Diane is a mysterious young woman, presumably on the run from an abusive husband. When an accident leaves her stranded in a small town, she checks into a local boardinghouse run by Frank. Although she intends to stay just for one night, circumstances dictate otherwise, and Diane must extend her stay. Frank is a quiet, shy young man who rents out the rooms in his large house to elderly tenants. Because his life up to this point has consisted mostly of caring for his boarders, Diane’s arrival stirs up something in him… a desire to change, to learn, and to do more. But the sudden and unexpected arrival of Diane’s husband brings about an unforeseen series of events.
Content
In describing the difference between British and American films, Brit comedian Eddie Izzard states: “A lot of English films are “’Room With a View and a Staircase and a Pond’- type movies. Very fine acting, but the drama is kind of subdued. People are opening doors and going, ‘Oh… erm… ah… hm. Um…’
‘What is Sebastian? I’m arranging matches.’
(More stammering and mumbling.) Pause. ‘I think I’d better go.’
Pause. ‘Yes I think you better had.’ And you can’t eat popcorn to that.”
Beat the Air is a “Room with a View and a Staircase”-type film, because the drama is subdued, and in places, moves far too slowly. In defense of the writers, there is a fine line between revealing too much to the audience and not giving them enough. Too much information can spoil or overwhelm the story; but too little information causes confusion and eventual disinterest. Through the first half of the film, too much information is withheld from the audience for too long. (e.g. who Diane really is, why she’s running, etc.) And because the story continues to be built on information that is only partly revealed, the audience becomes lost and loses interest in the characters.
The pacing was very slow, painfully so in some places. Certain scenes went on for much longer than necessary, while others needed more exposition. For example, many of the dialog scenes between Diane and Frank went on for too long, mostly due to the awkward nature of Frank’s character. Contrarily, the relationship between Det. Bear and Diane develops too quickly. If they somehow knew each other from before, there needs to be more backstory; if they don’t, then the relationship needs to progress slower.
