{"id":4413,"date":"2012-06-23T06:16:46","date_gmt":"2012-06-23T13:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviesharkdeblore.com\/site\/?p=4413"},"modified":"2014-10-18T11:18:16","modified_gmt":"2014-10-18T18:18:16","slug":"four-laff-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/four-laff-review\/","title":{"rendered":"FOUR (LAFF Review)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: debbie lynn elias<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"four\"On the fringe of being an all around\u00a0Must See Festival Film at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival is Joshua Sanchez\u0081f dynamically rich narrative FOUR. And I say “on the fringe” only because the camera work warrants a recommendation of taking Dramamine before seeing the film. But making FOUR a “Must See” is the story and four of the strongest individual and ensemble performances of the year.<\/p>\n

Based on the play by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie-winning playwright Christopher Shinn, both the story itself and the performances are rock solid and elevating. OUTSTANDING in those two areas. A lead actor in Mamita<\/em>s, one of my Must See picks at LAFF 2011, EJ Bonilla returns this year in FOUR as Dexter, a young Latino basketball player. Once again walking the line between appearing to be a bad boy and having a heart, Bonilla shines. Joining him is Emory Cohen a breakout star in the NBC show Smash<\/em>. Playing June, a gay teenaged boy in conservative small town America, he brings a shy, fearful, innocence and insecurity to the role, but then in the blink of an eye, while in a motel awaiting seduction by Joe, a middle-aged Black man June meets on the internet, Cohen turns into a GQ underwear model, just smoldering with sensuality and lust. It’s a quick emotional shift, but powerful, as it speaks volumes to June\u0081fs own ambivalence and questioning of who he is. Wendell Pierce is a standout as Joe – a large, looming, African American who tries to be both paternal and seductive with Cohen\u0081fs June. An interesting portrayal and nuanced performance to watch. Rounding out the strong cast is Aja Naomi King who shines as Abigayle with a dynamic comfortable chemistry with Bonilla. And when it comes to the big reveal, this is one daddy\u0081fs girl that gets the angered shocked fever of emotion right.<\/p>\n

With the story unfolding over the course of one hot and humid Fourth of July, the film is contained, characters living lies and in solitude.\u00a0 But with holiday magic hanging in the heavy air, anything can happen.\u00a0As June hooks up with Joe and Dexter tries to hook up with Joe\u0081fs unsuspecting daughter Abigayle, the editing seamlessly weaves the tales of the two couples in a riveting character study leading to a surprising conclusion. Technically commendable is the sound. Under the supervision of sound editor Michael McMenomy, sound rises above the hollow echo so often found in lo budget\/no budget films, particularly in small isolated motel rooms and exteriors. But problematic is the camera work as every frame minutely wavers up and down as if being shot on a cell phone or small hand held camera with no stabilizer, the movement of which is just incremental enough to be noticeable and distracting from an otherwise powerhouse of a film.<\/p>\n

Dexter – EJ Bonilla<\/p>\n

June – Emory Cohen<\/p>\n

Joe – Wendell Pierce<\/p>\n

Abigayle – Aja Naomi King<\/p>\n

Written and Directed by Joshua Sanchez based on the play by Christopher Shinn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: debbie lynn elias On the fringe of being an all around\u00a0Must See Festival Film at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival is Joshua Sanchez\u0081f dynamically rich narrative FOUR. And I say “on the fringe” only because the camera work warrants a recommendation of taking Dramamine before seeing the film. But making FOUR a “Must […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,9],"tags":[176,722],"class_list":["post-4413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-reviews","tag-drama","tag-four-laff-review"],"yoast_head":"\nFOUR (LAFF Review) - Behind The Lens Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Behind the Lens is your home for in-depth movie reviews, filmmaker & celebrity interviews, and more, all by industry professional and film critic debbie lynn elias...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/four-laff-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FOUR (LAFF Review)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Behind the Lens is your home for in-depth movie reviews, filmmaker & celebrity interviews, and more, all by industry professional and film critic debbie lynn elias...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/four-laff-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Behind The Lens Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-23T13:16:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-18T18:18:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/four.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"debbie lynn elias\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"debbie lynn elias\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/four-laff-review\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/four-laff-review\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"debbie lynn elias\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d9b602095eb0ce3d363efb75ad0b5d4\"},\"headline\":\"FOUR (LAFF Review)\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-23T13:16:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-18T18:18:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/four-laff-review\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":513,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/four-laff-review\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/06\\\/four.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"drama\",\"FOUR (LAFF Review)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Movies\",\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/four-laff-review\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/behindthelensonline.net\\\/site\\\/reviews\\\/four-laff-review\\\/\",\"name\":\"FOUR (LAFF Review) - 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