It’s hard to think of a movie that gives off the “independent film” vibe more than Of an Age. The budget for this movie, the second from writer / director Goran Stolevski, looks as though it were $500. Maybe $800 if I were being generous. When you pair the cheap looking visuals with shaky, frantic camerawork, the majority of which are extreme closeups on no-name actors without a stitch of makeup, you get a movie that has the overall look and feel of a student film. During the entirety of this movie’s run I repeatedly thought, “is it too much to ask for one clear, non-choppy shot?” The bizarre commitment to extreme closeups had me noticing things I never would have noticed before such as how star Elias Anton looks like Austin Butler in Elvis if they didn’t put any makeup on him. The makeup department did him so dirty and seemingly didn’t put a touch of concealer on Anton. Sorry to harp on it but when the movie is extreme closeups 90 per cent of the time and the dialogue is indecipherable that’s all I can focus on! While we’re on the subject, when the dialogue consists mostly of hysterically and rapid conversation, it’s hard to understand what’s going on plot-wise or become engaged in the movie. I found most of Of an Age to be off-putting and if I had been watching at home, I most likely would have turned it off.
Of an Age would like to think that it’s a lot deeper than it actually is but the movie doesn’t do the work or provide the supporting arguments to convince the audience why they should be emotionally invested in the central relationship. The basic plot of Of an Age is is that Kol meets his friend’s bother, Adam, for the first time on a road trip and ends up sending the rest of the day yearning for him. At the end of the day he embraces hiss sexuality and the two make love. The next day the two part ways and don’t see each other for 11 years when Kol discovers Adam is married and is for reasons unknown, distraught. It t just makes no sense why Kol cares so much. The movie would like you to believe that their’s is an epic love story, but neither the performances nor the writing are strong enough to support that. Yes, the actors have chemistry and there characters establish a connection, but nothing nearly as serious as the movie would like you to believe.
Stolevski’s heart seems to be in the right place with this earnest story, but I have to admit that there isn’t a single aspect of Of an Age that I found genuinely enjoyable. The writing was underwhelming, the filmmaking confusing and the performances lacking. Somewhere in this movie is a good story struggling to get out but sadly, it’s trapped under this middling mess.
Review by: Luke Elisio
1/5