I Play with the Phrase Each Other, 2013.
Written and Directed by Jay Alvarez.
Starring Jay Alvarez, Will Hand, Megan Kopp and Alexander Fraser.
SYNOPSIS:
The story these phone calls shape begins with Jake, a young neurotic who is persuaded to leave his small home town and move to the city to live with his friend Sean, a fanatical poet who survives by swindling inexperienced Craigslist customers. When Jake arrives in the city, Sean has disappeared, and as he struggles to secure a job and a place to stay, Jake discovers a nocturnal world of neon poverty in which his friend is thriving.
I had a fear before I began to watch this film due to it being filmed entirely on an iPhone (as the drop sheet told me), so the first thing that entered my noggin’ was ‘Motion Sickness’, as every sensitive nudge of the iPhone, that was made would bring on a bad case of vertigo. However, I was rather lucky as the camera work and editing were nigh on excellent – so thank you camera operator and also the editor for stopping me from collapsing in a juddering heap.
Now what has been achieved here is rather great it terms of technicality; it has shown the world that even with the simplest of tools you can create a film. The upsetting point however is that the first movie to attempt this is about 1 hour and 10 minutes too long. If we had a thirty minute short by removing the chaff from the wheat it would have been outstanding. I’d like to make clear that no actors are chaff in this film, but that huge parts of the film could have been trimmed back to give it pace and direction and make it feel more alive, anchoring it to reality in some way to make a connection between the actors and the viewers.
I felt I was caught on a gust of wind rising from and dropping into scenes where people are having conversations that they had all planned out in six days in advance in an English class which was occupied by drama students with a little black book of poetry. There was no spark of life from anyone except the character Sean (Jay Alvarez), who initially comes across as a poetic ponce, but as the character progresses through the film he becomes the only reason to stay attached to the screen. I do note that Jay Alvarez also wrote and directed so perhaps he chose the best bits for himself, the selfish swine.
The bizarre thing about this film is for all of its 1 hour and 45 minutes you cannot help but watch – you sit there wondering where we are going and eventually you leave the world realising you have only been to a world where the people are not real and the conversations doubly so. Perhaps Jay Alvarez in the future can stick to making brilliant short films, and if possible featuring “real life” conversations rather than obviously “pre-planned” ones.
Technically I Play with the Phrase Each Other is fantastic; shame about the chaff.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★
Villordsutch is married with kids and pets. He looks like a tubby Viking and enjoys science fiction. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published September 18, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
