Bellflower is not for your average moviegoer. This is not your average movie. But if you’re into that unique, quirky, indie expression of individualism kind of thing (ie a movie critic), then Bellflower is certainly above average. Most people aren’t going to get it and will probably hate the movie as did most of the crowd I watched it with, but if you give it a chance and enjoy the movie for what it is, you’ll walk away with a lot more than you’d think.
Bellflower has rocked festivals and plays well for the film-lover audience but I have no idea how it’s going to succeed in an actual theatrical setting. Bellflower is one of those films that you impress your friends by saying you’ve seen it and only recommend it to true movie buffs. Years ago, this would be that underground DVD that gets passed along to anybody interested but now with the lowered entry cost of films, it’s getting some sort of distribution. That’s great, but the way they’re marketing is almost tricking people. I was disappointed by the murmurs of the audience after my screening because I thought the movie was a great effort. People just came for the muscle car and flamethrower…not the impressive story or stunning vision.
Muscle car with flames, awesome, right?
If you try and boil down the movie to a one-liner, Bellflower is the imaginative ordeal of getting over a girl. It’s a love story…with a flamethrower. It’s the over exaggeration of transforming a hipster into a hipster with a past. There’s actually about 3 stories in one: a prelude to an apocalyptic journey between two friends who have seen Mad Max a little too many times, a love trapezoid between two groups of best friends and a revenge flick second to none when it comes to suburban blood. This was a low-budget indie attempt by a group of friends and they deserve to be applauded by delivering a visceral piece of art that bordered crazy and beauty.
Suburban Blood.
I enjoyed the movie for the most part but a couple scenes dragged the project down. It ran too long and left a lot to be desired…until the very end. Each segment is started with a title shot loosely setting up what you’re about to watch. One of the titles is, “All Things End” and an audience member promptly shouted out, “like this movie?” Funny enough, that wasn’t even close to the end which actually saved the entire movie for me. Up until the film’s story did a fancy schmancy recap of everything it presented, I didn’t quite get it. But then I did, and I appreciated everything I saw.
mmmm, this is nice
If the dialogue was cleaned up and the story tightened down to a more straight-forward flick, Bellflower could be a mass-appealing indie hit. But as it is, the movie has too many growing pains that will surely be worked out if this team attempts to make another feature. I loved half the characters they came up with especially Aiden (Tyler Dawson) with gleefully charming lines like, “I figure if I got you fruitcake for your birthday, I could give you a real present for Christmas when we know each.” In the end, the only thing I can say is that only thing the main character, Woodow (Evan Glodell), could say, “…that was nice.”
Tags: bellflower, Evan Glodell, Tyler Dawson
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
