Search - Romantic Ties on DVD

Chiefly Of Interest For Their Potential.

rsoonsa | Lake Isabella, California | 04/09/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The most significant aspect of this Legacy DVD is its offering of three short independent films completed n the 1990s by young American directors, a worthy presentation that hopefully will be repeated. The first is THE "C" WORD (29 min.), scripted by its director Michael Selditch, a comedy depicting a young man and woman who fall in love after he purchases her car (the "C" word), an acclaimed effort that nonetheless falls short in most cinematic categories; another is CHICKEN OF THE SEA (55 min.), NYU graduate thesis film for director Christopher Livingston, a work that enjoys a larger amount of funding and the highest production values of the trio but is jettisoned by a hackneyed script that deals with an interracial love affair in New York City. Felicitous moments seldom appear in these two productions; however, the third item on the disc offers viewers more pronounced aesthetic value while certainly being the most audacious of this small anthology: THE SEDUCER (28 min.), director Sean Reilly's film plotted as a truncated paraphrast of Kierkegaard's powerful novel "Diary of a Seducer" (a section from the philosopher's work 'Either/Or'). Here there is overmuch tracking by a restless camera eye, and erratic sound quality, but Reilly's storyline is compelling and he utilizes his prepared players well for a film that borrows from the original only what is required to propel the narrative."