If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you will have noted that I rarely, if ever, do a negative one. This, however, does not mean that I do not occasionally stumble upon movies that fail to impress me. Sometimes when that’s the case, I just opt to write nothing at all about them.
I had high expectations for Clay Jeter’s 2011 film Jess + Moss. When I saw its trailer and read several reviews, I could hardly wait to see it. At first, I thought that my expectations would be met. The film opened with brightly colored scenes and the subjects were filmed with good geometrical proportions and composition that, being an amateur photographer, made an impression on me. Even the credits were done in a creative way, thus further boosting my expectations. Yet, thirty minutes later I was so bored by the lack of any real plot development that I doubted my patience would suffice to finish the whole film. But I persevered with the hope that there might be a break even point somewhere or a surprising plot twist that would turn the dreadful story into one of those challenging, yet intriguing, Coming-of-Age films. But, alas, that did not happen.
The two protagonists of the film are an 18-year-old girl named Jess (Sarah Hagan) and her 13-year-old cousin Moss (Austin Vickers). They spend their summer on a neglected farm somewhere in rural Kentucky. We observe them as they ride bikes, climb trees and generally do the things we commonly associate with the hot summer days of our childhood vacations. The parents are missing and the memories of them are the link that allows the viewer to get an idea about the cousins’ characters, as well as provide some insight into the unique relationship between them. The plot is largely devoted to these memories of the past and their reflection on the present and the future of the film’s protagonists.
Warm colors conveying the summer’s hear in Jess+Moss
Yet the narrative, which some reviewers called “experimental” and “non – cohesive”, ruined my viewing experience by being completely irksome. It’s true that there are those days of the summer that are long and hot, and during which nothing really happens. And if the idea of the director was to have the film’s viewers relive that experience of sitting around waiting for time to pass, he definitely succeeded in that endeavor. But I find it hard to like a story that lacks any semblance of plot development or a meaning — or at least provoke in me the desire to seek for one.
None of the reviews of the film I have read have succeeded in helping me to justify the time I spent watching this movie. Sometimes I will see a film and fail to understand its story. An example would be the Canadian film The Nature of Nicholas – which only made sense after I read some interpretations by some film critics and discussions about the film in the comments sections on various sites (including this one).
In short, then, I feel that I can not recommend Jess + Moss to you.
Film title: Jess + Moss
Also known as: Джесс + Мосс
Release year: 2011 – Blood River Pictures, Liquid Crystal Productions, Love Streams Productions
Director: Clay Jeter
Cast: Austin Vickers, Sarah Hagan , Marie Coleman, Donald R. Fleming and others
“It’s true that there are those days of the summer that are long and hot, and during which nothing really happens. And if the idea of the director was to have the film’s viewers relive that experience of sitting around waiting for time to pass, he definitely succeeded in that endeavor. But I find it hard to like a story that lacks any semblance of plot development or a meaning — or at least provoke in me the desire to seek for one.”
Sorry SkyKid, but I think this completely misses the entire point of the film. To say that they were just sitting around waiting for time to pass is so ludacrest. Yes, the film does display a sense of a long summer, and those days of summer, but this is meshed in with the character relationship and the revealing of their lives so well. And how did the film have no meaning? It has an immense amount of meaning throughout it, in so many scenes. It is all right there in front of you. I suggest re-watching the film.
“But I persevered with the hope that there might be a break even point somewhere or a surprising plot twist that would turn the dreadful story into one of those challenging, yet intriguing, Coming-of-Age films. But, alas, that did not happen.”
Again, I think you’ve completely missed it on this point. It’s not meant to have a surprising plot twist. If anything it shouldn’t have one. It is beyond me how you can call this a ‘dreadful story’ as well. The story is so beautiful and so visible. It does not need to be told through a traditional plot or narrative, it is told so much more intricately than that, and that’s where the beauty comes from.
I did read your review , but for this particular film I can`t agree with you. I had to push myself to finish the film and have absolutely no desire to waste another 80 minutes with it – may be in a few years .You called the film “abstractionist Coming-of-Age drama” in your review ( https://theskykid.com/movies/jess-moss-2011-a-second-opinion/ ) – and while it is possible thatI don`t have much liking for abstractionist films I can gve you an example with the 1998 Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s film The Silence as nontraditional story telling that actually works https://theskykid.com/movies/the-silence-1998/. And I do not agree with you that Jess + Moss is a drama – a film in the drama genre is supposed to evoke some emotions in its audience – and Jess+ Moss completely failed in that respect. I can`t really say much for the acting as well – as it was not something that made an impression on me as well. It is good that we have an opposing takes on Jess+Moss – cinema is art that is bound to appeal differently to different people based on their backgrounds, predispositions …etc. But I will repeat that while I find movies such as Nature of Nicolas intriguing – and feel a desire to discuss them , I will remember Jess+Moss only with the sense of boredom it brought me .
