Candlestick (2015)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on March 24, 2015 @ tonymacklin.net.

Indie filmmakers have to carry a heavy load. They're part bottle washer and candlestick maker.

Christopher Presswell has made a film on which he's co-producer, director, co-writer, and editor.

If only he had been an actor.

Candlestick has a promising story, and a nice tricky ending. But it needs to be recast.

The look of the film is fine. So are the editing, the cinematography, and the music.

The screenplay is bland and mannered. but the acting is the film's major problem. It simply is remote and ineffective.

And the acting is crucial, especially the lead.

Candlestick is the story of Jack (Andrew Fitch) who has a gathering of a few acquaintances in his posh apartment in London. The attendees are a vulnerable married couple - Vera (Isla Ure) and her husband Frank (Nigel Thomas) - and garrulous Major Burns (Tom Knight). Frank plans an evening of drinking, conversation, and games.

But Frank has a nefarious mind, and a devious plan.

The actor who plays Frank has to have depth, substance, and an edge to bring credibility to the cunning manipulator.

Fitch brings shtick and a vacuous smile. He'd have trouble jumping over a matchbox, much less a candlestick.

The other three main actors are too often stilted, and can't carry the plot.

Director Christopher Presswell obviously is channeling Alfred Hitchcock. His opening credits are a nod to Saul Bass, and the music echoes Bernard Herrmann.

A colleague of mine once published a novel with an epigraph from Joseph Conrad. That's the danger with homage. A reviewer said he was "no Joseph Conrad."

Presswell calls forth Hitchcock. He's no Hitchcock.

Then again, I'm no James Agee. But I try not to call attention to that.

Candlestick would have worked better as a half-hour episode on tv's Alfred Hitchcock Presents. [As well as its theatrical run, Candlestick is scheduled for On-Demand].

As an 83-minute feature film, the flaws are more pronounced. The waxen cast dulls the movie.

Candlestick is more thread than Rope (1948).

© 2000-2023 Tony Macklin