Use of Budget
This movie’s $18,000 budget was spent on equipment purchases, as well as two weeks of food and lodging for the out-of-town actors. The casting decisions were spot on and all the actors appeared to be very comfortable with each other, which makes it worth the extra money to put up a few out-of-towners. One also cannot underestimate the importance of keeping actors fed and happy (unless their role calls for someone starved and unhappy, but that’s certainly not the case here).
Given the good visual quality of this movie, I’d say the equipment purchased was also money well spent. Perhaps the only thing missing would be the assistance of an audio engineer to help balance the audio levels, as they hugely detracted from an otherwise very good quality movie.
Lasting Appeal
Unlike the traditional three-act structure, this film meanders its way through the story, developing characters and interjecting humor and tension. The climax occurs near the end of the movie, which doesn’t allow time to patch things up into some sort of conclusion.
While an audience might be a little disappointed that it leaves them with more questions than answers, it cannot be neatly resolved. In fact, the very nature of such a complicated story dictates that there cannot really be an ending to this movie – happy or otherwise.
Though a film like this may not appeal to the average moviegoer, it could certainly gain a following among those who like movies that make them think. Baystate Blues asks a lot of tough questions, places them in the viewer’s lap, and tells them to decide for themselves – this is exactly the type of active viewing that is missing from so many Hollywood films these days.
Overall Comment
This movie has a great feel to it. Coming from a small Midwest town myself, I could really identify with a lot of the characters and themes woven throughout it. The fear of being trapped, of making the wrong decisions, about losing and leaving things, about pain, forgiveness, and new possibilities; these are not easy things to think about, but they are the stuff of real life - the stuff that makes us human.
