Use of Budget
At $29,000 Tan Man is definitely at the higher end of films we’ve reviewed here. And though some of the more frugal might balk at such a price tag, I think it was money quite well spent. The visual aspect of this film is of very high quality, and certainly shows a lot of talent on behalf of the filmmakers. The acting is also probably the best I’ve seen in an indie film in quite a long time. There could perhaps stand to be some minor adjustments in the area of tweaking the audio, adding a bit of background music, and maybe tightening up the story a bit.
Lasting Appeal
Though the technical aspect of the movie is very impressive, and it does have its moments of humor, I’m frankly not interested in watching it again, if only for the sexual aspect. It doesn’t take long before the viewer gets very sick of listening to these five guys talk about their sexual exploits in graphic detail. Today’s trend in comedy is to make the most lowbrow jokes as possible in order to appeal to a broader spectrum of audience. And it’s unfortunate to see so many indie movies following suit. In the case of this movie, they actually go so far that they come around the other side to the point of eliminating most of their potential audience. It is said that Kevin Smith’s movies eliminate 90% of the American audience due to their language and sexual commentary. If that’s so, then this film easily eliminates 95% of Kevin Smith’s 10%.
This film’s attempt at humor is so base that it made me wax romantic for classic comedians, such as Abbott & Costello, George Burns & Gracie Allen, or even more recent comedians such as the Pythons were able to be funny without being dirty (well, most of the time, anyway), and they were all very creative with their humor (Think “Who’s on First”. And if you haven’t read it, shame on you!).
As I mentioned before, this film shows a lot of promise, but it’s excessive raunchy dialogue sinks it’s rewatchability like a stone.
Overall Comment
Tan Man really has some great elements to it. The storyline is rather conventional, but there are some nice added twists that make it interesting. Both visual and dramatic aspects are very well done, and the filmmakers show a clear mastery of technical skill in shooting so many nighttime scenes. However, it could stand a little bit of tightening up and, in my opinion, could lose a lot of the dirty jokes. If the humor in this film was more of an intelligent nature, I think it might be a much better success.
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Content |
7.0 |
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Visual
Look |
8.9 |
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Use
of Audio |
8.8 |
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Use
of Budget |
9.0 |
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Lasting
Appeal |
1.0 |
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Overall
Score |
6.9
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