Listening (2014)

Listening: Directed by Khalil Sullins. With Thomas Stroppel, Artie Ahr, Amber Marie Bollinger, Christine Haeberman. A team of genius-but-broke grad students invent mind-reading technology that destroys their lives and threatens the future of free will itself.

“Not a bad premise for a movie, and itu0026#39;s production value is pretty good. However itu0026#39;s not highly rated for a reason. Where this movie falls part is not so much in the concept per say, but in the expression of it. The script writing is not B rated, but it surely isnu0026#39;t driving the story. There are parts where you wonder, if it had better acting would the script have come off better. As it stands there are some parts where it seems amateurish both in the writing and the acting. There are some movies where bad actors can be uplifted by a good script (matrix) and rarely good actors can pump up a bad script (think Ray Harryhausen or any martial arts movie). This film is neither and they both seem to sink each other equally. As the writing degrades so goes the acting, as none of the actors were good enough to hold it up. Yet in the instances where the script is good the bad acting isnu0026#39;t so apparent. What makes the movie watchable is the concept. The concept of what they are trying to discuss and itu0026#39;s moral implications draw your interest. It helps set a frame work that at least makes the movie watchable. It would be interesting to know the total budget of this movie. It surely isnu0026#39;t block buster…but it also does not appear on the low end like a Primer. Although I think the movie would have been better suited to have more of a primer set up, disusing things cryptically and leaving in some mystery till you get into the movie. IF you like sci fi movies itu0026#39;s a decent sci fi watch on a boring night with nothing else to do. However, I wouldnu0026#39;t go dropping $7 on a ticket for it.”