That Side of a Shadow (Ricky Fosheim, 2010): USA

Reviewed by Jim Burns. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2011.

That Side of a Shadow establishes a very fast pace from the opening moments of the film until the beginning of the final credits. With its lightning fast dialogue and intense acting performances from this extremely talented cast, this film is a roller coaster of emotions that test the boundaries of friendship.

When Isaac (Dillon Tucker) loses more money than he can come up with playing poker with the wrong group of people, he unintentionally involves his best friend Jimmy (Jeffery A. Baker). Isaac’s alcohol and substance abuse issues lead him to make  one bad decision after another until he finally goes too far and his actions start to  unknowingly endanger those around him.  Jimmy, who has his own problems,  is dealing with a bitter break-up with his girlfriend Sara (Kristin Erickson), tries help his friend who may not want his help.

In his directorial debut, director Ricky Fosheim did an amazing job telling this intense story that he co-wrote with actor Dillon Tucker. Using a very stylistic and well thought out approach to every detail of the making of this film, That Side of a Shadow is a fast paced story  ,but not through fast editing cuts, but more from the quick dialogue provided from the writing and delivered by the actors, especially Dillon Tucker and Jeffery A. Baker.

Watching this film, I felt like I was watching something that has the potential to someday be thought  of as a classic independent film. The story and brilliant acting  performances of both Dillon Tucker and Jeffery A. Baker would have separated this film from most other films of the festival on their own merits. Combined with Ricky Fosheim’s incredible direction that showed a very polished style that was very authentic and reminded me of a Polansky influence, with his attention to composition and also the strong influence of various colors for different characters, this first time director’s ability to tell a very tragic story while composing each scene with a cinematic beauty with such an attention to detail that is impossible to not notice, made this my favorite feature film of this year’s festival.

Actors Dillon Tucker and Jeffery A. Baker had a very  special on-screen chemistry between the two co-stars. There was a familiarity and truthful bond between the two actors that was undeniable throughout the film. There connection was reaffirmed during the Q and A when they revealed that they had been roommates while they attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, which director Ricky Fosheim also attended.