Tech may not be known for being an artsy school, but I feel as though I have enough sense to be able to tell when a movie is great. There are very few things actually needed to create a great movie, but most moviemakers these days don’t seem to have enough creativity or talent to really pull it off. All you need is a decent writer, a decent cast and a decent director—everything else should really just fall into place.
With that being said, this week I have reviewed a mediocre and borderline terrible film called Team Picture, written and directed by college students. To sum it up, it’s a film about a young man named David, played by Andrew Nenninger, who has no idea what he wants in life. After quitting his job and breaking up with his girlfriend, Jessica, he makes the decision to go to Illinois with a girl he recently met.
While that sounds like it could actually be fairly interesting, I found out the hard way that there is really nothing interesting about it. I suppose the purpose of the trip to Illinois was for David to try to “find himself,” but for the most part it seemed pretty pointless. It consists of two people wandering around a big city and mumbling to one another every now and then about uninteresting things.
The film does not have much of a plot, and none of the conversation seems at all necessary to the storyline—it simply makes the characters seem extremely dimensionless and boring.
When watching a film, I love feeling involved—the whole point of dialogue is to quietly create a connection between the viewer and the character. Unfortunately, Team Picture did not do that for me. To say it simply, I was bored throughout the entire film. The actors were not engaging and neither was the writing.
It is not my intention to sound like a heartless writer with only negative things to say because I just didn’t appreciate or understand the artistic intentions. I understand that the moviemakers were attempting to create a story about how hard it is to be young and how confusing societal and social pressures can become.
And while I do admire and respect young, independent filmmakers, I still have certain expectations. For example, I expect to be entertained. I expect to enjoy myself. I expect not to have to strain myself to hear the dialogue only to realize that it doesn’t matter.
The only thing that I found remotely interesting and professional about Team Picture was the directing style. Director Kentucker Audley is the only one involved who seems like he actually knew what he was doing.
Although it is still apparent that he is a young director, visually the shots are well thought out, and the lighting and location of each scene are appropriate. However, this wasn’t enough to save the film.
I would not recommend Team Picture unless you find humor in things that are not humorous, or if you really want to waste time. This is not to say that no one will find enjoyment in Team Picture, but I can say with confidence that it just wasn’t for me.