Chronicle is exactly the shot in the arm the found footage style needed, after years of second-rate horror films and redeeming entries few and far between. As in every film in this style, the difficulty of explaining away a character carrying a camera about everywhere they go still remains, but at the same time Chronicle actually found a way to make the experience more cinematic and less irritating. That success goes a long way towards making the film easier to enjoy, and it doesn’t hurt that it features a relatively strong but distracted script played out by a trio of surprisingly talented young actors. To top it all off, it closes with what is perhaps the closest visualization of that Superman brand of epic slugfests, combatants pounding their adversaries through buildings, that’s ever made it to the screen.
Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) has become something of a recluse; he spends most of his time hidden in his room, with his door locked, so his drunken father can’t knock him around. As a means of comfort, Andrew begins filming his life and everyone around him, including his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) who has taken it upon himself to pull Andrew out of his shell by dragging him to social events like a rave. One night, after a party, Matt and all around good guy senior class president Steve (Michael B. Jordan) discover a mysterious object burrowed into the ground and take Andrew along to help them document their findings. Their close exposure to the mysterious object imbues them with telekinesis and with every day their control over it becomes stronger. Soon they’re able to fly, lift large objects, and, in customary teenage fashion, play practical jokes on those around them. Each of the guys comes to terms with their new power differently, but for Andrew soon finds himself losing control as the stress and emotional turmoil of caring for his sick mother take him over the edge.
Director Josh Trank couldn’t have asked for a better actor than Dane DeHaan as Andrew Detmer, who easily upstages his two co-stars in terms of depth. Glimpses of Andrew’s underlying sadness come through every few scenes, but DeHaan subdues it fantastically the rest of the time, making Andrew a believable teenager. As the friendship dynamic between Andrew, Matt and Steve develops, the relationship not only makes sense but it evolves in such a way that actually manages to offer the audience hope that maybe, just maybe, Andrew will be okay. And while a film about three teenagers who go on to become a trio of superheroes would be interesting, the eventual emotional breakdown of Andrew and the chaos that ensues provides an entertainment value seldom realized in the found footage genre.
There’s something to be said for a film about teenagers with super powers when the weakest moments don’t arise from the special effects or desperate pleas to halt hostilities, but from a side character written and acted a bit over the top. In this case, it’s Andrew’s father whom, though well cast, has lines that can make the audience cringe. In the case of an abusive father storyline, cringing is what most films want, but not like this. Most moments with the father are either hammy or awkwardly worded and ultimately sabotage what is supposed to be Andrew’s descent into anger and despair. The father’s scenes aren’t the only case of this in the film, but rather the most common. The script and acting aren’t universally strong, but the average evens out to both a convincing and entertaining experience.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the film is that the “found footage” aspect plays a part beyond just “Oh, I bought a camera and will now turn it on at opportune times”. Worked into the story as a means for Andrew to capture his father’s drunken abuse on film as well as find comfort in the distance being behind a camera affords. As the story progresses, the perspective shifts to include not only Andrew’s camera but those of people around him, as well as security feeds at stores and others. There are points where the perspective (exactly which or whose camera is filming the story) becomes a bit unclear, and at times near the end it almost seems like the film has reverted back to traditional fourth wall mentality. That wall comes and goes at the end, but for the first three quarters of the film, it’s an integral means of how the three teens’ story is told.
Found footage films typically have little rewatch value, but Chronicle has enough of an actual plot with some well-developed characters, and that just might make it the first found footage film that actually qualifies as a solid effort through and through. It’s not just about the action bits or the story, there’s some actual substance here, and it’s quite refreshing.
"Chronicle" opens February 3, 2012 and is rated PG13. Action. Directed by Josh Trank. Written by Max Landis. Starring Dane Dehaan, Alex Russell, Michael B Jordan.
