Light and the Sufferer (2008)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Two brother undertake a desperate attempt to make a change in their lives. They rob a drug dealer and make a run for it. From that moment on they are followed around by a sufferer, a cat like alien creature. In the world of Light and the Sufferer, these aliens have come to earth to stay. Nobody knows what they want, but they attach themselves to people in need. The two brothers don't know what the creature wants either. One sees it as a guardian angel, the other just as a nuisance. Can the sufferer save the two brothers when the dealer comes looking for them? Let's get the worst out the way: the CGI effect used to create the sufferer. It's pretty bad and not very convincing. What IS convincing however, is how the main characters (and everybody else in the movie) reacts to these creatures. This film succeeds in making us believe in a world where these creatures are an almost everyday thing. It's an indie crime drama fused with oddball science fiction. A mixing of genres that is as bold as it is fascinating and convincing. Furthermore, the story of the two brothers, and their troubled relationship, is very believable and involving. Not in the least because of the two excellent lead actors.An odd but interesting sci-fi movie.

...but this horse stumbles badly long before the finish. We have here a story and film elements that seem to be going someplace but ultimately and unfortunately, everything -- story-line, motivation, emotional direction, all are left dangling and going nowhere. We start with characters who are quite engaging with some very good acting by the two principals and even the minor characters are ably portrayed (except Light's girlfriend and her brother who are right out of college Acting 101). That said, as the film unfolds (or rather as the hard drive spins -- this is VERY low budget) nothing solidifies; the elements simply drift apart rather than together. The director builds a kind of Waiting-for-Godot anticipatory tension and a palpable sense of frustration that pulls us in during the first 1/3rd of the film -- the brothers trying to start a better life in California -- and he does this very well. (SPOILER ALERT, although this is revealed in the synopsis) Then we add the element of a mysterious alien creature (is it real? is it symbolic? what's its purpose? is it a figment of the brothers' imagination? and finally, who cares), then add an amateur drug/drug money heist fiasco scene and from there everything veers into an ever-spiraling, chaotic vortex from which neither the director nor the writer were able to pull themselves, the characters or the viewer out of. The last 2/3rds of the film simply do not work into any satisfying, cohesive "power of the whole;" for all the mystery of the alien "sufferers" and guardian angels, we are left with a void of any deeper meaning than "drugs-will-mess-up-your-life." If it weren't for Paul Dano and Michael Esper's engaging performances which keep one's attention, I am quite sure I wouldn't have watched this to the end.Problem is, with a work like this that has such initial promise, it keeps you watching only in the hopes that all will be revealed -- the It's Got To Get Better syndrome -- but instead, you are just strung along and get REALLY disappoint you when you see the credit crawl. The Sufferer," I am afraid in this type of effort in spades...it is the audience who is the real Sufferer. If it were truly a dog from the get-go, you would have been able to just walk away early on and save 70 minutes of your life.

The Light and sufferer.This is a weird low budget drama that add a little Sci Fi on to a fairly common story in our world. I watched it because I wanted to see what else Paul Dana has done. I liked him in "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Gigantic". I think Paul is destined for the big time. I wasn't disappointed by the acting. As for the obviously Low budget CGI it worked because it is odd. I think Paul is destined for the big time. The film moves at a reasonable pace as the characters move toward the inevitable climax. The use of the CGI Cat as a silent witness is an interesting touch and leaves the question of what we experience in the viewers head. The Light and sufferer is worth a rent and an hour and 10 minutes to see. I would have liked to see some more of the suffers story told or rather spelled out but I guess that is part of what was supposed to be left up to the viewer.