Austin Film Festival Review: Jack’s Apocalypse

Score:C+

Director:Will Moore

Cast:Dave Maldonado, Jamie Tisdale, TiSuan Scott, Nicholas Stevenson

Running Time:80 Minutes

Rated:NR

Though the film never breaks out of its shell to offer us something extraordinary, Will Moore's Jack's Apocalypse proves to be a decent enough feature that finds itself heavily handicap by its micro budget and lack of professional polish.

Dave Maldonado stars as Jack Coleman, a former politician who, after losing his family, sees his life spiral out of control thanks to addiction.  When his brother, a major in the Army, shows up and asks Jack to keep his wife and daughter alive during the upcoming apocalypse, Jack is forced to face his addiction as he uncovers a new meaning in life.

While the story itself appears interesting enough, Moore's execution is a bit strained, much in thanks to its lethargicpace and lack of true progress.  Throughout the film's eighty minute runtime, very little was accomplished, both in terms of story and entertainment.  Conflicts appear to come and go with relative ease, and the characters are never fully developed.  As a result, I was never invested in their fate; which when determined, I found myself unmoved.

Moore, while attempting to bring a sense of originality to the rather generic plot, is never able to reach the height of what the story could have been.  Foreshadowing to a fault, he telegraphs every key moment with obvious context clues, refusing to leave his own comfort zone as he kept his cards out in the open, playing it safe from start to finish.

The acting is decent enough but is nothing worth writing home about.  Maldonado does fine as our main protagonist and is well supported by Jamie Tisdale, TiShuan Scott and Nicholas Stevenson.  But in a film that is, at its core, a major character study, none of the actors are willing to step up and take the bull by the horns and entertain.  Instead they settle for the background, doing just enough to satisfy but never seeming anxious to please.

That is actually the best way to fully sum up the film.  It satisfies in nearly every aspect, but it never surpasses that point to truly entertain.  The talent was there; the individual parts simply didn't mesh to pull off an overall winner.  I feel Moore has a good sense as to his style and has a bright future, but Jack's Apocalypse wasn't a full reveal of what all he can truly do.  It's fine"¦just nothing extraordinary that is worth a high recommendation.

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About Stephen Davis

Stephen Davis
I owe this hobby/career to the one and only Stephanie Peterman who, while interning at Fox, told me that I had too many opinions and irrelevant information to keep it all bottled up inside. I survived my first rated R film, Alive, at the ripe age of 8, it took me months to grasp the fact that Julia Roberts actually died at the end of Steel Magnolias, and I might be the only person alive who actually enjoyed Sorority Row…for its comedic value of course. While my friends can drink you under the table, I can outwatch you when it comes iconic, yet horrid 80s films like Adventures in Babysitting and Troop Beverly Hills. I have no shame when it comes to what I like, and if you have a problem with that, then we’ll settle it on the racquetball court. I see too many movies to actually win any film trivia contest, so don’t waste your first pick on me. My friends rent movies from my bookcase shelves, and one day I do plan to start charging. I long to live in LA, where my movie obsession will actually help me fit in, but for now I am content with my home in Austin. I prefer indies to blockbusters, Longhorns to Sooners and Halloween to Friday the 13th. I miss the classics, as well as John Ritter, and I hope to one day sit down and interview the amazing Kate Winslet.

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