‘Trigger Effect’ Shoots Itself In The Foot
One nice thing about film festivals, both for directors and fans, is that unreleased efforts not only are welcomed but encouraged.
That’s good for the director because it gives him or her a chance to see audience reaction outside of a test theater somewhere in Westwood. And that’s good for the film fan because it gives those of us who live outside Los Angeles a chance to experience films that we might otherwise never have the opportunity to see.
Of course, sometimes there are good reasons for why particular movies don’t get wide release. And “The Trigger Effect” seems to be a perfect example.
The version of the film that I saw last June at the Seattle International Film Festival had a not-quite-finished feel about it. And it didn’t seem to be anything that a quick reshoot would fix.
Written and directed by David Koepp, a screenwriter best known for the lurid “Apartment Zero,” “The Trigger Effect” is a meditation on the transitory nature of modern American life.
Yes, we all live in a society that, at times, seems to be held together by duct tape. But what would happen if, finally, that tape broke?
What would happen, say, if we all woke up one morning to find that our televisions wouldn’t go on, our phones wouldn’t work and there wasn’t a working light bulb within driving distance?
Sounds like a plot out of a “Twilight Zone” segment, doesn’t it? In fact, yes it does. But, according to Koepp, it is based on a BBC program titled “Connections.”
Koepp’s adaptation focuses on three people: Matt (Kyle MacLachlan), his wife Annie (Elisabeth Shue) and their friend (Dermot Mulroney).
When Matt and Annie wake up to a world that just doesn’t seem to work anymore, they need to find a way to cope.
The problem is that they don’t know how. Koepp, apparently, is trying to make a statement about how dependent we modern folks have become on our gadgets. Dependent to the point of losing touch with ourselves and with the real meaning of life.
So we watch as Matt and Annie struggle to do something as simple as treat their infant’s ear infection - and watch as Matt fails one testosterone test after another until, finally, he decides to take matters into his own hands.
And then things get really bad.
“The Trigger Effect” is filmed well enough, and the acting - by Oscar-nominated Shue, MacLachlan, the little-used Mulroney and especially by Michael Rooker as the obligatory sociopath they meet on the highway - is perfectly fine.
The problem, really, is Koepp’s failure to develop his script into anything more than a concept. Instead of feeling like a feature film, it smacks of episodic television. Familiar episodic television.
Rod Serling television.
That’s not bad, of course. Serling did write some of the best imaginative fiction that television has ever seen. But a feature film needs a bit more complexity to carry nearly 100 minutes.
All in all, the film’s opening minutes are its most effective. There, in a single-take sequence of about four minutes, the connection between a random act and ultimate consequences is made all too clear.
If only what followed was as good.
, DataTimes MEMO: These sidebars appeared with the story: 1. “The Trigger Effect” **-1/2 Location: North Division Cinemas Credits: Written and directed by David Koepp, starring Elisabeth Shue, Kyle MacLachlan, Dermot Mulroney, Richard T. Jones and Michael Rooker. Running time: 1:38 Rating: R
2. Other views Here’s what other critics say about “Trigger Effect:” Jay Boyar/Orlando Sentinel: … if “The Trigger Effect” is skillfully manipulative, its manipulations are also its biggest limitations. Koepp is willing to make his characters do just about anything to build suspense, despite what this may do to their integrity as characters or to the logic of the story. … Still, Koepp is so skillful a manipulator that even if you lose respect for his film, you’re not likely to lose interest in it. David Hunter/The Hollywood Reporter: More on the scale of Koepp’s first hit, “Apartment Zero,” than his most recent, “Mission: Impossible,” this movie is intriguing at the outset, but ultimately it’s slow moving and lacks a satisfying payoff.
2. Other views Here’s what other critics say about “Trigger Effect:” Jay Boyar/Orlando Sentinel: … if “The Trigger Effect” is skillfully manipulative, its manipulations are also its biggest limitations. Koepp is willing to make his characters do just about anything to build suspense, despite what this may do to their integrity as characters or to the logic of the story. … Still, Koepp is so skillful a manipulator that even if you lose respect for his film, you’re not likely to lose interest in it. David Hunter/The Hollywood Reporter: More on the scale of Koepp’s first hit, “Apartment Zero,” than his most recent, “Mission: Impossible,” this movie is intriguing at the outset, but ultimately it’s slow moving and lacks a satisfying payoff.