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Movies Forum Index » Movie Reviews Forum » Review: It Was Always Me (2003)
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| Erich Morgan |
 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 11:17 pm |
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"IT WAS ALWAYS ME"
Review by Erich Morgan
Rating: 9.5/10
Starring: Elizabeth Doushku, Farhad Khan, Brendan Sexton
Directed By: Amit Vaidya
Written By: Amit Vaidya
Produced By: Steven Leal, Robert Shefield, Alex Maxwell, Keith Jacobs
Running Time: 132 Minutes
Distributed In Canada By: Film Kitchen/Amidya Films
Compelling dramas about twentysomethings is a rarity in Hollywood. In
a world that caters to the young and beautiful, it's odd that the
industry has failed to capture that youth and the struggles they face
daily. Perhaps it is because the youth of Hollywood is quite different
than the rest of the country and world that it can't be objective
about the age range. Thankfully, "It Was Always Me" is here. The film
chronicles the lives of three mature young adults living their age and
justifiably confused (i.e. no haunted houses, serial killers and
bathroom jokes). They struggle the little things, combating on a daily
basis the stresses of life, work, relationships and family. "It Was
Always Me" manages to provide empathy for its main characters without
allowing the audience to forget their flaws and human nature.
Dealing with heavy material like depression and suicide seldom makes
for an entertaining film. Yet "It Was Always Me" is surprisingly
uplifting and challenges the audience to enjoy every scene of the film
through the witty dialogue, melodious music and creative camera shots
and use of colour. The writer-director Amit Vaidya seems attracted to
dark and draft material. His previous release, "Found It Yesterday"
which he co-wrote, centered on the world of domestic abuse. That film
was dark, gritty and hard. With "It Was Always Me", we see the power
of a visionary director. Someone willing to take risks, question
standard Hollywood practices yet still tackle difficult material. By
making the world around his three lead characters so colourful and
lively, we see the true irony of the situation. Life isn't dark but
full of surprises. The darkness comes from the inside not the outside.
Yet Vaidya manages to convince the audience that that isn't always the
case. In one of the most memorable sequences of the film, Marissa and
Karim (a fantastic performance by newcomer Farhad Khan) are standing
above the rooftop of their apartment building questioning their sanity
and choices in life while they look down at Ground Zero. Karim states
"We can never feel the same thing twice" to which Marissa responds
"But you can see it again and again" to which he replies "When we see,
we feel, but when we feel, we can't see". It just three lines, Vaidya
manages to capture the tragedy of the country and the tragedy that
lives within the characters on a daily basis.
"It Was Always Me" is a masterfully crafted film which will resonate
for years to come.
Erich Morgan is a local newspaper columnist for the TORONTO HORIZON.
His additional reviews can be found at www.thetorontohorizon.com.
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X-RAMR-ID: 36029
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1207327
X-RT-TitleID: 10002891
X-RT-SourceID: 1472
X-RT-AuthorID: 9409
X-RT-RatingText: 9.5/10 |
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