Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Report from the AFI Dallas Film Fest: Goodman's The Last Lullaby explored evil and redemption

From a sleepless hit-man whose past in unclear and characters who are all too believable with their “wanna be” flaws, we see the development of the dark encounter between evil and something akin to redemption, writes Marion Marks.

Film Noir has a new image through the eyes of a first-time director, and Jeffrey Goodman gives us reason to revisit some of the great films of this genre. I'm not sure what my expectations were, having traveled from Shreveport to Dallas to see what might have been little more than a local favorite that made it to the big screen. However, I left with a new appreciation and hope that there will be more emphasis on content that does not rely of gratuitous blood or gore to make a point. Certainly the content required the visuals and sounds of the story line, and there were many acts of violence, but the development of the characters overrode all else.

We were constantly awaiting the next twist or turn, right up the end. And even in the end, we questioned some of the “what ifs...” Even in Northwest Louisiana we could see traces of the midwest setting that the screenwriter intended. The tight shots of Tom Sizemore and Sasha Alexander only added to the development of the story. I want to go watch more of their recent works again and was pleased to see they both have several works that soon will be released.

Bravo to Goodman and the loyal supporters who helped bring this work to the screen. And an additional kudo to Louisiana for continuing to support the film industry. This is certainly reason for outsiders to give Louisiana another look.

Marion K. Marks, M&M Communications Concepts
(318) 424-0880
MKMarks@mmcc.com

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