Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Gordon-11
This film tells the story of a young lesbian named Ryan, who has to decide which three college offers to accept. The story then branches out to three different alternate universes, with Ryan leading different lives. The plot is engaging and well told. The three alternate universes have all got interesting plots, and it does provoke viewers to think that each little life choice we make can have profound effects on the future.For an independent film, "Route of Acceptance" has high production quality. From camera work, sets, lighting and costumes they consistently look very good. I hope "Route of Acceptance" will reach a wider audience, enabling more people to appreciate it.
DeparturesAndArrivals
Featured at this year's Inside Out film festival, Heather Tobin's Route of Acceptance was a major disappointment, considering that the film's concept of destiny had potential and could have been an exemplary film for its LGBT genre. Amongst its shortcomings was a performance delivery that was inconsistent and often hard to bare. This was made worse when the crux of the story was completely lost by the film's conclusion.The story follows high school student and aspiring film writer, Ryan Stark (Emily Alatalo), who is faced with indecision as she mulls over her acceptance into three post-secondary institutions; each of which showcase a distinct future for Ryan, ultimately leading her down three separate life paths.What the film did well was normalize Ryan as a lesbian protagonist. It did not waste time with an exhausted storyline revolving around a coming-out narrative; Ryan was simply a well-adjusted teen who happened to be a lesbian; struggling with the common decisions many students her age are faced with. Had the rest of the story not fallen apart, it truly could have commendable film for the LGBT genre.Where the film began to fall short was in its performances. Right out of the gate, the acting was uncomfortable to watch. There were very few scenes that were well executed, as most were filled with dialogue that was unnatural and over-acted ...never mind the number of irrelevant, lengthy montages that plagued this movie from beginning to finish. Amongst the film's strengths, however, were the performances given by its sub-plot characters; Maddie Kendall (Rae Maxwell) who consistently delivered and proved capable of evoking emotion from the Inside Out audience, Dave Sweeney (Wade Gamble) who also did an exceptional job for the small role he was given as Ryan's one-night-stand, and even Emily Abbot (Yvonne Gauthier) had her moments as a believable love interest, though a bizarre choice to be cast as the beautiful bombshell character that the film tried to portray her to be -- mostly by explicitly stating it over and over.The film's concept had plenty of potential for its lead character to be enlightened by the each of the future paths, however, it is unclear how Ryan is experiencing each future sequence to eventually come to the decision she does in the end. This failure leaves the whole crux of the movie to be based on a brief and uninspiring discussion that Ryan has with her friends at a pseudo-gym when they convince her to (***spoiler alert!***) not go to any of the schools and, instead, take her mom travelling. This, of course, means that the previous hundred or so minutes of plot were irrelevant because Ryan, herself, did not actually experience any of it. What could have made the storyline stronger was if Ryan was able to observe each future path to some capacity. Furthermore, if there had been a common thread to link each scenario, there would have been a sense of destiny. It would seem that the film made a weak attempt to tie the commonality of Ryan's mother's death in each of the three outcomes, however, her mother's passing had seemingly no affect on Ryan's future, as there was no apparent bond between her and her mother throughout the film at all. In fact, the mother only reappears briefly in one of the three scenarios, just prior to her own funeral -- and even then, it is not obvious that it was the mother who had passed until a headcount of the film's characters is conducted. The film also tried to portray an attraction between Ryan and Emily in each outcome, however, the chemistry between the two is poorly accomplished and hard to swallow. As it was, Ryan does not choose a future with Emily in the end, leaving another opportunity to demonstrate destiny, lost.In short, this film is a flop. It is credited only for normalizing a lesbian teen as its lead and for its sub-plot characters that prove they can act. Its storyline was fuelled with potential to demonstrate that one's destiny is inevitable, but unfortunately misses the mark by a long-shot.
dibeyendu
Saw this at the Kashish Mumbai Queer Film Festival 2013 and quite enjoyed it. The movie has an element of suspense to it because it takes you a while to figure out where it's going and what's going on. It offers up three alternative realities in the life of a young lesbian, which is something that takes a while to sink in. At first you might think they were one reality and she's actually having parallel relationships with a range of people. My god, you think, this girl is really promiscuous (especially for a lesbian). Then it dawns that she's not have three affairs (or four, if you include a guy who she gets pregnant by), but these are alternative lives, depending on which college she picks as a 17 year old. Whew ! What a concept.