Ok, I understand that you were not able to make a connection with this film, and in your opinion the film was boring. That’s totally fine. I’m going to go ahead and say that you did not see the underlying substance in the film, especially judging off your review, which makes this point quite clear.
That’s totally fine as well though, there are some films that I cannot get into either, and find quite boring. But I can respect the filmmaking enough to attempt to understand it. I feel with Jess + Moss you have not made that attempt and merely bashed the film.
In terms of genre, Jess and Moss is a drama in every sense of the word. It couldn’t be more of a drama.
You say “a film in the drama genre is supposed to evoke some emotions in its audience — and Jess+ Moss completely failed in that respect.” yet you completely contradict yourself when you go on to say “cinema is art that is bound to appeal differently to different people based on their backgrounds, predispositions …etc”
To say that Jess + Moss ‘failed’ to evoke emotion in its audience is completely based on your own perception, not an actual fact of the film’s ability to move people. I was incredibly moved by the film, and many other people from around the world were as well.
I’m sorry SkyKid, I love this site and I love your reviews, but I think with this one you have merely bashed a film without looking at the bigger picture, predominantly because you were ‘bored’ when watching it. I cannot stand when film critics do this.
May be we have difference in our concepts of a review – which to me is a subjective work that mirrors the impression a film is made into a mind of its viewer /critic . For this particular film I was by far not the only one who found problems with it Nicolas Rapold who reviewed the film for The New York Time also has few pointers , same in the review of Spancer Parker if IMDB rating is a criteria to judge by Jess+Moss has 6/10 . Of course I can also point you out to several authors who praise the film the way you did it.
To me forming one owns opinion is crucial – the
reviews I wrote reflect that. I have read your reviews and its obvious that in them you put a lot of your personality too – that is what a good review is. But one can`t say ” he missed the point ” just because someone did not see the same things in a film or saw none of the ” good points ”
I do think that the film will have a hard time moving its audience. You can prove me wrong for yourself as it moved you – does this mean that I was wrong with my statement – I think not unless you are the only person who have seen the film.
Please understand that I have no desire to bash the film per se, in fact because I rarely write negative reviews as noted at the begging I hesitated to write the one we are discussing – yet my displeasure of the film and the desire to warn readers who may consider picking it helped me take a decision to write it. I can not command on people – I can recommend and each is free to take that recommendation in mind or not ( I am guessing people who have read my reviews so far will know if they shall trust or ignore the opinions I make ). We have your review on the site as well – completely opposite of mine – but this is no competition . And it is the readers of the site who benefit from our distinct views.
All fair enough, and I completely agree.
Compare your review to Rapold’s though, and you might see what I’m trying to say. He concludes with “the vocabulary of his imagery feels worn out, and the ambience feels handed down.” But he also talks about the dramatic tension in the film with Jess’ past, and justifies his displeasure by stating that he felt this was the only dramatic tension throughout. He calls it a very loose structure but praises the magical montages. He analysis the film and gets to the root of why certain things did not work for him. Not once does he mention: “I was bored because of no plot” and does not back that up with anything else, which is what I feel you have done.
As I mentioned before, by saying “And if the idea of the director was to have the film’s viewers relive that experience of sitting around waiting for time to pass, he definitely succeeded in that endeavor. But I find it hard to like a story that lacks any semblance of plot development or a meaning — or at least provoke in me the desire to seek for on” I believe you have missed the point, becuase it most certainly does not lack meaning. Maybe for you, but as an analysis of the film, you cannot say it lacks meaning, otherwise you have not observed the film deep enough.
All I’m saying is that one must really justify their postion in an opinion like this one. I have seen many films which I absolutely hated, but I have analysed the core reasons why I thought it did not work, whether that was personal or I thought it there were problems with the script etc. Some films I just simply did not understand what the filmmakers were trying to convey, again though I will always say this in a review.
Anyway, like you said, we probably just have differing opinions on what we consider to be a ‘review’.
Haven`t seem The Tree of Life , but the experience of watching Jess + Moss was quite dreadful. It bored me so much that I hardly kept my eyes open – and failed to involve me thus the low rating I gave it. I do not argue in favor for a traditional narrative structure – but there has to be something that will make the audience want to finish the film – and sometimes photography and editing are just not enough. Looking forward to read your reflection on the film when you get a chance to see it.
Interesting. See I do not agree that films MUST follow a traditional narrative structure. Films are art, film is an art form, therefore in certain circumstances a non-narrative structure can be absolutely gorgeous. A prime example is The Tree of Life. It’s an amazing philosophical masterpiece that does not follow a traditional narrative in any sense, but encaptualtes the essence of life and aspects of the existentialist theories so very well.
I won’t comment further becuase I have not seen Jess and Moss, but I will definitely check it out and write again.
Thanks for the review as always.