Thought provoking, brilliant dialogue, 11 December 2005
9/10
Author: barracudababy from United States
Jessica Bohl plays Daphne, the sexually precocious suburban teenager struggling with the hell of high school. Daphne's neighbor is Buddy (Richard Brundage), a depressed middle-aged man still angry over loosing his wife. Daphne is attracted to world of prostitution because it promises to cure her of barely legal boredom and loneliness. Once Buddy strips Daphne of her secret, he hires her to help him accept the loss of his wife. The entire film takes place at the Hotel Duncan, yet details of each character's history are exposed through dialogue and flashbacks. Their appointment climaxes with the story's concluding twist.
Both actors truly understand and become their particular character, delivering a convincing, sincere performance. Their on-screen chemistry, critical to the entire film, is genuine.
The film's dialogue is natural, real to life. The writer, Gorman Bechard, undoubtedly did his homework because all references are industry and character-age appropriate. Daphne is intelligent, yet clearly still an eighteen year old. Buddy may be middle-aged, but still not the hackneyed naïve type normally depicted in film. Daphne and Buddy's conversation primarily deals with their despair and frustration with life, but is still comical at the right times. Although the general mood is very relaxed, the dialogue has its own vivacity, forcing the audience to become empathetic toward the character's conditions and uncomfortable at their straightforward vulgarities.
The incredible soundtrack truly captures the essence of the film. Each track commands sentiment, actually contributing to the scenes and characters. Even existing independently from the film, the compilation truly expresses You Are Alone's central theme-- loneliness.
You Are Alone is a less conventional piece that deals with of notions typically not spoken. Definitely worth seeing… it's the sort of thought provoking film that forces you to question your own threshold of loneliness.
