WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
What is it to mingle with myths and legends? Thanks to an entertainment-rich culture, we find ourselves whisked away to places fantastical and frightening, home to monsters and gods whose existence has been since the dawn of time. Yet, for all their might and majesty, even the gods have their days of tumult and conflict, proving they aren’t always the best to believe in. In the realm of Asgard there lives the revered Odin (Bob Glazier), ruler of the kingdom, who has given a harsh order to Thor (Steven Cardona) plus his brothers Balder (Jonathan Foster) and Tyr (Garith Pettibone)–take the children of Loki (D. Duckie Rodriguez) and lock them away, due to a worrisome and potentially dangerous prophecy about their power and destiny.
First confronting Loki’s wife Sigyn (Shiva Rodriguez) with dire consequences occurring, the three gods then face Loki, who makes a fateful move to return the brothers’ treachery by carrying out his own justice against Balder. Banished to earth and tied to a tree with the keys to his own children’s prisons made to hang just out of reach, Loki spends millennia pondering his eternal punishment. At least, that is, until a man named Caleb (Avid Pauly), visiting the park with his wife Rachel (Lowrie Fawley) and kids Ashley (Michelle Natalie Nunez) and Rick (Blayze Hippensteel), stumbles upon Loki in the woods and manages to free the god of mischief, who makes life miserable for them all and foretells impending doom.
Next, my Mind:
I feel it’s understood, or frankly should be, that when it comes to indie cinema, certain expectations about everything from stories to visual presentation to acting, etc need to be placed within a specific set of parameters that ensures one’s realization not to always anticipate what most might wish to call a “Hollywood” level final product. While over the years I’ve been able to perhaps sometimes overlook technical faults, less than perfect acting, and other nuances because of the aforementioned factors, the newest effort from co-writer/director Shiva Rodriguez simply ended up falling short in too many ways overall to find absolute enjoyment. In concept, I did like the notion of a fantasy/mythology narrative involving the ancient Norse gods coupled with the ideas of internal strife between them while humans yet again end up meddling with forces well beyond our ability to face.
However, the delivery here, lower budgets aside, just looked so much like a random videoing of a group of LARP-ers trying to engage in a serious film. Subsequently, it lost true entertainment value for me and instead became a little painful to watch unfold, as if everyone involved tried too hard to make the effort feel much, much larger in scale than it actually was able to accomplish. While the cinematography was fine, following the events with precision and ease, action sequences involved were awkward in execution, the costuming a bit too spartan/generic for the characters being portrayed, and the dialogue came across a bit scattered and broken in general, not necessarily filled with the full-on, wholly believable emotional gravitas the situations and characters called for. More so, for me, Rodriguez has done far better efforts than this, as was demonstrated with her film “Coming Home“.
From the acting standpoint, I always give credit for effort, because to make a film in itself is hard enough, period. Yet, in this case, even the efforts provided ended up leaving something to be desired. Glazier’s performance as Odin, the ancient and powerful ruler of Asgard, didn’t carry enough of that emotive, potent presence one would expect, that projects Odin’s strength and lordly persona. Cardona, Foster, and Pettibone as Thor, Balder, and Tyr likewise make attempts to come across as the haughty yet confident, sturdy, loyal gods they are in carrying out the All-Father’s orders to kidnap Loki’s children, but it still gets conveyed in such an overtly clumsy way that it really detracts from the intent of the actions the characters are taking and it being at least somewhat realistic. Truthfully, this can be said for Rodriguez’ Sigyn, Pauly’s Caleb, Fawley’s Rachel, Nunez’ Ashley, and Hippensteel’s Rick–yes, the effort is there, but the final performances just don’t bring justice to what’s needed in this narrative.
Finally, there is D. Duckie Rodriguez’ Loki, the master of mischief, Father of Lies, and the lynchpin of the story as the victim of Odin’s will, who decides to take his own revenge in turn, hence getting himself exiled to eternity tied to a tree on Earth, with the ability to free his children just out of reach. Circumstances come along that might not only change his plight, but signal an end for mankind. Yet, for all the sneering ominousness this character exudes and requires, the weight of this is greatly diminished in a performance that really seemed too forced and, even if unintentionally, overacted, to bring the real potency of this coveted character to life convincingly for me. I just didn’t get a sense as a whole there was the total passion and commitment behind this effort like, again, I felt was exhibited in “Coming Home”. Supporting turns are found from Kinsey Krutzler and Sandra Nye, too.
In total, faults and all, “Father of Lies” still represents the grander picture of what it is to be an indie filmmaker, working with what you have, at least trying to put what you feel is your all into it, and then seeking out the hope it will be embraced by the greater moviegoing public at festivals and, ideally, beyond. While this film didn’t work for me personally, I know as a critic I can always hope that a filmmaker can take opinion for what it is, possibly learn from it or fully deny it, and if anything, keep striving to pursue their art and continue to improve film by film.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
