Resolution Review
By David Kempler
Don't look for a Resolution here
We've all seen the countless scary movies where you sit in the audience and want to yell at the idiotic behavior of the characters on screen. You think to yourself that no one could be as stupid as the cretins who don't know when it's time to head for the exits. "Resolution", Justin Benson's attempt to combine a do-gooder friend and a drug addict can't seem to make up his mind in which direction he wishes to take his film. By the time he does move into the world of the supernatural, you can only shake your head at how illogically our two leads are behaving.
Michael (Peter Cilella) wants to rescue his best friend Chris (Vinny Curran) from a life of drugs that are leading him to certain death. Chris is holed up in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, doing drugs and mindlessly firing his gun into the air. Michael tracks him down and his solution is to shackle Chris to a wall in the cabin until he is clean from drugs. It's a pretty noble and novel idea.
At first, it looks like we might have something worth watching, but when extremely spooky and unusual things start to occur, Michael morphs into one of the stupidest two-legged animals you will ever encounter. Things that would scare you or I to death or at least get us to run screaming like the Three Stooges, have no apparent effect on Michael. Chris, the one we are supposed to think is the screwed up one, at least understands that leaving the premises is the smart play.
Benson wrote and directed and it is difficult to fathom how he envisioned Michael's role when he was formulating the story. Michael acts in ways that defy basic human reasoning. Now, it would be okay, if this was later explained away with an excuse. Even a lame one would be better than leaving logic out of the equation. By the end, it is all so convoluted that you sit there and watch with your mouth open in disbelief. There is no resolution at all, here.
