James (Ted Raimi) was born on the bright side of life: His parents had always had enough money to afford him a good upbringing, and eventually he inherited his father's plastic company, which for the longest time he could grant his family a life in luxury. Only of late, his fortunes have turned as the company is facing bankruptcy, he's in heavy debt, and pretty much selling the company under value is his only way out - and also the last thing he desires to do. With the news about his financial troubles though, people start to panic, like his employee Michael (John Paul Medrano) stopping by trying to blackmail him our of half of the selling price - and getting James on the wrong foot to the degree that he beats Michael to a pulp with a baseball bat, then tying him up and hiding him away in the closet - as that's when the friends of her daughter Jessica (Christin Muuli) come over for a fitting for her luxurious wedding, including James's other daughter Maria (Melissa Diaz) and the groom-to-be Nicolas (Joe Barra). He gets them out of the house again just before a real challenge arises, when an associate of his, Alvar (Daniel Kuhlman), who was bankrupted by James's company going down, shows up, and he wants to force James to sell the company at gunpoint. But of course, things change to a degree when he finds half-dead Michael in the closet ...

Noel Douglas Orput plays a character only James can see, and it's never explained who he is, so guesses go from the ghost of his dead dad to the manifestation of his conscience, and everything inbetween.

Now from a technical point of view, this film is quite an achievement as it was entirely done in one take with no apparent trickery. But the real achievement of this movie is that it doesn't feel gimmicky: The camerawork feels for the most part really cinematic, the film is character- and story-centric rather than putting an emphasis on its technical virtuosity, the mood that deliberately alternates between comedy and drama keeps the viewer at the edge of one's seat, and the acting is rather superb. Pretty much a must-watch!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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