Keep Your Distance manages to take the increasingly formulaic thriller genre and bend it to serve its needs. It's an indie flick that polished itself up, threw on some cologne and presented itself as a decently budgeted studio film (from a glance you can tell every dollar spent on this movie went into the production, not the cast/crew's pockets).
The acting is solid more or less across the board. Gil Bellows walks decently in the shoes of a leading man, and delivers a restrained, convincing performance (though he isn't the most empathetic of protagonists). David Dailey (Bellows) is a beloved Louisville radio personality, unintentionally stoic in his personal life until his marriage is jilted at the helm of his power-couple wife Susan (an underdeveloped but effective Kim Raver). After receiving the first in a series of mysterious notes, he takes a key he finds and follows it to a hotel room where he catches his wife with another woman. Then there is Melody (Jennifer Westfeldt in a strong and charismatic role the standout of the flick), a charming and misdirected woman who meets David in a chance encounter. Their instant chemistry is furthered as she becomes David's only real confidant through his pseudo-emotional hell as the letters continue to arrive, lacing a narrative of unknown consequence.
The story weaves about through a local political scandal, Melody's struggle with her recently proposed and denied boyfriend, the random letters, and David's coping with his wife's seemingly random sexual awakening (she loves him, but wants to add other women to their bedroom excursions). The problem is the story is chock-full of controversial material child pornography, consensual ménage polygamy, political corruption, etc but the delivery pulls punches. Not that the movie has to revel in visual immorality, but the depiction of the elements falls short of what your mind conceives. Which in a sense could be a good choice, as too many movies give the audience little credit and visually bombard them with the obvious. So at least Keep Your Distance is smart and lets you fill in the gaps yourself.
The script could have used more work. There were a few plot holes, a very anti-climactic ending (which sets itself up to be so much more I loved the buildup, just not the final note), and several characters are left undeveloped to the point of possible removal. Mainly Melody's boyfriend Sean (Christian Kane whose performance is apt, but reaching as he is nearly completely unsympathetic to the audience) and his father (Stacey Keach) and his father's assistant (Elizabeth Pena). These characters were interesting enough, but disappeared too soon and got left behind in the movie's primary focus David and Melody. A side note Jamie Harrold's performance as Whit, David's radio sidekick is beautifully complex. His obsessive shadowing and idolizing of David's life is genuinely harrowing, if not slightly short of expectation by the final reel.
That out of the way, the cinematography is very nice, with some extremely elegant shots. The story is intriguing enough, with several chilling, humorous, and occasional Hitchcock-like moments. The dialogue is very witty and creative, specific to each character. The movie is extremely voyeuristic and takes risks when it can, constantly standing before thematic and technical hurdles it probably shouldn't be able to jump, but can. It's admirable that an independent film can have such high aspirations and genuinely strive to achieve them, rather than cornering itself into a watered down version of its potential self.
Stu Pollard's direction is very sound. He has grown immensely from his previous work Nice Guys Sleep Alone, which was a heartfelt, and often genuine romantic comedy that isn't afraid of being tongue-in-cheek and borderline Hallmark. His work on that was astute, but this time around he presents his material as something he's mauled over extensively on a personal level. The structure of many of the scenes is extremely poignant, and the camera-work is selective extravagant when necessary and subdued when relevant. It knows when to shut up and let the actors play out the story. The editing is specific to each scene, and keeps a decent pace, though certain scenes could run shorter (namely the music number in the club).
From Nice Guys to Distance, Pollard has redefined himself as a filmmaker. He's translated his witty dialogue and intriguing characters to a completely different genre. It feels as if he's tackled this effort from a completely different and unexplored angle, which results in a pleasant success.
I'd recommend seeing Keep Your Distance when you get the chance. It's an intriguing, entertaining, yet all at once flawed, engaging flick that exists as a morality tale. A warning that no level of outward perfection is immune to being overthrown by envy, greed, or lust, but hope might be there to comfort you at the end of the day if you keep your distance. From what is up to you.
The acting is solid more or less across the board. Gil Bellows walks decently in the shoes of a leading man, and delivers a restrained, convincing performance (though he isn't the most empathetic of protagonists). David Dailey (Bellows) is a beloved Louisville radio personality, unintentionally stoic in his personal life until his marriage is jilted at the helm of his power-couple wife Susan (an underdeveloped but effective Kim Raver). After receiving the first in a series of mysterious notes, he takes a key he finds and follows it to a hotel room where he catches his wife with another woman. Then there is Melody (Jennifer Westfeldt in a strong and charismatic role the standout of the flick), a charming and misdirected woman who meets David in a chance encounter. Their instant chemistry is furthered as she becomes David's only real confidant through his pseudo-emotional hell as the letters continue to arrive, lacing a narrative of unknown consequence.
The story weaves about through a local political scandal, Melody's struggle with her recently proposed and denied boyfriend, the random letters, and David's coping with his wife's seemingly random sexual awakening (she loves him, but wants to add other women to their bedroom excursions). The problem is the story is chock-full of controversial material child pornography, consensual ménage polygamy, political corruption, etc but the delivery pulls punches. Not that the movie has to revel in visual immorality, but the depiction of the elements falls short of what your mind conceives. Which in a sense could be a good choice, as too many movies give the audience little credit and visually bombard them with the obvious. So at least Keep Your Distance is smart and lets you fill in the gaps yourself.
The script could have used more work. There were a few plot holes, a very anti-climactic ending (which sets itself up to be so much more I loved the buildup, just not the final note), and several characters are left undeveloped to the point of possible removal. Mainly Melody's boyfriend Sean (Christian Kane whose performance is apt, but reaching as he is nearly completely unsympathetic to the audience) and his father (Stacey Keach) and his father's assistant (Elizabeth Pena). These characters were interesting enough, but disappeared too soon and got left behind in the movie's primary focus David and Melody. A side note Jamie Harrold's performance as Whit, David's radio sidekick is beautifully complex. His obsessive shadowing and idolizing of David's life is genuinely harrowing, if not slightly short of expectation by the final reel.
That out of the way, the cinematography is very nice, with some extremely elegant shots. The story is intriguing enough, with several chilling, humorous, and occasional Hitchcock-like moments. The dialogue is very witty and creative, specific to each character. The movie is extremely voyeuristic and takes risks when it can, constantly standing before thematic and technical hurdles it probably shouldn't be able to jump, but can. It's admirable that an independent film can have such high aspirations and genuinely strive to achieve them, rather than cornering itself into a watered down version of its potential self.
Stu Pollard's direction is very sound. He has grown immensely from his previous work Nice Guys Sleep Alone, which was a heartfelt, and often genuine romantic comedy that isn't afraid of being tongue-in-cheek and borderline Hallmark. His work on that was astute, but this time around he presents his material as something he's mauled over extensively on a personal level. The structure of many of the scenes is extremely poignant, and the camera-work is selective extravagant when necessary and subdued when relevant. It knows when to shut up and let the actors play out the story. The editing is specific to each scene, and keeps a decent pace, though certain scenes could run shorter (namely the music number in the club).
From Nice Guys to Distance, Pollard has redefined himself as a filmmaker. He's translated his witty dialogue and intriguing characters to a completely different genre. It feels as if he's tackled this effort from a completely different and unexplored angle, which results in a pleasant success.
I'd recommend seeing Keep Your Distance when you get the chance. It's an intriguing, entertaining, yet all at once flawed, engaging flick that exists as a morality tale. A warning that no level of outward perfection is immune to being overthrown by envy, greed, or lust, but hope might be there to comfort you at the end of the day if you keep your distance. From what is up to you.