MOVING MALCOLM (MONGREL MEDIA, 2003)

By Rick Jackson

Written, directed, co‑produced and starring Benjamin Ratner, Moving Malcolm is a deeply flawed comedy about lost love. As you watch the characters interact, they are separated and brought together by a communal sense of belonging. As each struggles to survive in the real world, it is their bond of friendship with family and friends that brings them together.

Ratner the screenwriter loosely based his directorial debut on his own life, and the Maxwell family scenes were shot in the Ratner home. Just as the characters vie for attention and acceptance, there is an annoying sense of staginess in the presentation of many of the scenes, and the dialogue at times is rife with cliched and unnecessary dialogue when an emotion or reaction would have sufficed.

As Gene Maxwell, Ratner suffers from some ailment in which he needs to take pills but you are never told what it is. He also overacts and displays the emotions of a newcomer rather than an experienced actor. His credits include Bruce Sweeney's Last Wedding and 19 Months.

Elizabeth Berkley (Rodger Dodger, Any Given Sunday) plays Liz Woodward, who spurns Gene on their wedding day, only to return to him more than a year later to ask him help move her father, the Malcolm of the movie's title, played by veteran Canadian actor John Neville. She injects Liz with a sense of adventure and love as she flies off to Prague to star in a low‑budget science fiction movie. While there she has an affair with the stunt co‑ordinator. As you watch Liz and Gene talk on the phone you can sense they really do not belong together.

Neville gives a convincing performance as Malcolm, an aging patriarch whose daughter Liz is not home long enough to take care of him. His sense of humor and zest for life add a poignant touch. His long and distinguished career has seen him appear on many stages around the world, including Stratford Theatre in Stratford, the National Theatre, Broadway, and Nottingham Playhouse in England. Among the films he has appeared in are Spider and The Statement.

In supporting roles, Jay Brazeau and Babz Chula play Gene's parents and Rebecca Harker is Jolea Maxwell, Gene's sister who is autistic. Her character was based on Ratner's real‑life sister.

Under Ratner's direction, Moving Malcolm manages to hold your attention, even if it is slow‑paced and uneven.

February 7, 2004