Into the Black (2004) - By Brian Morton

Film Reviews: Into the Black (2004) - By Brian Morton
Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2008 @ 01:05:00 Mountain Daylight Time by Duane

They say that small towns are all tiny soap operas, and, having spent some time in some in my youth, I know that it’s pretty true. It's that small town mindset (everyone knows what everyone else is doing) that's part of the charm that draws us to them. How nice it would be to know everyone in your town as a friend and neighbor. And, how nice would it be to leave and come home to find all your friends and family waiting for you? Well, a new movie, Into the Black, takes that small town mentality and turns it on its head.

Into the Black is the story of Neil, he's gone home for the funeral of his best friend. But, instead of the closure and sadness that Neil expects to find, he's confronted with anger and hostility at every turn. No one will tell Neil how his friend died, and he determined to find out! This investigation leads everywhere from friends to the local drug dealer and ultimately to some secrets that are best left buried. I could tell you what happens and who's running games on whom, but that would ruin this little gem of a movie. Marc Powers has crafted a mystery movie that takes full advantage of being set in small town America. To Neil, everything is familiar and yet slightly strange, and, when we finally learn the secret that the town's been keeping from Neil, it's a twist that I wasn't really expecting!

All that being said, Into the Black isn't the perfect movie. It's a little too long, there are long scenes that just seem to be there for the sake of the song that's playing, and some of the plot points lead to complete dead ends (Neil's dad is in a feud with his neighbor, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how that added anything to the story). Into the Black is a great first effort, better than some filmmakers’ third or fourth effort even, but it's not perfect. And, that's also part of the charm of this movie, these people seem real because they're not 'actors' they seem to bring a bit more life to their parts, it's easy to dismiss the movie aspect and believe that all this is really happening somewhere. I'm giving Into the Black three out of four cigars, as I said, it's not perfect, but it's still pretty good and sometimes perfection is overrated anyway! You can find out more about this small town drama, by heading to the Green Monster Films web page. So, until next time, when I'll be re-burying my secrets in my backyard, remember that the best movies are bad movies.