Blumenthal (Seth Fisher, 2012): USA

Reviewed by: Alexander Berg  Viewed at: Metro 4, Santa Barbara

We are thrown into a story we’ve never quite seen before met by unique humor and hilarious characters.

This film is directed and written by Seth Fisher who also plays one of the leads (Ethan) in the film. Fisher has previously acted in Tv-shows such as “The Good Wife” and “Delocated” and has previously directed two shorts making this his first feature film. I really like the fact that he had so much to do with the film as what we see on the screen really would show us a part of him. This film has unlike many Hollywood films today it’s own style. This film has an original story, good humor and really nice cinematography all despite the fact that it didn’t have that high budget, according to me this shows that they put a lot of heart into the film.

The story starts out after the death of Harold Blumenthal (Brian Cox), a comedian/writer who died from laughing at his own joke. During the film we get to know him throughout interviews made prior to his death, we are told the story of his family members. The story is mainly about three characters. Cheryl (Laila Robins), a middle aged woman who realizes that she is starting to become old and unattractive, therefor she is searching for approval through different people and ways. Her husband  Saul (Mark Blum) is not being very supportive towards her when we come in to the story, partly because he is having a problem of his own. Ever since his brother Harold passed away he has been unable to go to the toilet to make a bowl movement for whatever reason. The only way he thinks it’s going to get solved is if he get’s his hands on his brothers Lifetime Achievement Award. At the same time his son Ethan (Seth Fisher) is struggling with his love life, he is unable to find someone whom he can stand to live with, every time someone comes close he seems to push them away. These three characters struggle to overcome their problems throughout the film while their stories are held together by Harolds interviews.

The story shows the characters evolve in a really nice way as they all are goal driven and we know what they are striving for. The film seemed a bit predictable at first as it immediately sets up what the problems the characters are facing and we know that they would get resolved one way or another. But that’s what made it so funny, you think something is going to happen one way and then something else completely hilarious happens instead.

This film has a really good story that shows us evolving characters and everything a movie should have in a really nicely put way. This was much more than I expected from a relatively unexperienced director. This film goes to show that you can do anything if you have the will to do it. It can clearly be seen that a person who knows people  well has written and directed this film since it is driven by it’s three really good characters all the way through. The cinematography in this film is really good as well, had I not know that it was made on a small budget I would have thought that it was an expensive Hollywood production. The camera moves and lighting was really good throughout the whole film. Seeing as how this is a comedy it wasn’t too complicated with high-key lighting all the way through but I still think that it was very well made since I really liked the way the characters blended into the environment. The only instance in the film where I reacted to something that wasn’t too well made was the first talking scene Ethan is having with his friend while walking on the sidewalk. The sound here was a bit low and uneven but this was the only time I found something I reacted to in a bad way.

I think that this film is completely hilarious, I would recommend it to anyone who want’s a simple film to watch and laugh to. Much about this film is original and I think that it would suit most people and age groups as it takes up subjects such as aging, having relationships and letting go. Well done Seth Fisher, I want to see more from and of you!