Review of A Bag of Hammers (2011) by Jesse O — 26 Jan 2014

This movie definitely has some very good intentions at the core of its narrative, but the film becomes problematic when it tries to combine indie quirk with super serious drama. It's almost jarring to see how serious the film can really get and, again, at least in this case, it doesn't really mix well with the quirky approach to its comedy.

The drama doesn't really feel natural or organic. It doesn't feel like a natural progression of the story. The characters and actors are certainly likable enough that they make these jarring tonal shifts a little easier to digest, but that would easily be the film's biggest fault.

With that said, I did find the story to be very sweet. Almost to a fault really. But the story of these two grifters, whose choice of "employment" has led to them refusing to grow up, being forced to mature when Kelsey comes into their lives unexpectedly.

It's definitely a good enough arc for these two characters. The stuff with Kelsey, while some of it is very sweet, also feels a little manipulative. Since the movie is so short, you don't really get to see how Alan and Ben's relationship with Kelsey develops.

It's like they give you just enough, but not enough to see how much of an impact these two had on this kid's life. After officially adopting Kelsey, after he spends 11 months bouncing from foster home to foster home thanks to Ben's sister, the film flashes forward several years to when Kelsey is getting ready to go off to college.

Granted they do show you part of how they raised him in the post-credits sequence, but not enough to make it really emotionally satisfying. Again, it's very sweet but at the same time it's very manipulative.

I almost hate to complain about this movie, because it's clear that its heart is in the very right place and it's a good movie, but I think that the film's dramatic aspects could've been handled far more maturely than they were.

Still, it's a solid movie with a solid script and a great cast, so at least it's a good movie in spite of its faults.