The Diary of Preston Plummer (2012)

As described with the summary above, this review gave question upon question. The film starts out as quiet, scientific college graduate Preston isn't walking the stage for his university's graduation. He sits in a lab (which by coincidence, is open, and there just HAPPENS to be a full bottle of whiskey) and drinks out of a beaker along with his sorrows. His professor comes in and pours out such adoration towards this bum, and says how great he was. Super cliché, no one really cares. He ends up going to this party and meets this girl, and they go to the bathroom together, super sketchy. Ends up escaping, and then she basically cons him into driving her down to an island where her family resides along with the hotel they own.Super sketchy, asking some random guy that just rescued you from a bathroom to drive you home, but it's indie Hollywood, we'll forget it. Preston and Kate (the terribly clingy girl) meet her parents, and shortly Preston meets this guy who turns out to be Kate's grandfather. Later at dinner that evening, Preston drops the bomb of how he met him, and the mother and Kate go crazy, leaving Preston misunderstood. Poor guy, no one told him ANYTHING, and the grandfather was a heck of a lot more understanding and kind then the crazy parents.Long story short, there was a case claiming the grandfather raped his granddaughter, Kate, and it was entirely untrue. The mother made it up so she could get land to have their hotel on, totally ridiculous and crazy. Preston finds this out, and then Kate goes all crazy for him seeing him various times in this however long period. The grandfather commits suicide in the lobby of the hotel, and the mother claims she did what she could to "protect her daughter".This movie was terrible, too. It had super dark points that lead no where, and the characters were too crazy and didn't add up to anything in the plot. Preston was too gentle to be around these people, and the mother was a whole other movie that could've been made and would've sucked. There was no plot, no point, and nothing made sense.

I have to be honest here. This was a bad film. The story line had potential, but the delivery failed miserably. The movie starts out in which Preston, a recent college graduate, meets Kate. She is the typical damsel in distress at a party who can't even so much as get to the bathroom on her own without Preston's help. It gets worse. He even carries her to the car from an extremely minor wound to her upper thigh. Talk about stereotypical gender roles- boring.The supposed "connection" they share was nowhere to be found throughout the entire film. I was never once able to lose myself in the characters or their personal exchanges of "emotion," which were unbearably awkward, unbelievable, and corny. This is supposed to be a movie about the human relationship of love but their relationship consists of a few scenes of them taking a short walk or making out on a beach- cheesy. These are not REAL dimensions of human love. Let's get to the weird unexplainable stuff; the mental and emotional exchanges nobody else can see.Preston is supposedly a genius physicist, yet that aspect of his personality is sadly never even developed in the film. Kate's character is extremely dull and the only thing we learn about her is that her hands never stop shaking.There were several attempts to line the story up with some deep philosophical insights about the universe regarding creation and destruction which I found to be profoundly UNdeep. Yawn. The director of this film seems to force feed the "deep meaning behind the film" to the audience which makes the film lose all potential for depth.Last but not least, the plot was completely predictable. I was able to figure out the supposed family secret and how it would all play out within the first 20mins of the film.Overall, this movie felt like a mystery novel written for a preteen audience.

An Excellent film! The Diary of Preston Plummer is very thoughtful and engaging movie that allows the viewer to enter into the complicated worlds of its characters. The movie drew me into that world from its opening scene and I found myself more and more curious about their lives as the movie progressed. Ultimately there is a parallel with the journey of discovery and decision that the chief characters encounter with the journey that we all take in our lives. How do we reconcile our past? Do we take the chances that the moment presents to us? Do we follow our rational or emotional side? Can time answer many questions that our intellect flounders at? These themes are raised with an elegant plot and translated with superb acting. Dr. Ackerman's (the director) cinematography is exquisite with an eye for framing scenes and long-shots that bears some comparison to Terrence Malick's works. Dr. Ackerman has a keen eye for observation and sense of feeling, and although he does a phenomenal job of capturing and conveying the subtle transition of land, ocean and sky in the outdoor shots of the marshes, shores, clouds and Sunsets of Florida (I honestly felt I was watching an episode of the BBC's Planet Earth), what is more exquisite is that these scenes speak a narrative of beauty that gives voice and credence to one of the character's visions of this land. In an age where an average indie movies cost millions, it is true genius to make this movie on a budget of (merely) $125,000. Bravo to Dr. Ackerman for his vision and for his artistic integrity. I look forward to his next film.

I was very pleased and impressed by this movie - made on a shoestring budget, it had all the elements that so many "major" movies lack: a good story line, strong filmography, unexpectedly solid acting. I would strongly recommend this. The backstory on the movie's writer, director and producer is almost as interesting -- he's currently a resident physician completing his training in child psychiatry in Burlington, Vermont. One can see why he was attracted to psychiatry, or perhaps it was his training in that discipline that allowed him to explore the nuances of relationships so well in this movie. I am hoping he continues his creative career even as he practices his profession.