Chance

I didn't think I'd be reviewing a good film so soon into starting this blog. But it just so happened that I finally got my hands on a copy of Chance, written and directed by Amber Benson. I've been angling to see this for so long, admittedly for all the wrong reasons. I didn't really know what it was about, a few vague ideas but my main reason for interest was the fact that Benson was behind it, and the cast. If you know me at all, you know I'm reall quite partial to most things in the Whedonverse. So the thought of Benson, James Marsters, Andy Hallett and Jeff Ricketts certainly appealed. At best, I was expecting to fulfill a little fangirling urge in me.

But it was so much better than that. It's very easy to write about things when they're aweful, to calculate why they're so bad, but it's much harder to explain why you love something. And I really did love this film. It was funny, dark, sharp, clever, simply but attractively made. Everyone was brilliant, and everyone was strangely beautiful, my favourite kind. The way the 'death' is dealt with blew me away. These are all obvious to even the most casual observer, I'm sure. If you really need convincing, think James Marsters in drag, and that should be reason enough. The songs! How could I forget the songs. I think the musician who popped up every now and then is Grant Langston, and his songs are witty and fitting, if at first suprising.

But I think this is what I liked most about it. I read a lot of biographies and autobiographies, partly out of interest or admiration for whomever it may be about, and also partly because I love those breif moments when you suddenly relate. Alan Bennett described it as "as if a hand had reached out and taken yours" and it's can be a brilliant moment, for all sorts of reasons. I think everyone has had that moment at least once, and I think the majority of people would experience that in this film. The whole film has the air of the best kind of biography, and in the same way as I would pause in my reading to make a note of something or to fold a page corner, there were numerous occassions during Chance where I was compelled to scribble down a quite and make a note of its place. It doesn't matter which elements I related to, because other people will find other moments, but the more I think about it the more I can connect the characters to people and situations in my life and in the lives of the people around me. As far as I'm concerned that is the mark of a genuinely good piece of writing, whether it's a book, a film, whatever.

If you haven't seen it already, you're missing out. I'm pretty certain it's still possible to buy the dvd here, and there's a few snippets on youtube.

I'll be reviewing another of the bad films later tonight, so I think I shall once more seek solace in a favourite film afterwards, and this time, that film will be Chance. I'm coming over all warm and fuzzy.

Final thought: RIP Andy Hallett 1975 - 2009