The Bench ★★★☆☆

Review of 'The Bench' which can be found here at Vimeo.

Length: 02:20

Written & directed by Mark Rowland

Genre: Drama

Date: 2011?

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: Two sisters reunite at the favourite park of their recently deceased mother.

This is another Virgin Media Shorts competition entry that I came across the other month. I only watched the first twenty seconds or so before losing interest and moving onto something else. That kind of sums up my feelings towards this effort. It's an average attempt that fails due to its lack of hook and thus it may be a mere two minutes twenty in length but it feels like much much longer.

Emily Murphy and Alice Knapton both do well, Murphy being the stronger actress. I liked some of the naturalistic dialogue which was in keeping with the mood setting performances and the subtle undertones of the score. Audio quality suffers slightly due to wind but isn't much of a problem unless you are using headphones when watching this.

I don't know if it was intentional or not but there is something off putting about some of the shots with an almost claustrophobic, over intimate feel to the composition choice. Plot wise, an interesting subject matter to explore but felt scrimped on due to the short length. There was definite character arc also as the two sisters quietly grow closer through their sharing of grief. The bad thing for me was that the film faded to an end just as the more interesting action was about to happen. Minus a star for that personal peeve of mine. Overall, an easily forgettable film but possible worth a remake with deeper thought put in.

Best Bit: Murphy's performance.

Worst Bit: Ends just as something semi interesting might happen.

Final thought: Gotta go and visit that mad crocodile park.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.