Reeseville (2003)

Film Review: Reeseville (2003)Production Companies: Pied Piper Productions, Doomed Productions Ltd. Director: Christian Otjen Screenplay: Christian Otjen Cinematography: Jerry Holway Music: Kevin Saunders Hayes Producers: Dan Kattman and Holly Mosher Main Cast: Brad Hunt, Mark Hamill, Majandra Delfino, Brian Wimmer, Sally Struthers and Missy Crider. DVD Release: Doomed Productions Ltd. Rating: R for violence, sexuality and language Run Time: 99 minutes Director Christian Otjen (Lady in the Box, Frightened to Death) is back with another mystery set in Wisconsin. Reeseville is an engaging character study about small-town secrets. Part mystery, part drama, it holds the viewer with its engaging characters and some stellar performances.Otjen's polished film is set in the small Wisconsin town of Reeseville, which is located about half-way between Milwaukee and Madison. However, it could be set in any small, Midwestern town, which is part of its appeal. Without giving away too much, the basic plot involves the apparent suicide of an old man on the very day his estranged son shows up back in town after nearly twenty years' absence. The town's Sheriff (Brian Wimmer) suspects the son (in a fine, understated performance by Brad Hunt) of foul play after the town's quirky coroner, played by Mark Hamill, informs him it might not have been a suicide.The strength of Reeseville lies in several wonderful performances, most notably Mark Hamill and Miss Crider. Mark Hamill plays the coroner Zeke in a quiet, understated performance which really highlights what a wonderful character actor he has become. The beautiful Missy Crider steals every scene she's in. She plays the best friend of the Sheriff's sister. Ms. Crider is radiant and the camera obviously loves her. My largest complaint about the film is that she was not featured more prominently.As he did with Lady in the Box, Otjen has made a wonderful looking film here. Reeseville is expertly shot by DP Jerry Holway. The film captures the small-town feel of Midwestern life expertly. Christian Otjen is obviously talented as a filmmaker, and I await his next film excitedly. The film's flaws are not many. Reeseville works more as a character study than a thriller, although there are some suspenseful moments. The film could have actually used another twenty minutes or so, in order to flesh out the characters and provide more of Ms. Crider and Mr. Hamill.As of right now, the film is only available on DVD in the United States through the film's website. The DVD itself is very well presented. Crisp picture and sound. Thirty minutes of deleted scenes provide a glimpse of an even better film. The DVD also includes a few theatrical trailers as well as a behind-the-scenes photo album. Perhaps in the near future, a large distribution company will pick up this smart, taut character-driven mystery.

I am local to the area that the movie is suppose to be set in and was wondering if this is a completely fictional story or if it might be based on a true story. Also, were any scenes actually shot in Reeseville? I noticed one mistake. The Sheriff said he was going to go and get a judge in Watertown and it should have been Juneau.It was an interesting story in any case, but I found many of the lines to be unbelievably artificial and the character of the Sheriff to be a little far-fetched.Most of the actors did a great job of portraying their parts and could have used a little better writing, but did well with the lines given. I would say its worth watching, but I wouldn't pay to see it twice.

Being a fan of both Majandra Delfino and Mark Hamill I got this movie last year when it came out on DVD in Europe. When I watched it last year I felt that it wasn't a bad movie but I did think it could be better.When I saw the official site had the DVD with deleted scenes for Region 1, I figured what the heck I would get the new version. I was right, this movie could have been better.The theatrical version was cut to be a thriller but the deleted scene had more of a character study feel to them. They also tied together scenes that didn't really make sense in the theatrical version. Like how Iris got David's mother necklace that Jason grabs from around Iris's neck before the big showdown when David hasn't given it to her yet.In the deleted scenes we see Athee actually gave Iris the necklace for David after Iris and him had a fight and that the scene where he tells her about the necklace actually took place after they had gone out on a date bowling and David walked her home.Iris and David relationship also seem too rushed in the theatrical version. There are a couple of nice scenes with them that were cut which would have made their relationship more plausible and it's too bad because when I first watched it I didn't think Majandra and Brad had a much chemistry but when you see the deleted scenes when they were allow to relax a little you could see that they did have chemistry. Especially the scene that was cut where Iris goes to see David while stoned.Mark Hamill was great in this movie and it was so nice to see him in this. He really has turned into a wonderful character actor. Also Missy Crider as Athee steals every scene she is in. Her and Majandra had such a great chemistry together.The 'mystery' isn't that hard to figure out and is pretty paint by numbers. Also why Iris continues to live with her brother Jason after he beats her old boyfriend to death is never explained, which is one of the plot holes this movie suffers and the movie does suffer from a few plot holes but nothing that should keep you from checking the film out. So if you are looking for a mystery with a big surprised ending, you probable won't be too impressed by Reeseville but if you want a nice little mystery to watch on a rainy day then give it a shot, especially if you can get your hands on the DVD with the deleted scenes. Also if you are a Mark Hamill fan this is a must see!!

I mean, come on! This movie had such nice potential but it's like they ran out of money to finish the script and just telegraphed the whole damn rest of the movie about 2/3rds of the way through. Characters start spouting this movies whole reason for existence to other characters who didn't ask for the information on extremely flimsy premises. They also fall into some stereotypical behavior because that must be what's expected in this genre of movie. It's really pretty sad because this movie could have been so much more.I was really hoping this would be a good movie. There was some good acting. Mark Hamill does an excellent job until the movie falls apart, so does Sally Struthers. It was fun to see them working and succeeding at their craft. Majandra Delfino was pretty good for awhile until her lines just became untenable. I felt sad for her that she had to say these lines that just shot the whole movies credibility for any thinking movie goers. Brad Hunt does an excellent job. He really has a surprising range of talent judging from another of his movies I recently saw, Lucky 13. (which was a piece of crap). This guy could be a star if he could pick the right scripts and get lucky with the right director.Almost forgot! The music was so heavy handed you might think this project was handed to some minor film school to be scored. I call this kind of music "Teller Music" because you can just tell what's coming next based on the music. Less is more sometimes.Cut half of the music from this movie, get a good film editor, a small rewrite or two and this would be a very good movie.