Natural Causes (2008)

User Rating:

9.0/10   

Directors:

Alex Cannon
Paul Cannon

Writers:

Alex Cannon (writer)
Paul Cannon (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In the wake of a brief, but intense relationship with Shaina, David struggles to find the same connection with Cara, his new flame and Shaina's former best friend. |

Cast

Jerzy Gwiazdowski	...	David
Leah Goldstein	...	Cara
Shonda Leigh Robbins	...	Shaina
Kate MacCluggage	...	Amy
Peter Davenport Swan	...	Tim
Robinson Martinez	...	Julius
Michael Tully	...	Bill
Alex Cannon	...	Jacob
Michael Lerman	...	Mark
Paul Cannon	...	Roommate #1
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Udi Razzin	...	Henry

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Company:

Tiger Industry Films

Romantic drama with some pitfalls

Jerzy Gwiazdowski (David) and Leah Goldstein (Cara) co-star in a heartwarming romantic drama as twenty-something young adults who meet quite randomly, flirt, date, get intimate, break up, and question their future.

The directing/writing/producing triumvirate of brothers Alex and Paul Cannon and Michael Lerman conceived "Natural Causes" after their own failed relationships. During a pivotal scene about halfway through the film, Kate MacCluggage (Amy) tells Gwiazdowski's David that early relationships are meant to fail to provide a backdrop for reflection and compatibility.

I watched "Natural Causes" as part of Boston's International Film Festival, and while understanding that the film was intended as a series of vignettes of a relationship interrupted by black screens to signify elapsed time, I would have enjoyed the film more if the blackness was either shorter or nonexistent. I was struck by the amazing cinematography and location shoots throughout the New York-based film, but there were a few outdoor scenes that were very choppy due to unsteady hand cameras; this sort of footage reminded me of "The Blair Witch Project." Aside from some of the camera shots and the blackness in between the vignettes, my only other complaint is the soundtrack appeared music-intensive. While some music was appropriate to set a scene or segue into another scene, there were other points when music was played for no apparent reason.

I did enjoy many aspects of symbolism, such as the sound of heavy thunder to accompany relationship conflict and scenes of David and Cara driving on a very curvy road to signify their unknown future, neither one knowing what's behind the next curve.