Glen Scott – Keeping it simple

Gus Van Sant’s latest film is based on the novel of the same name by Blake Nelson. It features a young skater who accidentally kills a security guard.

The film is stunning in parts: many long slow-motion sequences with no dialogue gives the film a dream-like quality in parts. The amateur actors, supposedly recruited via MySpace, as a contrast add a realistic edge to the story. The murder itself is also genuinely shocking.

Unfortunately, by the end of the film I was left with a sense of disappointment. For all of the innovative visuals, the film felt empty and led to me feeling generally detached from the proceedings.