Best of Seven – Indie Review
Film Synopsis:
After a nearly fatal overdose, a young man with multiple personality disorder attempts to go one week without his medication.
Review Summary:
Based on the synopsis, you’d think that Best of Seven is a drama that utilized the format to show the sadness of those plagued with multiple personality disorder. Or perhaps a thriller with the other personalities going on a murdering spree. Well, if those are your thoughts then you would be wrong. The truth is that Best of Seven is a comedy that uses the disorder as a platform for hilarious hijinks.
The Good:
Lead Actor – Like any film that hinges on a single character, it lives or dies with the primary actor. Luckily, writer, director and actor Jonnie Stapleton is center stage and does a fantastic job. The interesting thing is that Stapleton, whose character name is also Jonnie, doesn’t just have to play himself, he also has to depict his 6 other personalities. That makes a total of 7 characters he has to embody. He does them in such a comedic way that it captivates the viewer perfectly.
Each Personality – This is where a comedy about multiple personality disorder can go wrong. Stapleton’s ability to give each personality a distinct and interesting persona is perfect and is the highlight of Best of Seven. Each persona has their own desires, characteristics, and purpose giving life to all of them.
Personas Interacting – The majority of Best of Seven shows the personas interacting with each other. In these moments the camera is jumping from Jonnie dressed normally to dressed as a Russian, then a nerd, a woman and more. Their interactions is beyond hilarious and is interesting to see how each persona reacts to the same event. There is a moment when the story shifts from the everyday life of Jonnie, to a goal that needs to be achieved. This is when the film really kicks into high gear. Each persona has different goals and desires based on the event and each one’s manner of achieving the goal is even funnier than the last.
What Jonnie Sees Vs. What Others See – I’ve seen a few movies about multiple personality disorder (usually dramas and thrillers) and they all tend to show what others are seeing. So when a doctor is looking at the patient, the patient is always dressed the same. The only thing that happens is that the body may contort, their voice may change, and mannerisms become different. Well, in Best of Seven Stapleton actually is dressed as the different personalities. Giving us an inside look as to what he is seeing making it even better. There’s one scene where two personalities are fighting each other which from Jonnie’s point of view looks normal enough. Then it switches and we see what others see and Jonnie is suddenly punching and trying to choke himself. It is such a simple idea, but brings such a high level of comedy.
Technical Ingenuity – When big studios want to place 1 actor in multiple places at once, it is an involved and difficult task that requires multiple people behind the scenes. However, when an indie film wants to do it, it becomes a little harder. Somehow Stapleton was able to use enough camera tricks to make everything believable. From the interactions, to the comedy, and even the action. All seemed believable and never once looked like Jonnie was interacting with a stand-in.
The Ehh:
The Other Actors – The bad news is that the other actors in the film don’t usually give as good a performance as Stapleton. The good news is that Jonnie and his personas dominate so much of the film that they aren’t around very often. So while the other actors could have been better, I’ll give it a pass since everything else in the film was so fantastic.
Grade:
If you want to have a good laugh and see the hijinks of a great comedian check out Best of Seven. It debuts September 17th and will be available on iTunes and Amazon.
