Search - Close Call on DVD

Robert B. (rbrown) from STARKVILLE, MS
Reviewed on 3/15/2019...

This never-ending parade of clichés is a laff riot from start to finish. Jenny is a troubled teenager, mainly due to what appears to be a combination of her parents separating when she was young, discovering porn at a young age, and having brain damage as a result of coloring swatches of her hair with neon paints. Dad comes back from Seoul to try to help her get her life straight. Jeff Fahey stars as his friend and former lawyer in his divorce proceedings. It’s quite obviously very low-budget, but I have to give props to the DP for giving it at least a little bit of style. The performances range from adequate to truly cringe-worthy. The film’s heart was in the right place, but there just wasn’t enough talent on either side of the camera to make it work.

Jefferson N. from BLAIRSVILLE, GA
Reviewed on 6/24/2011...

Close Call is the story of a young woman born to Korean parents in America and her struggle to find herself. Her mother is a whorish woman obessed with her sexual freedom and her job and ignores her daughter, while her father is an overly-possesive conservative who flees back to Korea when her marriage goes sour. The young woman, Jenni, turns to a life of drugs, sex, and violence to get away from her problems at home. Then, her father must return to try to help her before she self-destructs. All-in-all, this isn't a horrible movie, but the writer/director had very little concept of tone change and tries to take this to the next level...and succeeds by taking it a notch down. The movie is constantly changing tones from a gritty urban drama to preachy after-school special with some screwball comedy thrown in. While this can take a good movie if the director plays their cards right and make it into a great one, the jarring tone changes in this one just make it hard to take seriously. The story itself is well-written and the director's eye for shots is great, but I hope he learned later in his career to be careful of the changes in tone. This is made worse by the fact that we had a really good cast. The actors and actresses are top-notch, but there is only so much you can do with sketchy direction. Partcularly good is the lead actress, Annie Lee (Jenni), who is not only extremely beautiful, but does a good job saving this film with her excellent acting. I don't want to totally turn a viewer off of this movie...It's a good film. It's just that it could have been great. But it's still worth a viewing. Hopefully Mr. Lee took what he learned in this film and used it to become a better director. Not too bad for an early effort.

A success and inspirational work

Remy X. Wong | Los Angeles, CA | 12/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is a must see! I disagree on how it was a struggle to its
expectation. If you understand the movie from your heart instead of the
mind, it's very inspirational. It definitely inspired me and it should
inspire everyone out there. It brought tears to my eyes when a struggle
and wound that seems eternally damaged was still able to heal. If you
miss your chance to watch this movie in theater, don't miss it with
this DVD. Great job to all the cast and crew that made this film
possible! Keep up the good work!"