Making a road trip movie is a fine-art. Without the right balance it can become a long-haul slog very quickly.
George Jaques brought his directorial debut, Black Dog, to Glasgow Film Festival this week for its Scottish premiere. A fitting return for a story that takes its characters from London to Linlithgow on an emotional journey up the A1.
When Nathan (co-writer Jamie Flatters) rescues his old primary school friend Sam (Keenan Munn-Francis) from a mugging, the two set off up north, both searching for safety in their own (sometimes) misguided ways.
As Nathan battles with uncertainty about the sister he runs towards, Sam deals with his own demons he is trying to leave behind.
Its the classic set-up of two people that couldn’t be more different finding their common ground in enclosed spaces. Flatters and Munn-Francis are brilliant at bringing these conflicts to life. They bounce off each other and make mountains out of an otherwise shallow script.
“Jaques direction is confident, and there’s no doubt he has a future on the big screen. “
Its not that the writing lacks emotion, but it does lack subtlety, leading the character’s bond to feel rushed and inevitably falls flat.
This feels down to the co-writers attempting a balancing act during the films performance. Lead actor Jamie Flatters and Director George Jaques are also the co-writers of the film, and they seem to excel in these secondary roles.
Flatters is completely believable as Nathan, a scared kid forced to grow up far too quickly. His incessant need to right and to be heard speaks to that lost child inside him.
Jaques direction is confident, and there’s no doubt he has a future on the big screen. He’s not afraid to disrupt an easy-breezy atmosphere with a sharp cut to the realities of life.
But its hard to ignore the flaws in the script. Because of the rushed nature of the protagonists relationship, the final goodbye isn’t earned.
Black Dog is a earnest first film by a team of exceptional young, British talent. It will no doubt ring true for many people in the audience, while others will leave still searching for the emotion they’ve been told to feel.
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Film and Tv Editor at Brig Newspaper. Currently studying Journalism and English at the University of Stirling
