, and out of focus, and that usually annoys me,
but it was all done within a tolerated limit. (That’s one reason
I don’t watch the TV show NYPD Blue, is because of the shaky camera
technique). Another camera "flaw" in this movie was the lack
of color correction. Many of the shots have a yellowish wash to them.
But, in this sense I think it worked perfectly. It gave the film, a gritty
look, and almost like you were watching something that was filmed in the
late 60’s. There was one shot in particular that stood out, where
Ron was filming Walter while sitting in the airport terminal waiting for
their flight. Walter was sitting in front of the large glass windows and
was silhouetted, against the white sky. A great shot.
I have a feeling this movie won’t last long in theatres. In our
area, it’s only playing in one theatre. It is a low budget movie.
It probably has a limited marketing budget. But this is one of those movies
that’s like a diamond in the ruff. One of those small movies that
many will not get the chance to see, except maybe on DVD, where of course
it will lose some of it’s charm. If this movie is playing near you,
try to make an effort to go see it. Don’t think it’s just
another conspiracy movie.
Finally, It was 1 hour and 28 minutes long, but I honestly felt like the
movie was only 20 minutes. It was constantly moving, and I never got bored
once. That’s saying something for a movie with basically 2 characters,
and no musical score.
Jef