What do you do when you only have $5,000 and you want shoot a film that truly matters?
Indiana filmmaker Michael Goodpaster knows.
"All the Love in the World," a wonderful example of the microcinema scene in Indiana, was filmed on a remarkably modest $5,000 production budget. Despite the obvious technical and budgetary limitations, Goodpaster has fashioned a film that is entertaining, well-written and intelligent.
"All the Love in the World" centers around Garrison (Beau Nelson), a young man who has met his ideal woman.
Kind of.
Sorta.
Actually, Garrison's ideal woman is four women...Kendra (Amanda Drozd), Daisey (Lauren Knust), Hannah (Rachel Reid) and Olivia (Emilia Zuckerman). Together, they make Garrison's ideal woman.
What will he do?
Aided by an eccentric couple, Orson (Keith Evans) and Allison (Kate-Lynn Edwards), Garrison pieces together a final test to determine compatibility and love.
Who will he choose?
"All the Love in the World" is the kind of film I really enjoy, because Goodpaster has a strong artistic vision, a solid script and a clear sense of what he can and cannot do on $5,000.
The result is that "All the Love in the World" quite often rises above its obvious limitations with uniquely inspired dramatic exchanges, nicely complementary original music (also by Keith Evans), a comfortably appropriate production design and actors and actresses who seem to understand both Goodpaster's vision and their own individual characters.
This is not to say, of course, that "All the Love in the World" is without problems. Those individuals spoiled by the over-edited cinematic crap often featured at local cineplexes may find the inevitable tech issues to be bothersome. On a mere $5,000 budget, there will be and are moments when the sound mix is uneven, the lighting is a touch off and the acting wavers a bit.
All of these things are true here, however, unlike many low budget films they are seldom bothersome and, thanks largely to Goodpaster's script and the central performance of Beau Nelson, "All the Love in the World" actually seems to benefit at times from the grittier, more urban feel that the low budget affords the film.
Nelson infuses Garrison with a nice blend of stoner sweetness not too far removed from James Franco's recent turn in "Pineapple Express." Nelson is also surrounded by a strong supporting cast, most notably Keith Evans and Kate-Lynn Edwards as the eccentric couple and Emilia Zuckerman and Lauren Knust.
In the early scenes and especially the opening scene, Joseph Willison's cinematography seemed a bit out of focus, however, this quickly gave way to solid camera work that nicely accentuated the different feelings that Garrison felt with the four distinct women.
Recently released on home video by Digital Lizard Productions, "All the Love in the World" is an entertaining and intelligent film sure to please fans of independent film and microcinema. While I don't begrudge anyone a visit to the local cineplex, it's absolutely vital to encourage talented, up-and-coming filmmakers like Goodpaster so that Hollywood will realize that there is an audience for that demands more from their films than cookie-cutter plot lines and techno-distractions.
You can find "All the Love in the World" on Myspace...Befriend them, purchase "All the Love in the World" and tell them The Independent Critic sent you!
© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
