Review of Trigger Man (2007) by Bryan G — 09 Feb 2010

Interesting film, yet curiously lacking something. The first half hour is incredibly slow, and I'm talking GLACIER here. But it's all to put us in the same state of mind as our protagonists...listless and bored...to make the big turning point that much more shocking. And shocking it is, holy shit. But what's most interesting is that after the "event" happens, the film maintains it's leisurely pace...but now each thing that transpires has you biting your nails and desperately searching the frame for signs of danger. It's a fascinating study in how the same pacing can be used to obtain different emotional reactions from the audience.

It's not perfect by any means...the final few minutes, while undoubtedly intense and brutal, ends much too abruptly. And despite knowing West's intentions, the first 30 minutes really are a bit of a chore to sit through. If you can appreciate that this is (admittedly) more of a short film stretched out to feature length, made on a shoestring budget and shot over a week's time, and thrown together purely for the love of the genre (and for a stopping point between Ti West's other two masterpieces), than there's a lot to like here.