GODSPEED

When we first meet Charlie (Joseph McKelheer), he is addressing a small Alaskan community centre with claims that he has the God-given power to heal people of their ailments. All that is required of them is that they believe in what he says.

As an example, Charlie - who looks a little like Henry Rollins at this point - selects an elderly woman from the captive audience and begins to pray while holding her tightly. She has emphysema. Charlie asks that God pass the illness through him, and the old lady claims to feel better within seconds. Moments later, however, the lady realises she is still ill - and all that the experience has given Charlie is a nose-bleed and dizziness. The audience leave disgruntled.

Later, at home, Charlie combats his disappointment with a bottle of beer. His wife Rebecca (Jessie Ward) takes exception to this, as he's a recovering alcoholic and has been dry for some time now. She's worried that his "powers" are being affected, their marriage is crumbling before them and that their young son James (Ben Loosli) will become a victim of circumstances.

Can it get any worse? Oh yes. Charlie clears off for the night to fuck local mistress Belle (Lynn A Freedman). In the meantime, his home is invaded by two masked teenagers who kill Rebecca and James in a tight, chilling scene that benefits immensely from some great camerawork and Jeremy Grody's mournful score.

It's one wound that even Charlie can't profess to be capable of healing and the next time we see him, six months down the line, we learn that he has turned his back on his family home and his former life as a struggling faith healer.

Now sporting a full beard and living in a remote trailer where he busies himself gutting fish, Charlie has become a loner. Not even local lawman and close friend Mitch (Ed Lauter) can get through to Charlie - although he won't stop his regular visits where he strives to talk some sense into him.

It's only when pretty redhead Sarah (Courtney Halverson) imposes herself upon Charlie in a diner that he starts to recall his past life. Sarah says Charlie helped her family previously, and asks for his help once more. However, none of the tight-knit locals recognise her.

Sarah continues to pursue Charlie, even tracking him down to his trailer. Eventually Charlie agrees to oblige her request to help her father.

So Sarah drives Charlie to her father's forest-based ranch. When they arrive, she leads him to her brother Luke (Cory Knauf) who is busy delivering a sermon on God's will to his young audience. It transpires that Luke is a budding commune leader, and that two of his flock are - unknown to Charlie - the people responsible for killing his family (that's not a spoiler: you learn their identities at the time of the killings).

This is where the film really starts to dig its claws in to the viewer. What are Sarah's true motives for dragging Charlie out into the woods? What is it that Luke is ultimately wanting of his minions? Now that he lives among them, will Charlie discover the identity of his family's killers? If so, how will he react?

In the meantime, Mitch grows concerns about his missing friend and consults Belle for help ...

GODSPEED is a very well-made film that scores highly in terms of looks and feel.

The attractive Alaskan locations are expertly captured by Michael Hardwick's cinematography, while director Robert Saitzyk (BOUNDARIES; AFTER THE FLOOD) maintains a satisfyingly considered pace by way of relaxed yet assured editing and an intelligent script that balances indie quirkiness with genre sobriety extremely well.

The taut atmosphere is enabled by some impressive performances from the central characters. The demure but ambiguous Halverson is a name to look out for in future, while McKelheer (THE HAMILTONS) brings a maturity and vulnerability to proceedings that affords the film a human, almost tragic, edge. It elevates GODSPEED from being a well-made dark drama into something even more satisfying.

Visually, the film has an autumnal look that complements the slow-burning plot and icy set-up very well. Grody's score adds to the melancholy, rendering the more violent scenes potent in a resolutely personal sense.

Speaking of which, following a bloodless but disturbing family murder scene during the first third of the film and a proceeding plot-heavy middle section, there is some surprisingly affecting violence in the final third. This includes rape and a bloody head-crushing.

But this is not an out-and-out gore fest. The grue is justified and the emphasis is definitely on crafting an involving, atmospheric story.

Lightyear Entertainment are due to release GODSPEED onto DVD in America on April 20th 2010, following a limited theatrical run that kicks off on March 26th.

The screener disc viewed is an early affair that offered only the film in a solid anamorphic widescreen transfer, with English 2.0 audio.

The picture quality was good, proffering strong colours and contrast, along with stable blacks and accurate flesh-tones. As you'd imagine for such a recent film (2009), dirt and grain are never issues.

Likewise the audio track was clean, clear and consistent throughout.

Although there were no extras (or even menus) on this screener disc, I understand the retail disc will include a director's commentary track, along with a 5.1 audio mix for the main feature, several deleted scenes and a Behind The Scenes featurette.

GODSPEED comes recommended.

Review by Stuart Willis