When you promote your film with a poster that is eerily reminiscent of Sin City, you’re bound to get someone’s attention and this morning, that someone happens to be me.
Winner of the best film award at Newport International Film Festival, Jack Says is Bob Phillips’ directorial debut. It’s the story of Jack, a man who wakes up on a London street suffering from amnesia. He can’t remember his former life but an address scribbled on a piece of paper starts him on a trail that leads to Paris where a chance encounter with a woman brings him to the attention of the underworld. There’s a whole lot more to the story and if you’re looking for details, be sure to check out the film’s very spiffy website.
Noir isn’t really my thing but Phillips is obviously a fan of the genre and the trailer and synopsis has my attention. Sadly, the film is opening in very limited release on Friday, April 3 and that limited release doesn’t include any Canadian cities.
It’s a nice looking trailer and a promising looking film, one I’d love to catch on DVD down the road. That said, if you’re curious and living in the US, I encourage you to check out the list of cities where the film is playing; I’ve tucked that list, along with the trailer, under the seat!
In 
The story is relatively straight-forward. In one thread, teenage Sayra travels with her uncle and estranged father from Guatemala through Mexico toward the United States, where the father has started a new family in New Jersey, riding illicitly along with hundreds of others on the tops of freight trains. In the other, Caspar, a young member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, tries to balance his loyalty to the gang with his love for a girl from the right side of town. The threads inevitably come together, and while it’s not difficult to figure out most everything that happens, suspense is not what keeps you interested in the film and the lives of the people it depicts. The delicate balance of emotional involvement in these individuals and their situations with the unsentimental, unwavering style (not to mention flawless visuals, camera setups, and editing) kept me rapt for the entire film, and I wanted to keep the experience with me all day.
