Across the Room y Mellinda Hensley

It is not very often nowadays to watch a comedy film where the viewer can’t take his eyes of the screen and is constantly smiling; this is exactly what “Across the room” did. Working on this genre of films is always a real challenge due to the fact that it is much easier to make the audience cry than to get them to laugh, since there is a very thin line between being funny and falling into silliness. Director “Mellinda Hensley” proved to be more than capable of delivering a funny and amusing piece of work.

The screenplay reflects real maturity and knowledge in the art of writing for the screen, writer “Matt Clifford” did more than a fine job with his well-fashioned and witty script and was able to escape the cheesy clichés that a lot of comedy writers fall into. Acting wise, it is a real enjoyment-watching professionals doing their thing, the synergy and teamwork displayed by each and every actor was one of the main pillars behind the success of the overall work, as an example of this chemistry between the characters is the beautifully crafted silent scene between “Alex” (Karisa Tate) and “Ben” (Zack Tinker) in which they rely completely on their non verbal communication using only body language and facial expressions to deliver a hilarious situation that results in them hooking up together.

Technically, ‘Hensley” showed a real understanding of the language of film by keeping things simple and not forcing things onto the viewer but relying instead on realistic framing and convincing cinematography that serves best the purpose of the work. The chosen color palette bears a lot of connotations towards the enhancement of the comic relief provided by the overall aesthetics of the image. The music used fits perfectly as an added value in boosting the mood and not trying to create it (a mistake committed by even professionals from the industry).

In the end, and in a time when a smile is rare and barely non existing due to everything that humanity is going through, “ Across the room” is a comic breath of fresh air greatly needed and is a must see. The whole crew and cast is to be commended on a job very well done and we await with anticipation for the next piece of work by the talented director “Mellinda Hensley” in hopes it would match this one and even supersede it.

N.Khouri Ph.D

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