The only purpose for this review is to help get more people to see Steven Tanenbaum’s Busted Walk. Anyone who worked on the film should already know it’s good. It’s really good. Anyone who’s seen it should have recognized this too. There won’t be a lot of debate over the quality of Tanenbaum’s short.
For ten minutes, the writer/director ports us in December 1974 and lets us peek in on the lives of a number of memorable individuals. First, there’s Jay Turner (Ezra Miller in his first on-screen appearance) and his father (James McCaffery, Rescue Me) on their way to work while Jay’s suspended from school. Then there’s John (Kevin Breznahan, Superbad) and Tracy (Susan Highsmith), a volatile couple whose finances are just one of the aspects of their lives not in order.
And there’s a half dozen other storylines the film floats between, creating a 1970s menagerie that’s subtle, well-paced, and effective. It should be noted that Jay Turner’s performance is the stand-out from the ensemble. He and McCaffery’s chemistry is worthy of a feature-length exploration.
One of Busted’s strongest aspects is its juxtaposition of imagery. Editor Kiersten Harter should be commended for her ability to cut back and forth between seemingly unrelated shots and create a single joint-narrative that’s more effective that the unwoven strands. The ensemble narrative remains balanced despite having so many storylines going on at once. Some are given more weight and screen time than others but it’s not done at the expense of the other narratives.
Combine this impressive editing with professional shot composition and alluring cinematography and you’ve got something really worth watching. All in all, Tanenbaum and his cast/crew have shown a lot of potential here.
This film was submitted for review through our Submission for Review system. If you have a film you’d like us to see, and we aren’t already looking into it on our own, you too can utilize this service.
