Worm

Worm (2010)

I get a lot of independent filmmakers sending me their stuff and most of the time it is either okay or I have to have that uncomfortable conversation with them. You know the one where I have to tell them I’m about to warn everyone to stay away from their movie. That has lead to some rather heated email exchanges. As much as I hate it when that happens I keep checking these movies out because sometimes they are rather good. Worm is one of those movies that I got a kick out of.

This is a short film, coming in around 20 minutes. It follows a teacher named Geoffrey Dodd thru his day. We see him teaching his class, interacting with his colleagues, and trying to write his book. But the interesting thing is that in addition to what he says, we the audience also get to hear what he is thinking. So while everyone around Mr. Dodd thinks he is a decent enough fellow, we know how close that he is to breaking. He hates the student, contemplates taking the gun out of his briefcase and shooting them down. He also has this fantasy about kidnapping one of the female students that he has a strange crush on and taking her away to a remote cabin. Being that this is only a 20 minute long movie everything builds up quickly and well I wont’ spoil the ending, but it was a clever way to end.

It isn’t only the ending of the movie that I liked. This is an interesting story here that doesn’t try to do too much. The director/writer here is Richard Powell and he really knows what he is doing. So many filmmakers try and shoot something that they have neither the locations nor budget to pull off. Powell keeps the story here simple and focuses on the character. This works really well. I also wanted to mention the actor that plays Dodd, Robert Nolan. The movie revolves around him and the day that he is having. Nolan does a great job making the character believable. Considering the entire 20 minutes of the movie he is on the edge of snapping that couldn’t have been easy.

Being and independent movie I also was interesting in the technical expertise behind it. I know that shooting with digital technology makes things easier and allows filmmakers to re-shoot something more readily then in the past. But that still can’t help them frame the shots and light a scene. Both of these are accomplished with some skill in Worm. I don’t know their shooing schedule or locations, but getting a movie that looks this good couldn’t have been easy. So needless to say I think they did a superior job.

If you get the chance to check out Worm at a festival or Show that you are attending I would recommend it. It is well worth your 20 minutes.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer