Paint Everything Black

This has been an off month for me so far. Usually January is an active month for me, no matter how burned out I might have been feeling by the end of the last year. I blame it mostly on work still, since I have been busy there. I don't mind that at all, money in my pocket after all, but I do hope things will pick up for me here. I was going to try and get two reviews in over the weekend, my second one didn't get done on time though. I did get it finished at last, so if you would like to read my thoughts on Stake Land, then click the link and head on over. I'm surprised it took me so long to get around to it. Sometimes I'm behind the curve on some films. It happens like that. For today I have the last of the backed up movie reviews, about time I might add, Finale (2009).

When the oldest son in the Michael's family suddenly dies, it leaves a lot of questions for the rest of the family. Helen (Carolyn Hauck) doesn't believe that her son killed himself, which is the official story. While the family cleans out Sean's (Warren Bryson), they discover black paint over everything reflective and then some. Peter (James Johnson), the other brother, finds and explosive device in the closet, that was there apparently to destroy Sean's diary. The diary is a mess of writings that refer to something called The Collector, and has a bunch of newspaper clippings that don't appear to have anything in common. But no, Sean couldn't have killed himself! Peter never says anything about the bomb, for whatever reason, and Kathryn (Suthi Picotte), little sister, joins up with the drama class that Sean was once apart of. Helen begins to believe that Sean was onto something, but will the rest of the family believe, or just believe that Helen is losing her mind?

Finale has some interesting ideas in it. Writer/director John Michael Elfers managed to put together some very cool visuals at times. I was really impressed with some the shots that find their way into the movie. At the same time I have to say that it also reminded me a hell of a lot of a Marilyn Manson video. Not a certain video, but just the style and the way The Collector ended up looking. As much as I liked all this though, it didn't come together very well with the plot. Things start off with us seeing Sean and his girlfriend trying to plant explosives somewhere. The opening felt confusing, and I wasn't the only one to feel this way, I think because we are just thrust into this situation without any reason why these two were doing this. Of course it was explained later, but that didn't excuse the opening giving the feel of coming into the middle of the movie.

I never got why The Collector was doing what he was doing. I got that he was using reflective surfaces in order to interact with our reality, but I never understood why or why the people he was picking to kill. I also didn't get why people were doing things for The Collector, or what they were getting out of it. Maybe all this had been explained and I just managed to miss it. Wouldn't be the first time, and I was watching this one kind of late at night, so wasn't 100% into it at the time. One thing I didn't care for in the plot itself was the sister getting caught up with the same people as her brother. I don't really get why movies do this, or maybe I am just missing something since I was an only child.

Another point that bothered me was some lady that is found at Sean's grave. I didn't get who it was right away, and feel I should have, but it seems Elfers couldn't make up his mind on what she was. She seems normal at first but then in another scene (from what I remember), she was this like demon type thing, and then normal again later. I was pretty surprised when she turned out normal, and that made me wonder what the whole scene when she wasn't was all about.

The acting was fine for me. I didn't have a problem with any of the actors. I thought that Carolyn Hauck did a nice job with the lead role. I didn't care much for James Johnson but I think that had to do more with his character and the writing for it. Finale wasn't a gory film really, but it had some cool makeup designs going for it at times. It would have been nice if it had been more gory than it was, but welcome to low budget film making.

Finale was one of those films where I was trying to decide where I would could with it for my rating by the time the ending came around. I liked some of what I was seeing, but felt confused by the plot some. I also felt not everything was coming together. Even so, I was waiting on the ending to see how it all played out in order to make up my mind. The ending, like the rest of the film, didn't really do it for me either. There are some reviews out there that gave Finale high marks, but I can't do it. I do look forward to seeing what else Elfers can do though, as there was some very interesting spots to be found. Even though I am giving it a lower rating, I will still suggest looking it up when you can.
2 out of 5 Wonder what it would have been like with Manson in it