"Watercolors" played at San Diego's FilmOut today. I have to say, when we read the synopsis in the FilmOut guide, and watched the trailer, we both thought this was going to be just dreadful. We weren't sure we wanted to even sit through it. I'm so glad we did -- it would be a mistake to miss -- to our amazement, this is a terrific film! First-rate acting all around, with special note to the dad's demonic smoking, the art teacher's facial expressions, the mother's nuanced looks. The writing, while melodramatic, is well-done. Nice cinematography, with cool underwater shots of the swimmers, long shots of outdoor scenes, and so forth. The casting, for the most part, fit nicely, especially Tye as Danny. It was fun seeing Greg Louganis as the coach, although I think it would be have been terrific to cast him as the anti-swimming father.
I especially liked the relationship between Danny and his mother. Very funny, touching, warm. The dad character could use more depth, but the mannerisms were nicely done. Tye as Danny looked so small and vulnerable (he's taller in real life, as we saw during the cast Q&A) and had such a perfect geek haircut.
This really didn't feel like a "film festival film", although it could do with a bit more editing to tighten up some of the scenes and cut the running time by 10 or 30 minutes.
