As Dreamers Do Movie Download

8 / 10

An exceptional independent film
I automatically liked this movie before I saw it. It’s about Walt Disney, one of my favorite figures in film history. It stars one of my favorite unknown actors, Olan Rogers (whom I’ve watched since the Balloon Shop days–a down-to-earth, humble, and wonderfully talented actor and writer). And it’s an independent film that is true to the “independent” label–no big name studios or huge money are involved here. It’s literally a small group of people who just really really want to make a movie.

Most of the cast are untrained actors, and it is painfully obvious (particularly in the first half of the film). It was a struggle to watch the actors bumbling through their lines, particularly the children and Mark Stuart (Elias Disney) with his obviously put-on breathy delivery. The rushed pace of the editing and the over-reliance on narration nearly made me and my family fast forward through the first act. But we continued on, past the frustratingly amateur dialogue and delivery, through the overload of B-shots, and enduring the stiff and unrealistic pace of dialogue editing.

Then, Olan Rogers and Ryan Dunlap burst on to the screen, and the entire tone of the film changes. It is literally magic when these two actors pop into view–the dialogue improves dramatically, the acting is refreshingly better, and even the dialogue editing experiences a marked improvement. (The jarringly fast editing changes to a more realistic editing style that takes its time, pausing for drama and allowing the actors to inhabit their characters.) The remaining 2/3 of the film are not perfect by any means, but it certainly is worth the watch. The beauty of the cinematography compliments the talented actors, and the rest of the film is satisfying.

All in all, certainly not the best movie I’ve ever seen, and not even the best fully-independent film I’ve viewed. But it is definitely enjoyable, even if only for the joy of watching people making a movie that they love–something I’m sure that Walt himself would be proud of.Read More