Shoot. It has been a really long time since I had such difficulty placing a rating on a movie. Chronicle is just that kind of film. I actually, believe it or not, never even saw a trailer before going in to the theater, the poster looked cool and the fact that a 26-year-old , Josh Trank, made his directorial debut was too much for me to pass up.
Andrew (Dan Dehaan) is an unusual and unpopular high school student with a dying mother and a drunken, abusive father. Matt (Alex Russell) is the intelligent Plato reading cousin of Andrew, who is constantly trying to get him to break out of his comfort zone and meet new people and make new friends. Steve (Michael B. Jordan) is a charming Senior running for class President, and good friends with Matt. These three high school student’s lives don’t seem anything but ordinary, until special night arrives that changes them forever.
Matt convinces Andrew to come to a party, though when arriving Andrew does nothing but video tape the whole time. Being mistreated by several different people at the party, Andrew walks out to sit alone by a tree when he is approached by a very excited Steve, claiming that he and Matt have made an incredible discovery.
There is some sort of mysterious, giant hole in the ground, and when Andrew shines his light into it they cannot see the bottom. Well no one could live their life without going down, so it appears they have but no other option. As they continue down it comes to their attention that this is far more than a deep hole, it is literally a long tunnel. What next? To proceed, of course. Now this may sound like some sort of spoiler, but it isn’t, I promise. There comes a room which contains a very large, alien-like thing (seriously, “thing” is about the only word in my vocabulary I knew to use at this time) and while studying it something crazier than anyone’s mind has ever reached happens. Well, that was a tad bit of an over statement, but you get the idea.
The screen cuts black, then flashes on to the next day. The three have strange telekinesis powers that only appear to be growing as days pass by. This bonds them together, making them the closest of friends, until… oh! I suppose I should just let you watch the movie!
I’ll say this: the first half was a heck of a lot more funny than almost ANY comedy that comes out these days. I hate how in most super hero films, when the heroes get their powers the typical reaction is “Oh… that’s cool. Let me go save the world.” But not here, thankfully. It’s quite hilarious really, I connected so well with the characters and their responses to their incredible powers. It was a delight to watch.
Then Chronicle goes down a far different, darker path. I won’t go into detail, but for me it was in a sense like looking at a food I’ve never tasted and imagining of what is tastes like, but when I actually put it in my mouth it is completely different. The initial shock while not bad, is extremely hard to get over. Just be warned. In his debut Trank tries to make his mark by throwing twists, for better or for worse, he does.
But the real power, as impressive as Trank is, comes from the collaboration between the screenwriter, Max Landis, and the cast. Landis’ script is fantastic, so unbelievably believable (like what I did there? Didn’t think so). The cast does nothing but assist in making the screenplay come to life. The two together entirely carry the film. The best of all being Dan Dehaan’s performance.
Final Word – Chronicle is not what I was expecting, that hurt it. I felt the tones were too uneven. But I cannot deny the talents here. Trank, Landis and the cast are all in their twenties, and all have bright futures ahead of them.
7/10? Maybe?
