I admit right up front I’m an Andrew Lee Potts fan. He won me over with his performance in the TV show "Primeval" (and THAT hat!) and since then, I do try to keep up with his projects. Just yesterday I watched “Firecracker.”
When I see a movie, I want to be entertained; I don’t want to be constantly taken out of the moment by inconsistencies in writing or acting or things that don’t make a lot of sense in the circumstances of the characters. And I give some freedom before passing judgment on a lot of things, because sometimes we’re meant to be confused for a time until parts of a plot come together in other ways. And, frankly, sometimes the character is actually meant to be a little stupid in some way, so doing something that doesn’t make sense is, well, purposeful (think ‘yell at the screen’ frustration about a choice a character makes).
Without giving away spoilers directly, I will say I had some emotional ups and downs as the movie progressed, and at one [dramatic] point wasn’t particularly pleased. I even yelled at the screen once or twice. But by the end I was OK again and had enjoyed the ride. Some dramatic license was taken a couple times, especially with technologies, but that seems common nowadays, and at least wasn’t particularly stupid, just over-a-line of possibility. But we were introduced to the characters, and shown various believable motivations for their behavior. The story unfolded and we learned more about them and what they were doing. We even got a chance to have compassion for some of them caught in the circumstance as they were. If I had any complaint, it might be the speed at which we ran through twists and turns towards the end… I think some folks might find it hard to follow without some pause/rewind/replay.
But I had fun watching it; it accomplished what it set out to do very well. And I enjoyed the cast of characters, both as actors and as the characters they played. Pacing was pretty consistent, too. I think I could even watch it again relatively soon and not be bored with it.
