This story (premise) had such opportunity to be a great film, but I guess the budget went more towards the top-billed cast, than in the production.
I certainly give credit to new filmmakers for taking the leap, and often don't critique them as hard due to their lack of experience. But newbie writer, director and producer David Raymond should've maybe had one lesser top-lead and invested in a seasoned screenwriter and editor - of where this film failed drastically in a missed golden opportunity.
The screenplay had major plot and technical issues, that could've been easily avoided, or edited properly. Then the editing in general was atrocious. A few scenes popped in and out within seconds and made no sense. The music/score was so overbearing it was annoying, and in some scenes louder than the dialogue. Raymond's lack of directing experience was evident in the poor shaky-cam shots, as it was in his failure to direct his sub-cast properly (the seasoned pros clearly handled their own). Brendan Fletcher was perfectly cast and great playing the character of Simon. But casting Henry Cavill was a huge mistake. His acting was stale and unconvincing, as well as annoying with his monotonic dialogue and poorly executed macho demeanor.
Nevertheless, for a newbie writer and director (this film being his 2nd/3rd resume entry as a filmmaker), it was surprisingly decent all things considered. Too bad it could've been great with proper editing and screenplay review. Still, a solid and well deserving 7/10 from me.
