Don’t Pass Me By isn’t exactly the most stellar of movies and that’s an understatement. The film revolves around four women, each facing a unique crisis in their lives. Each woman’s storyline is intertwined and deals with various challenges stemming from love, pregnancy, family, and even death. While the film isn’t “all bad” as some may say, it is certainly lacking in depth being akin to a Lifetime movie that thrives on trivial drama at best.
It bites off more than it can chew. And with a skewered out-of-focus lens, one cannot expect to not be disappointed. The story encircles the lives of four women all from varying walks of life, each with their own problem to tackle, yet all seem to be converging at the same intersection of identities. In a nutshell, Hannah (Rachel Noall) is battling with cancer, Jill (Nancy Karr) is overweight and suffering an emotional crisis, highly neglected by her workaholic boyfriend, Danielle (Katy Kvalvik) is trying to acclimatize to the post-fame world while being an emotional wreck, and Brooke (Elizabeth Izzo) is seemingly dealing with child abuse drama after getting pregnant with a drug dealing friend.
Unfortunately, the director had no regard for these more sensitive and intimate nuances. Priestley chucks as much drama at the viewer as possible during the hundred-minute mark, taking a kitchen-sink approach to filmmaking. Even this galloping style isn’t effective and is highly reductionist. All women have the same takeaway, working on a seemingly endless loop: life must not be allowed to slip away. This is true, but that is not the crux of the matter. It stems from constant pan shooting and zooming, which makes it unrealistically tough to establish any emotional connection with the characters. At first, they came off as dull and overly clichéd, and so, at second glance, appeared too complicated and jumbled.
It is impossible to execute four plots into a single film without sacrificing both character and plot development, which is exactly what takes place here.
Except for Jeremy London’s “Mallrats” fame, not “Dazed and Confused” Jake Busey, and C. Thomas Howell, the characters, and the actors playing them are dull and lifeless. Although it was far from good, there was some semblance of acting talent. They all portray young adults who seem very inexperienced and unseasoned. It is better than a low-budget soap opera, but nothing to write home about.
This manila folder quality can be said about nearly every aspect of Pass Me By. Most of the cinematography works, aside from the truly cringe worthy use of slow motion and the placement of the music is very strange, even though some of the music is just okay.
Like most films told in this vignette style, the loose ends tie together in the climax, but the feeling that accompanies it falls flat. The lack of emotional attachment could stem from not knowing the characters, or perhaps taking too long to set the scene. In the end, the only thing I felt during the climax was a small sense of relief that it was all nearly over.
At first glance, Don’t Pass Me By seems like an ambitiously crafted film that attempts to explore serious themes, but all it does is provide yet another run-of-the-mill drama. It is easy to watch it and move on as everything about it feels rejectable to idiotic Hollywood culture. While it is true that there is an audience for this content, I can’t help but feel like it belongs on an afternoon cable channel than a movie theater.
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