Review of Redacted (2007) by Roderick D — 30 Nov 2007

Redacted is a great idea, not executed as well as it could have been. The concept of filming from available cameras works, the story is nauseatingly strung together, told only through the perspective of a camera that is on the scene at the time of the action.

This technique works brilliantly in the scene where Angel Salazar (Izzy Diaz) runs out of the room because he couldn't stand staying to witness the horror of what was going. Leaving the viewer even more nervous and disturbed about what really is going on.

The message is strong and raw, and though some of the camera work is a amateur and can make you nauseous, it doesn't take you out of the film entirely. Where Redacted falls short is the acting. In most of the scenes, the camera is in there, really in there, so close that any hint of unreality is easily noticed.

Apart from Lawyer McCoy (Rob Devaney) and Master Sweet (Ty Jones), the other actors look like they are playing to the camera. They seem almost uncomfortable having the camera be so intimate with them, that they act stagy and play their characters as archetype/cliches and not simply people.

Redacted is worth seeing for its technique and its point of view, however, it does need to be recasted.