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BluRay/DVD Reviews

THE CHESTER STORY

By • Jun 15th, 2001 •

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Are independent films losing their unique air? Are they starting to resemble smaller scale shadows of big budget Hollywood? If you see THE CHESTER STORY, you may think so. THE CHESTER STORY, the second film directed by Rebecca Cook, takes place in a small North Carolina town named, of course, “Chester”. On the surface, it’s like any other laid back southern town, except certain citizens are supposed to be unique (at least the press material for the film says they are unique.) The central character here is young ex-New Yorker Megan Margulis (Teri Hatcher). She has thrown away city life to come to this little Southern town to rekindle her relationship with her fiancee, Craig (Daniel Green).

Another new Chester resident is Ray Klien (Rob Treveilier), an ex-entertainment lawyer from LA. He is here to tend to his dying mother and to some old personal wounds. The whole film seems born out of one of those very basic books on film-making, you know, the ones that show you basic camera and lighting set-ups, editing rules, and so forth. I’m not saying all indie films should be shot like an MTV video or a Warhol piece, but please, use your film-making tools to tell the story, not just simply record it.

Hatcher does shine in the lead role. Her reactions are very realistic, especially when her platonic male friend offers her to stay the night at his place. Her best moment comes when her Megan goes from a hurt and confused arrival in Chester to a roaring tiger. She belts a man in the jaw. It’s alarmingly real. She’s come quite a long way from LOIS AND CLARK.
Cinematographer Harlan Bosmajian simply recorded director/writer Cook’s story. He got the right exposure and pointed the camera at what he saw on the set. Ms. Cook’s upcoming film is titled SHOOTING LIVIEN. Let’s hope she uses her film-making tools to better advantage.

Credits:
Directed and Written by Rebecca Cook
Produced by Richard Sirianni

Cast:
Teri Hatcher, Andrea Powell, Cody Newton.

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