Welcome to my first film review since high school! For this week’s film I visited Royal Oak’s Thomas Video and chose the first film that really popped out at me in the Made In Michigan section. It’s a little comedy that could called “Love & Plutonium” by Loose Change Entertainment, LLC. According to Loose Change’s website,

http://www.loosechange.tv, this is their 2nd feature film. 

The story basically revolves around Dr. Milo Medlo (played joyfully by Nate Topie), a mad scientist-type “super” villain, who falls in love with Holly (played by Meghan Vigeant) a receptionist who finds his wallet after he drops it while stealing plutonium from what is apparently a plutonium distribution center that she works at. Upon falling in love, the bad doctor loses interest in villainy and no longer has any use for his faithful henchman, Hank (play by director and co-writer Jeff Priskorn). Not one to sit idly by, Hank enlists the help of Dr. Medlo’s arch-nemesis, Justice Kitten (Maggie Patton), and her sidekick, Little Liberty (other co-writer Jacquie Floyd), to break up Medlo and his lady friend. 

This all occurs in the fictional city of Suburbiaville which seems to have an inordinate amount of “super” heroes and villains for what one assumes is an average size town, though we only meet two of its heroes and a handful of villains. Not only does it have at least one bar which caters exclusively to villains, called The Secret Hideout, but it appears to have an ESPN style tv channel devoted to providing play-by-play commentary of caped conflicts. Footage of two of it’s commentators (Bob and Dick as played by Rick Mickley and Matt Pearson, respectively) commentating occasionally cuts in between scenes and in my opinion were the 2nd least necessary element that distracts from the main story. The first being two scenes which bookend the film involving a little girl drawing pictures of scenes from the film while sounds of her parents fighting are overhead. The stuff with the girl does tie in very loosely but doesn’t really add to the story. My favorite scene however is one that takes place at the Suburbiaville DMV and features Joey Morse as the clerk. (Full disclosure: I worked with Joey on the Silver Bullet Pictures’ feature, Heavy Mental) Some of the funniest stuff is in that scene and it features some interesting lighting.

As a whole, this is a fine directorial effort (Jeff Priskorn’s first time as lone director) and a competently made indie-feature. The acting is pretty darn good, though it’s quite clear from the performances that all the main cast are used to performing on a stage rather than with a camera. The film’s writing is a little bland but still funny at times and  the cast really helps bring it to life. The general over-the-top performances weren’t nearly as annoying as can often be seen in indie films with the sole exception of Justice Kitten. Played by Maggie Patton, she was the only character who really could’ve been reigned in more by the director.

None of the technical aspects really stood out as exemplary but rarely were there glaringly bad moments either. An occasional rustle of a mike against some clothing or some bad dual shadows in the film’s sole flashback scene are all that I noticed and that’s being a bit picky. There is, however, a wonderfully lit scene just after the first Secret Hideout scene which stands out, at least in the wide shot. The only truly flawed aspect of the production is the editing. The whole film moves a bit too slow and the cuts are a bit too loose. A lot of shots go on a little too long. A couple more passes at it in the editing suite and it would’ve been a much improved film.

The real stand-out, positive element was the music. Well, half the music. The songs by local bands were a great addition, particularly “Love Goes Boom” by the director’s band, Elixir. The instrumental pieces  on the other hand sounded more like they were lifted from an industrial safety film and I don’t understand why one of them was chosen for the opening titles rather than one of the rock numbers.

All and all, this was a professionally made film that the cast and crew clearly had fun making but as a comedy, it lacks the energy for laugh out loud humor. I certainly recommend renting it but, I for one, wouldn’t want to re-watch it enough to justify buying a copy.

“Love and Plutonium” is available for rental at Thomas Video located on Rochester Rd. in Royal Oak or for purchase online at 

http://www.indieflix.com and http://www.amazon.com and the film’s website http://www.loveandplutonium.com 

Also, visit the filmmaker’s website

http://www.loosechange.tv for info on their other projects, past, present and future.