Bigger Than the Sky (2005)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Al Corley

Writer (WGA):

Rodney Patrick Vaccaro (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Life has a role for everyone.

Plot:

After being dumped by his girlfriend, a man stuck in a deadend life decides to audition for a small...

Plot Keywords:

Funeral | Sword Fight | Friendship | Portland Oregon | Love

Cast

Marcus Thomas	...	Peter Rooker / Cyrano
John Corbett	...	Michael Degan / Christian
Amy Smart	...	Grace Hargrove / Roxanne
Sean Astin	...	Ken Zorbell
Clare Higgins	...	Edwina Walters
Patty Duke	...	Mrs. Keene / Earlene
Allan Corduner	...	Kippy Newberg
J.W. Crawford	...	Kirk
Victor Morris	...	Steve
Brian Urspringer	...	Scott
Kenneth Jones	...	Ted
Orianna Herrman	...	Susan
Pam Mahon	...	Julie
Ernie Garrett	...	Paul Fisher
Matt Salinger	...	Mal Gunn

Also Known As:

Caught in the Act (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language and sexual references.

Runtime:

USA:106 min | Argentina:106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41290)

Filming Locations:

Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

Code Entertainment

Quotes:

Peter Rooker: Well, why WOULDN'T she leave? I mean look at me! I'm just dull. I have a dull job, a dull car, I never go out, and I have no friends. My girlfriend dumps me - who do I call to come over? My sister!
Peter's Sister: Well, what's wrong with that?
Peter Rooker: You don't pour your heart out to your sister. That's like taking your sister to the prom!
Peter's Sister: I had FUN at your prom!

Soundtrack:

Downliner

I can't believe what I've been reading

I am shocked that *anyone* is praising this film. This is a classic example of what happens when actors with real potential (proved or otherwise) work with an obviously terrible director and editor.

On watching this film (can we actually call it that?) I got the distinct impression that somehow all of the "good takes" of scenes intended to go into the final cut got lost in a fire... so the editor and director tried to make a movie out of the takes originally destined for the trash (not even the cutting room floor).

For a while, I actually thought that (perhaps) there was a method to the madness. I thought that somehow the director was trying to create a metaphor using the bad acting (on screen) to correlate to the acting struggles with the main character.

No such luck.

The cast reads like a "who's who" of strong younger actors who have proved their meddle in other films. I can't imagine any of them viewing this movie and thinking that their work has been done justice in post - production.

What's terrible about all of this is that the screenplay appears to have had potential. Further, many of the production elements are very good (the DP was clearly a pro...music and sound all well - done...and, as I've mentioned, the actors clearly weren't to blame).

For anyone contemplating a career in film, this is an excellent study... of what *doesn't* work. For aspiring directors, watch each and every scene and ask yourself "If I could shoot that, how would I try to coach the actors into creating a better scene". For aspiring editors, this is an opportunity to see how proper cutaways (for example) can save a "1/2 good" scene from becoming "all bad"...and so on.

I honestly wish that someone (else) would shoot this screenplay. Heck, even use the same cast... just get someone who knows how to make performances look (somewhat) real and someone who knows how to cut images together so that we believe what we are watching.

It's usually true that a good story can overcome bad photography (not a problem here), dialog, and even acting (with good editing). This is a classic example of a case where obviously poor directing can kill this apparent truth.