Diary of a Bad Lad (2008) - By Duane L. Martin

Film Reviews: Diary of a Bad Lad (2008) - By Duane L. Martin
Posted on Tuesday, December 02, 2008 @ 15:30:55 Mountain Standard Time by Duane

Filmmaker Barry Lick has been suspended on full pay from his college teaching job, and proceeds, with the help of some former students, to create a documentary about a local business man who be believes to be involved in property rackets, prostitution, pornography and drugs. The film is a documentary edited together from thirty hours of footage that was pieced together from their work on this project.

That's basically what this film is. There's not a lot more to say about it. What there is to say about it is the review part of this review, which I'm about to share with you all right now.

This film for me was a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the way this film was made and put together was just excellent. It had a great documentary feel too it with a lot of the footage just feeling raw. The way it was edited together maintained that feel throughout the film, and the only thing I can really complain about technically is that the sound could have been recorded better in various places, and from time to time the dialogue becomes quiet and it's a struggle to comprehend what they're saying. The inclusion of "hidden camera" shots and the expert use of other technical elements made much of this film believable.

However, there is a flip side to that, which is...I just couldn't get into this film. This is where my personal feelings about it come into play. For one thing, there are some heavy British accents in this film, and while I've been a fan of British comedy since I was a kid and have developed a great ear for the British accents, I found myself getting lost in some of it. I think this was due to the way some of the dialogue was delivered, plus the fact that some of it was quieter, which made it hard to pick out what was being said. Another reason I found myself not being able to get into this film is because I honestly couldn't care less about anyone in it. There's not really anyone in this film to like or pull for, so you end up slipping into this sort of dismissive state of mind while watching it.

So basically what we have here is a really well made film that starts out kind of interesting, but as it plods along through a bit of a confusing story which branches out here and there as more of the criminal activities are revealed, it just becomes less and less interesting. The technical skill behind the creation of this film can't be knocked at all, but I would have liked the story to have been more immersive for the viewer, with some characters they could actually care about. It is an interesting piece of work to be sure, but for me personally, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Some people might enjoy this film, others might not. I think this type of film pretty much comes down to the personal tastes of the viewer, so I'd say if you're interested check it out, if it doesn't sound interesting to you, then you probably won't like it much.

You can check out the film's webste at http://www.bad-lad.com to find out more and decide for yourself.