SEATTLE ROAD REVIEWED
“Seattle Road” took a lot of effort for me to watch. Somewhere between my third and fourth viewing, I started to find a connection. Watching Julia Voth forcibly return to her childhood home has an understated power. When the viewer embraces Julia as Eve as a scorned child, the material works. It’s when Eve starts to rebuild her deceased parent’s home into an art refuge that the film pulls hard on thin threads. Everything after the intro of Adam hurt the film for me.
There’s something about films stating that the power of love and art is enough. I guess it’s because I’m not from the West Coast, but I’d fully expect the police to crack their skulls. Romances are great, but the reliance on magical pixie moments is starting to get to be a bit much. The two would-be artists are jealous of each other, but it seems like the artistic elements get shoved around when the legal matters at hand need to get addressed. I found myself rewatching the film because I kept feeling like I was missing something. Why does that seem to be an ongoing issue with recent indie features?
Julia Voth and Maximillian Roeg are quite capable as a Post Millennial David and Lisa romantic coupling. It’s just that this feels like a short film extended to feature length. I get that the two leads are mature and fractured. I just wanted to see something different. There is something to acting showcase films like this and it’s not friendly to a mixed audience. But, you’ve got to admire the talent onscreen. So, there’s that.
FILM STATS
1 hr and 25 mins
