Cruel But Necessary

Logline: A woman secretly videotapes her family in the months following a divorce caused by her husband's infidelity.

Cast: Wendel Meldrum, Mark Humphrey, Luke Humphrey

Directed by: Saul Rubinek

Cruel But Necessary...

This film sets a serious tone right from reading its title.

Is it really necessary though?

The movie is filmed purely through home video and every scene is a cut from the actual movie that the lead character has made. The actual concept sounds intriguing - secret cameras put around a family that holds a bunch of secrets - a lot of potential things could be captured, both embarrassing and funny to watch.

The film's protag is Betty. Betty is your average office working mom, making less than she thinks she deserves. Betty's husband, Doug, is caught cheating in the opening scene as the whole family watches a recording of him in a phone call with his mistress while he believes the camera he is holding is turned off. It isn't.

The whole family watches and leaves after they listen to his excuses. The divorce begins and Betty decides to start filming EVERYTHING. She puts her camera in a bag she carries around town and hides it in many different locations throughout the film. She calls her project Cruel But Necessary.

During her project, Betty slowly slips into insanity. We find her mother stealing money from her, we see her son crying behind closed doors, we see her awkward relationship with a man she dates, and we see Betty slowly drift from normalcy to complete depression.

So, does this really work?

The answer is no.

It doesn't work for her & it sure as hell doesn't work for the audience watching.

Betty's character is set up nicely - viewers have sympathy for her as she loses her marriage and the home she has lived in for a really long time. Why wouldn't we care what happens to her? Well, to put it simply, you can't put a character in a bad situation and have the audience watching sympathise with her the whole time based ONLY on that. The character has to be likeable. Betty is not. Not one bit. Betty makes you want to put a pillow over your mouth and scream. She makes your skin itch. She irritates you.

Remember that director character in True Romance? Turns out he actually is a director & he directed this.

On dates, at work, in front of her son and ex-husband, Betty quotes philosophy and goes off on psycho-babble rants because she is depressed and lost. This is supposed to be tragic. Maybe it is tragic. It sure as hell wasn't thought provoking or exciting though. 

I commend the lead actress, Wendel Meldrum, for playing her role very believably. She was great. The director captured an unstable and on the verge of being mentally insane woman very very well. However, these are the only positive comments I have for the entire film. It's the story that fails miserably. Nothing out of her mouth has any meaning towards her ultimate goal. Her ultimate goal isn't even made clear. I had to really think before writing this review of what she was looking for and the only thing I could come with was that she was trying to make sense of life.

Life is a touchy subject. You can sit down and have numerous interesting conversations about it. Hell, you LIVE life every day. There are no answers, there isn't a solid belief, there are always contradictions and conversations will always conflict. These are fine for late night discussions over a beer, but for a movie, this is a recipe for disaster.

Wendel Meldrum - actress of Betty.

She doesn't find her answer. At the end the whole family sits around the TV and watches as her film rolls. Some get embarrassed by the truth. Some enjoy. It ends up being all about her son. But is it? Is it really about her son? She says it is... but I didn't see how. A bunch of psycho-babble, a scene with the mother stealing money, and some scenes of her son crying and coping with a broken home, all for... her son. Why? BEATS ME.

Unlikable lead character, a blurry plot, the subject of life being the main topic, disappointing scenes that don't meet expectations set by the logline, and a VERY confused point to the whole project = a dud movie.

2/10