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First printed at www.movingpicturesnetwork.com

Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival)

Directed by: Aaron Rottinghaus
Written by: Aaron Rottinghaus and Josh Danziger
Starring: Josh Danziger, Olesya Rulin, Bruce McGill and Joey Lauren Adams

“Apart” focuses on Noah (Josh Danziger) and Emily (Olesya Rulin), both of whom suffer from “F24” — a disorder that produces delusions that are transmittable to other F24 sufferers. Thus, the delusions of fire, bleeding, etc., that Emily sees are also seen by Noah when they’re together. The condition, we’re told, stems from a traumatic incident, and in this case, the two are involved in a serious school-bus collision at a young age that brands them and binds them as tragic soul mates.

The film’s opening — blurred images, a yellow school bus, a boy — is shot beautifully, and “Apart” is at its best in its early sequences of impressive photography and a story setup that keeps us asking questions, seeking answers.

The story then begins to bounce between the crash and Noah, now older, recovering from a new wreck and trying to piece together remnants of reminiscences to ascertain how he got where he is, as well as the hows and whys of his father’s death.

Danziger resembles Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire but with eyes so dark it’s hard to see inside. His face, like a Hellenic statue, shows so little that it limits the empathy we’re able to find for him. Strange to mention, but strange to the eye also, is Danziger’s nose, which doesn’t quite seem to suit his face, an odd trait but an important one when the audience is being peppered with so many closely cropped frames. While this feature doesn’t preclude him from leading-man duties, it seems from his look that he’d be better suited to villainy than playing the hero.

With some strained acting from supporting roles, the film will find it difficult to find a home after festival outings. There are scenes, for example, in which family members, in attempting to restrain their son from fleeing into the unknown, merely stand by and object with whimpers. It is these problems with sincerity that plague the film, and there are more moments in which a reaction is either way too over the top or way too weak given the situation.

The film should probably market itself to Rulin’s now-teenage “High School Musical” fans, as the actress is the most formidable talent on display. The roles played by McGill and Adams are supporting, and handled nobly and honestly by the seasoned duo, but they’re utilized too little to impact the film in any substantial manner.

Rulin’s firm ability to remain real in her scenes is only heightened by the stiffness of the acting by characters around her, most of whom seem all too aware that they’re in an indie film and too afraid to eat food or drink any fluids for fear of ruining continuity. Instead, they ruin any chance of reality. Similarly, the art direction is substantially lacking in many key locations, with rooms absent of identities, bars and kitchens with unrealistically pristine surfaces, actors pretending to wipe already-clean plates — together, these continue to remove us from the world being constructed and shared.

While the F24 hook could have been a high-concept win, and the premise — forbidden love — has proven formidable since mythology and Shakespeare, there actually is too little love (and certainly no passion to speak of between the two leads) that would justify our own torment of their situation here.

Photo courtesy South by Southwest