The film was created when Mattson was a senior in high school, with a cast of friends and teachers. He did the music himself. He recorded the film himself. He edited the film himself. He wrote it himself. Everything combined, the film was worth watching.
The story is about an up-and-coming mayor who happens upon a young woman that gets hit by a vehicle. He falls for her and the two start seeing each other. This woman, by chance, happens to be in a failing relationship with a jerk lowlife movie projectionist. She ends the relationship to be with the candidate, and the ex seeks revenge.
The story is interesting, but a bit choppy. Some parts seem redundant and some parts I'm not sure I entirely understood, like the seemingly random interjected movie rehearsals. The development of the characters, or more like the revelation of the character's true colors, is fun to watch. To me, the movie seems almost like a modern Hitchcock film, but not as macabre.
The only main problem I had with the movie was the sound quality. At some points the music is too overwhelming (when David starts seeing "things") or the sound too loud (at the town hall meetings when the crowd applauds), but other times I struggle to hear what the people are saying.
Overall, The Projectionist was not the best movie I've ever seen, but it definitely was not crap either. Considering Mattson did the film in high school it's actually quite amazing. Considering the actors were not actors, the characters in the film are believable and portrayed quite well. It seems like a B-movie when watching it, and realistically I guess it is, but I enjoy B-movies, so I enjoyed watching this.
If you're interested in watching the film, follow this link to Tomlin's website, where you can contact him about getting the movie, or follow the blog and keep an eye open for Free Film Friday's. Good job, Mattson.
