andymanns Review of Cinemanovels

Cinemanovels (2013)

Grace, burdened by her estranged father's fame and wealth, struggles in an attempt to find purpose for her life.

[7/10 · 16 September 2013]

As the film begins I find myself just as lost as Grace, as the initial approach places the viewers directly in the middle of her untimely mid life crisis. The writing intuitively discovers the means to create a refreshing timeline full of unpredictable twists. When paired with a swift editing style, her perplexed feelings of abandonment and confusion are made transparently clear. The supporting characters are presented with little to no introduction, establishing an important role in the development of Grace. Her selfish and incomprehensible tendencies are depicted through her lack of concern for those around her. Sexual content plays a heavy role in understanding the priorities and mentality of the characters, illustrating their illusive and shallow tendencies. As the film progresses, the direction of the plot transitions into Grace's quest for self-actualization providing enough reasoning to sympathize her struggles. Grace displays the non-existent relationship between her and her father through the little knowledge she has of him, but not through the way she contently lives off of his wealth. Although she undoubtedly resents him for his absence throughout her child hood, his irrational and insensitive quality traits are flawlessly transferred over to her. As she begins to take interest in her father's work for the first time, she inadvertently finds herself making the same mistakes as he once has. The clever writing and editing of Cinema Novels leaves viewers with an unexpected ending that delivers an insightful analysis that every action has an equal or opposite reaction.