"Zero Day"
High school students Andre (Andre Keuck) and Cal (Cal Robertson) are, to all appearances, normal, well-adjusted teenagers. But, as their video cameras begin to record the boys' visual diary we learn that they aren't interested in cars and girls. Their agenda is far different as the self-proclaimed "Army of Two" make plans to leave an indelible mark on their unsuspecting town in "Zero Day."
Everybody and their brother has been harping on the slew of films that are being released that either reference or recreate aspects of the 1999 student massacre in Columbine, Colorado. Michael Moore won Oscar kudos for his documentary of American violence that used the killing spree as a springboard to discuss the "bigger issue." Helmer Gus Van Sant won best film and director awards at Cannes earlier this year for his "Elephant," which covered the last day in the life of a number of high school students, Rashomon-style, as killers Alex and Eric put their deadly plans in motion. Little indie film, "Home Room," shows the aftermath and affect on the survivors of such random violence.
"Zero Day" is the brainchild of first time feature director Ben Coccio and the newcomer utilizes the reality based techniques employed in the indie mega-hit "The Blair Witch Project." But that is where the comparison should end. Coccio puts a very controlled hand upon his characters' cameras as Andre and Cal use video technology to chronicle the formation of their plan and preparation for their attack on Zero Day, the first day when the temperature reaches zero degrees. Their logic is that such a random event cannot be guessed upon and this will help hide their deadly plans.
"Zero Day" takes this footage and builds a story that does not attempt to explain why such events as Columbine happen. Instead the filmmaker shows us how two seemingly normal teens can plan such a heinous event without apparent reason. Since Coccio isn't looking to explain things the film becomes an almost academic chronicle that spans months as Andre and Cal are taught to shoot guns, surf the internet to learn how to make pipe bombs and, even, use the net to purchase an assault rifle. They spend their days strategizing their plans and, when the temperature dips to the target degree, the plan is called off because on of the boys is sick. Going against their own logic of "random act" they reschedule the event to May 1st.
When the designated day finally draws near, the pair break into a cousin's locked gun cabinet and take a small arsenal of weapons and ammunition. Thus supplied, the next morning they head to school, leave the camera running as they calmly set their murderous plan into motion. Sticking to the real events at Columbine, the actual massacre is seen only via the fuzzy lens of school surveillance camera where their righteous attitude is replaced by a God-like arrogance as they meter out death on a random basis. The grainy footage punctuates the documentary style that the filmmaker adopted throughout "Zero Day."
Helmer Coccio scoured the Connecticut high school system in search of the unknowns to play the roles of the two teens. Andre Keuck and Calvin Robertson do a pretty fair job in giving life to their characters. The director also convinced the stars' real life parents to appear as the boys' parents in the film. This made for some of the interactions between mom and day and their offspring to ring very true.
"Zero Day" is a low budget little film that fascinates as you watch the two "protagonists" prepare for their assault. The matter-of-fact way this is done, and with its inevitable conclusion, helps to make this a tension building tale that keeps a knot in the stomach. Plaudits to Ben Coccio and his young stars for a job well done. I give it a B.
For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com
robin@reelingreviews.com laura@reelingreviews.com
========== X-RAMR-ID: 36383 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1221819 X-RT-TitleID: 1125338 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: B
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews