With 'Always,' Bluebox advances to next level

By Linda Cook / QUAD-CITY TIMES / January 8, 2004

Bluebox Productions has returned with “For Always,” a blend of drama and whodunit.

Moving back and forth from the characters’ pasts to their present states, the movie — often challenging to follow because of the non-linear method in which the plot unfolds — features outstanding camera work.

The movie, which begins with quotes from filmmakers Alfred Hitchcock and M. Night Shyamalan, focuses on Andrew (Ian Klink), a young man who seems to have lost everything. His parents were homicide victims, and now Andrew has lost his girlfriend, too — in fact, he calls a teen hotline because he’s so depressed. “Natalie was all I had left,” he says.

When he receives an unsigned letter and some Polaroid photos in the mail, he is shocked to discover that the pictures seem to be depictions of the result of some violent acts. He shows them to his friend, Anthony (Tristan Layne Tapscott), who encourages him to do some detective work and find out who has been harmed, and why. Andrew says that the photos remind him of when he discovered that his parents had been slain.

Anthony tells Andrew that he needs to mourn. “You need to mourn. You need to be sad. It’s going to hurt now but it’ll help later,” he advises.

In the meantime, another student, David (Jeff Voss), also seems to be at a loss. The audience sees that David, too, has been involved in some kind of violence in a wooded area.

Filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods were in high school (they‘re both in college now) when they began Bluebox Limited. They have written, directed and produced more than a dozen movies, many of them short films, and they have won awards for their talent.

They’re best known for being technically adept, and they take their camera work to a new level in this movie, with nice shots utilizing reflective surfaces, a moving ceiling fan, and a nifty shot of school lockers.

Bluebox fans won’t want to miss the latest project. And they’ll be happy to know that another Bluebox production is scheduled to be released in May.