Plot Synopsis:
Jimbo is 13 and can think of only one girl — Sarah Jane. And no matter what stands in his way-bullies, violence, chaos, or zombies-nothing will stop him from finding a way into her world.
Full Review:
I am absolutely drained out from all of my exams. Never have I carried out so much revision in my life and I still have a few more exams to go! I am as exhausted as Rick Ross on a treadmill. So when it came to deciding what film to review this week, I thought to myself “What is the cinematic equivalent to how I feel at the minute?” And the answer? Zombies!!! But not just any zombie flick… A romantic zombie flick! The reason for this is because I’ve seen quite a few attractive ladies in the exam hall!!! There is always a reason.
Anyway, I Love Sarah Jane is a quirky and very gritty romantic drama that, ironically, has very humanistic characters and rather compelling dramatic friction between each of them. But at the end of the day, I feel the same way about this that I do about my recent Psychology exam: the bits that were done well were done REALLY well but overall could’ve been just a tad better.
I’ll start with what I liked. The characters. There is a healthy variety between each character’s personality; our lead is shy and timid, his love interest Sarah Jane (played by Mia Wasikowska!) is bitter and owns one hell of a foul mouth, and those around them resemble chavs that think they’re so cool but are actually weak as brittle. Visit North London if you want to know what I mean!They all behave and act just as they should in an dystopian apocalypse; sad, angry, and hopeless. And they interact accordingly too. Everyone’s nerves are slowly shredding and they are unsure of what to do with themselves for good reason: it’s the zombie apocalypse! In short, each character felt relatable, authentic, and deserving to be included in the film.
Of course, no character is made without a great actor behind them. And thankfully, the acting talent in this short is IN SPADES!!! BA DUM TSS! (if you’ve seen the film, you’ll understand that pun!). Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland, Lawless) stars in one of her early roles as the no-bullsh*t persona Sarah Jane, and you can absolutely tell she was gonna go places! She is lean, fierce and commands every scene she’s in. And even better, the boy who plays our adorably sympathetic lead Jimbo (Brad Ashby) adds a lot of much needed heart to the film. The other three characters all kind of feel the same as each other and there isn’t anything greatly unique with how they portray their characters, so they unfortunately don’t make such a grand contribution to the film as much as Ashby or Wasikowska.
On the other hand, the screenwriter contributes something of his own: substance. Even though this is technically a zombie film, the divine characters carry the most significance throughout which makes it more of a gripping drama in the vein of The Road and The Walking Dead rather than a guns-blazing shoot-em-up. The film cleverly uses the zombie theme only to assist and heighten the drama and increase the conflict between our characters.
Unfortunately, the script trips over the hands of a brain devouring zombie and falls flat on its face, ready to be eaten for lunch, near the end. From frame one all the way to roughly the 12 minute mark, the film told a engaging story that took a unique twist of the tired tropes of its own genre. But sadly, as the film reaches a close, it retreats from it’s humble base and decides to take cover in the Cliché Camp. I won’t spoil what happens but the film’s final frames very quickly became painfully predictable and lost most of the overall credibility that made the film intriguing to begin with. Also, I feel that for what’s only a fifteen minute movie that it kind of dragged along a little bit too slowly which (only slightly) dulled the punch of the otherwise compelling drama.
But as a whole, did I think I Love Sarah Jane was a bad movie because of this? Hell no! There are way too many great assets of this film that are too hard to ignore, despite a few of them being tainted by the film’s faults. I still recommend this film as it’s a refreshing change to your movie loving system and overall it is indeed a extremely well made short. And as well as being cliché, the ending is quite gruesome. So this might not be for the faint hearted!
Fergie’s Final Fifteen:
Solid acting, coupled with arresting characters and bewitching turmoil. An invigorating experience despite inadequate ending.
Here’s a link to the short for you to enjoy in all of it’s gruesome and slightly heartwarming glory!
FERGIE FILMS 