ABLE EDWARDS

ABLE EDWARDS

"Can individuality by reproduced?"

As we watch a toy panda slowly decay, onscreen text informs us that ABLE EDWARDS is set in the not-too-distant future. The Earth's atmosphere has been poisoned, wiping out 90% of its population.

The survivors have built civilization pods in orbit above the planet, where they live in captivity awaiting a day the Earth may be safe to live on again.

We are then treated to an old-fashioned newsreel that mourns the death of entrepreneur Able Edwards (Scott Kelly Galbreath, LADY MAGDALENE'S), and gives us a quick report on his life - animator, soldier, lover, husband, founder of the Edwards Organization, and a spectacular theme park that made him loved by millions. A thinly disguised riff on Walt Disney, in other words.

The newsreel is being shown in a courtroom to a panel of judges, led by the po-faced Chairman Lowery (Michael Shamus Wiles, FIGHT CLUB). Gower (Steve Beaumont Jones, BLOODY TEASE) has presented the film to visually aid his testimony.

Gower, it transpires is part-man/part android, a cyborg created by the Edwards Organization as part of a madcap plan they hatched many moons back.

The plan, which we witness being sold to the company's executives via flashback, is to clone the dead Edwards, rear the clone carefully so as to have the same temperament and aspirations as it's human predecessor, and eventually have him resurface as the face of the Organization.

Gower is created as a "best friend" for Edwards, one that will subtly steer him in the right directions throughout his "childhood".

Others brought to the stand to contribute to telling the clone's life story include Wallace (David Ury, KILLING THE DREAM), who runs the company for a number of years in preparation for it's eventual take-over, and Rosemary (Keri Bruno, PLEDGE THIS!), the late clone's widow.

The case that Lowery and his goons are hearing is that Rosemary believes she is entitled to her late husband's estate. The company insist that he was merely a clone which they created to run their business, everything should go to them.

And so, as each player gives their account of various key moments of the clone's life, we witness these first-hand by way of flashbacks.

We see the clone's soulless upbringing, where he longs to play in real snow after watching the virtual version of it on a screen. We learn of an accident in his early 20s that prompts him to start questioning his existence.

The clone rises in prominence when he's given control of the Organization on his 25th birthday, and promptly begins making plans. He sacks key workers, moves new contractors in (including his future bride) and announces plans to build a theme park that will allow people to sample reality (a zoo, etc) just as they used to on Earth.

This doesn't go down well with the company, particularly Wallace, but all they can do is watch on as the park becomes a huge success, the clone runs for senate and falls in love.

But all is not well in the clone's mind. He becomes increasingly aware that he is NOT Able Edwards. He cannot draw like he could, and he wants to learn more of the life he has assumed ...

ABLE EDWARDS has an interesting story, in terms of concept. Writer-director Graham Robertson has crafted a sci-fi yarn that manages to take in nods to classic film noir, a huge dollop of CITIZEN KANE, courtroom drama and a crafty philosophical debate on the nature of individuality.

The dialogue is intelligent and thought provoking, while the performances that deliver it are solid throughout.

The dramatics of the storytelling may ultimately be too lightweight to satisfy come the finale, but the sense of tragedy that loiters in the background from beginning to end is enough to quietly haunt the viewer.

The film's greatest feat - and ironically its worst enemy - is it's visual style. Shot on mini-DV in black-and-white, using actors against a green screen in every scene, it looks unique (well, it did, until that piss-awful SKY CAPTAIN turned up).

The computer generated backgrounds are excellent considering the film's low budget, and are frequently visually breathtaking. They also allow for the movie to appear much more epic in scale - the courtroom is populated by thousands of onlookers; the clone addresses a mammoth audience during his senator campaign.

And a lot of this is really convincing. Of course, there are occasional scenes where you can blatantly tell someone is not actually standing in the background shown, and the exterior shots of the civilization pods floating in space are pretty naff. There's also one unintentionally hilarious scene where the actors pretend to walk through an office, simply trotting on the spot as they talk.

Original, pioneering (ABLE EDWARDS is in the Guinness Book of Records as the first film to use green screens in every scene), and often stunning to look at - it's perhaps churlish to bemoan the bits that don't work so well. My main concern is that the bits that DO work well prove to be distracting - at the heart of this film is an intriguing and moving story, but it gets lost in the appreciation of the visuals.

Heretic's disc offers the uncut film in its original 1.85:1 ratio. It's not enhanced.

Images are generally sharp, with a good balance of lights and shade - imperative to the film's appeal. There's some grain evident, but I suspect this is more because of the source of filming rather than the transfer itself.

The English 2.0 audio is clear, loud and consistent.

Attractive animated menus include a scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 15 chapters.

Extras start with a decent audio commentary track from Robertson and co-producer Scott Bailey. As you'd expect, Robertson does most of the talking. He manages to stay interesting and informative, if a little serious. Still, he manages to plug a book he's written in connection to the making of this film ...

Next there's a 10-minute Behind The Scenes featurette, with lots of onset footage backed by Robertson's narration.

Three brief "green screen reveals" follow. These are very short clips from the film, that wipe away the digital backgrounds halfway through to reveal the actors gabbing away in front of a green screen.

We get six trailers: one for ABLE EDWARDS, plus plugs for LURKING IN SUBURBIA, KISSING ON THE MOUTH, PIECE BY PIECE, 24 HOURS ON CRAIGSLIST and MAGDALENA'S BRAIN (the latter looks like being the best).

Worth a watch.

Review by Stu Willis


 
Released by Heretic Films
Region 1 - NTSC
Not Rated
Extras :
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