"... The route this flick takes to change things up is just enough to make it all quite compelling to watch. And what is this route, you ask? Well, the film is shot entirely through security cameras..."
You might be changing in a dressing room. You might be conversing at a gas station. You might be trying to make business calls while at work. You might be having sex in a back room with a married woman. You might be beating and shooting a struggling police officer... Regardless of what you might be doing (though I hope it's really none of the latter), there is always the possibility of someone watching you. From your moments of greatness right down to your moments of absolute darkness ---there's a big chance that various eyes are following you every step (or misstep) of the way... Or at least that's what the paranoia-fueled "Look" wants you to think.
Out of all the fears and suspicions permeating our everyday life, it's no surprise to see yet another film trying to capitalize off of it all. The mindlessly excellent "Taken" used human trafficking as a foundation for its revenge. The Oscar-wannabe "Rendition" tried to be a political torture film based off of the U.S.'s negative means to gathering information from victims believed to be enemies. Hostel: Part 2 focused on the fear of our own neighbors being our greatest threats. The list goes on and on... And on and on... And now, "Look" once again observes the ever-growing paranoia of voyeurism. Something we're both entranced and repulsed by... As long as it's not us.
Following various people ranging from gas station clerks to lawyers, Adam Rifkin's "Look" connects its unwilling participants through the naïve actions they take---no matter how big or small they may seem. As with most films of this nature, no one is really innocent, but everyone has everything to hide. The pleasant veneer is stripped away revealing the grime and grit that lies just below---the things we keep hidden; the things we'd wish to take to our grave. That's what this film is about and it executes with honest flair.
Now, this movie could have been a real bore---especially because of the sheer amount of times we've seen stories like this play out---but the route this flick takes to change things up is just enough to make it all quite compelling to watch. And what is this route, you ask? Well, the film is shot entirely through security cameras. Malls, parking lots, homes, cop cars--- wherever there's a possibility of something happening, there's a lens to catch it all play out. And in this movie's case, we've got promiscuous young girls, a reluctant teacher, a nerdy co-worker, a womanizing store manager, murderers, and so on, which we follow throughout the duration of the celluloid story. Sometimes we're seeing one seemingly insignificant plight play out, while others, we're witnessing overlap. For the most part, this is an interesting means to filming various predicaments. You're seeing static shots of events play out. There are no protagonists to thwart evil-doers, there are no acts of redemption, there are simply people and the positions they place themselves (and others) in. And we're watching it. That's it.
While this is a somewhat intriguing film simply because of its choice of direction, I wouldn't exactly call it great. My main problem is the amount of times I've already seen it. At least a dozen films come out each year of the same nature where we have a selection of people and events that are somehow connected, and the movie just glues them all together before the credits hit. Let's see, just off the top of my head... 11:14... The Air I Breathe... Time Code... All of these have the same idea; only the direction changes... Well, sometimes... Mike Figgis' Time Code is the only one of the bunch that I can say is truly different because it was all filmed in one take (yeah, ONE take), using four different cameras, which cut the television picture into four frames. That said, I'm glad that Look utilizes a different means of presentation, but I don't believe it's enough to lift it above EVERYTHING that's already out there.
But what Look does do right is at least make itself watchable for the duration it's on. The security cameras are gimmicky but fun in the sense that we don't know where the next camera's positioning will be. This adds a more suspenseful layer of tension to the whole ordeal as well as an ever-increasing sense of hopelessness amid all of the breaching of privacy. In essence, this is a disturbing film that tackles a lot of disquieting themes such as murder, adultery and pedophilia. Now, while these realistic aspects work to draw the viewer in, I wound up feeling just like the film's overall tone... Indifferent. My face contorted into confusion once the creative credits began rolling, simply because I wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it---I didn't care. Now, while it can be argued that this displays Look's "power" over its audience; the true test for me is if a film can actually make me passionately take a side or cause me to act. It's too easy to be nonchalant---to make someone not care; it's hard to actually persuade a person from one means of thinking to another. This could be due to the fact that I've been desensitized to this style of filmmaking---I don't know. But peel away the pretty wrapping and you have the same kind of film that's been gathering dust for years now.
And I can't end this review without mentioning the main reason I even picked this flick up: "BT". What are simple letters to some, are initials representing one of the most influential fathers of trance---Brian Transeau. Mr. BT lends his pioneering music-mixing abilities as well as his archetypal stutter edit (otherwise known as the "BT stutter") to great effect, in turn creating a very appropriate score that adds to the film's sense of audacious quirkiness and sometimes frenetic chaos.
Look is like so many films before it, except that the presentation has been a tweaked a bit. While this visual characteristic maintains a train-wreck appeal, it's nothing revolutionary and---as I've already stated---isn't enough to truly separate itself from everything that's already out there. Even still, for those wanting a little different take on paranoia-induced voyeurism, Look is at least worth... Well... A look (sorry, I couldn't resist).
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