Rooftops – A Short Film Review
Rooftops shows some promise with some nice elements but fails to draw the audience in with a lack of plot leaving you feel like a bystander watching a group of friends hanging out.
What’s It All About?
A touring musician returns home to spend time with old friends and an old flame for a day. Just as times begin to feel right again, she has to reckon with leaving again.
My Opinion
This short started with a lot of promise. I loved the opening. A montage of New York clips old and new with a very appropriate score. Once the title card fades we are thrown straight into a scene featuring an enthusiastic fan approaching Rachel, an upcoming singer returning home to New York from her tour to see her friends. The fan, played by Timothy J. Cox, easily steals the scene with an upbeat and enthusiastic performance.
From here we are introduced to Rachel’s three friends as she goes to see them in their small apartment. Unfortunately we don’t really get to know much about these characters. The audience seems to take a back seat from this point as the characters stand chatting amongst themselves. You definitely get the sense as though your the odd man in the room waiting to be introduced. There was no real introduction to who these people were, how they all knew each other or how long it had been since they had seen each other. I felt as though I had no connection to any of these individuals and it did throw you out of the film.
From here a quick tour of Brooklyn ensues as they wander around exploring the sites and a relationship seems to develop with Rachel and one of the friends, Margaret. This was very subtle, I wasn’t sure if that was intentional or not. It does develop as the film goes on. This montage is complimented with some great camera work showing us a side of New York that we don’t normally see. Alex Leombruno managed to do a great job with this making it visually interesting. I think because of this and the lack of investment we have with the characters the development between Rachel and Margaret is lost somewhat.
Finally as the evening descends they have a small house party with drinking and dancing as the group of friends enjoy themselves. But again, because of the lack of investment we have in these characters and no story-line that we are following we have no ‘What’s going to happen next?’ moment. The lack of investment we have in the characters really effects the impact of the final scenes in the film.
What ‘Rooftops’ really seemed to lack is a plot. There are ideas and suggestions passed to the audience but I felt like I was the unwelcome guest at the party. The story seemed very weak and there was not enough to keep the audience engrossed. This really let the film down. This minimalistic approach didn’t put enough meat on the bones to flesh out the story or the characters. The lack of introduction to the characters meant I had no investment in them. If there had been some kind of introduction to who everyone was, letting the audience know more about them and their friendship group, it would have made a big difference to the rest of the film.
A highlight of the short was the cinematography from Alex Leombruno. The shots inside the cramped apartment felt intimate, while still manage to capture the right shot. Working in these awkward conditions is not easy. There were some excellent shots really showcasing the city, capturing the city skyline and a local park. Also in the final scene on the rooftop we get to see the skyline as the sun is setting. A great backdrop to any film and visually a fantastic way to end a short.
I really enjoyed the soundtrack. I thought it was very fitting to the style and location of this short. However, at times the dialogue seemed to come and go making it hard to hear and understand at certain points.i
Notable Performances
Timothy J. Cox Plays Robert the super-fan. Cox not only steals the one scene he is in but his performance is the highlight of the short. He instantly jumps off the screen with a strong presence and an energetic performance.
The Verdict
I thought Rooftops had a lot of promise with a very strong opening but ultimately fell flat with a lack of story or character development. Some solid camera work made the short visually pleasing and it is clear director Bruce Bradbury knows how to make a short film unfortunately the plot and the script held this one back.
