One doesn’t always stumble upon excellent movies, but in almost every film one can find something of value. In Gravel Road, a short film film by Keith Fleetwood, the value lies in its soundtrack and in the final message. Starring J.D. and Sam Hunt, the film tells the story of two brothers subjected to physical and psychological abuse from their father, who had become an alcoholic when his wife died. When a teacher notices the bruises on the kids, a report is filed with the Social Services.
While the goal of the film to raise awareness of abuse is achieved, one could not help noticing that the actors did not deliver their lines convincingly enough. On more than one occasion the dialogue seemed forced and stale. While the violence is mostly implied, the sound effects felt over done. The musical score comes to prominence in two of the scenes: starting at the 1:50 mark and during the final scene. That last melody is what one is likely to remember as the final credits roll. Sometimes a scene makes a film, and in the case if Gravel Road that scene is of a young boy sitting on the stairs under a pouring rain and the lyrics of the song accompanying that scene describe both the weather and the boy’s emotional condition.
Gravel Road doesn’t have an IMDb entry, but it’s available on YouTube in its entirety (16 minutes – split in two parts). At the time of the writing this review, this short film has been seen more than 300,000 times and has evoked an active discussion – evidencing that the film (or perhaps the subject matter) is of interest to viewers. Personally, I feel disappointed that the weak acting performances failed to draw an emotional response in me. Furthermore, portraying an alcoholic person holding a beer bottle in almost every scene felt stereotyped and unnecessary, as the point that he has a problem with the alcohol was already made early in the film.
Gravel Road short film:
http://youtu.be/-_MbEZE_yyc