-By Michael Rechtshaffen
For movie details, please click here.
Compellingly blurring the boundaries between documentary and
narrative forms,
Welcome to Pine Hill is an atmospheric
rendering of a New Yorker’s journey of self-discovery.
Born out of an encounter between writer-director Keith Miller and
the film’s star, newcomer Shannon Harper, over the rightful
ownership to a puppy (leading to the 2010 short “Prince/William”),
the extended version tweaks fact and hones fiction to create
something uniquely intimate.
With no previous acting experience, Harper, essentially playing
himself, is a quietly powerful presence as the film’s ever-present
protagonist—a reformed Brooklyn drug dealer who works as a car
insurance claims adjuster during the day and as a bouncer at
night.
But just as he seems to be getting his life together, he receives a
disturbing diagnosis pertaining to the severe stomach pains he’s
been experiencing. The news propels him to settle some personal and
professional debts, before escaping the hustle of the city and
seeking sanctuary in the comparative wilderness of upstate New
York, with poignant results.
Miller coaxes a uniform authenticity from the performances,
delivered by a cast of actors and non-actors, while touching on
issues of race and class without having to get preachy or
heavy-handed.
While some of those extended improvised takes work more
successfully than others, the overall effect, like the one provided
by that ending trek up the Catskill Mountains, is a welcome breath
of fresh air.
—
The Hollywood Reporter
Film Review: Welcome to Pine Hill
Tender cinéma-vérité take on one man’s quest for spiritual redemption.
Feb 27, 2013
-By Michael Rechtshaffen
For movie details, please click here.
Compellingly blurring the boundaries between documentary and narrative forms,
Welcome to Pine Hill is an atmospheric rendering of a New Yorker’s journey of self-discovery.
Born out of an encounter between writer-director Keith Miller and the film’s star, newcomer Shannon Harper, over the rightful ownership to a puppy (leading to the 2010 short “Prince/William”), the extended version tweaks fact and hones fiction to create something uniquely intimate.
With no previous acting experience, Harper, essentially playing himself, is a quietly powerful presence as the film’s ever-present protagonist—a reformed Brooklyn drug dealer who works as a car insurance claims adjuster during the day and as a bouncer at night.
But just as he seems to be getting his life together, he receives a disturbing diagnosis pertaining to the severe stomach pains he’s been experiencing. The news propels him to settle some personal and professional debts, before escaping the hustle of the city and seeking sanctuary in the comparative wilderness of upstate New York, with poignant results.
Miller coaxes a uniform authenticity from the performances, delivered by a cast of actors and non-actors, while touching on issues of race and class without having to get preachy or heavy-handed.
While some of those extended improvised takes work more successfully than others, the overall effect, like the one provided by that ending trek up the Catskill Mountains, is a welcome breath of fresh air.
—
The Hollywood Reporter
