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Something Completely Unexpected

Orlando Weekly | March 27, 2007

Blair Witch director Daniel Myrick finally answers the "What's he gonna do next?" question with something completely unexpected. The Strand is a densely populated, intertwined drama that, like Crash, finds the lives of various Los Angelenos meeting at unforeseen junctures. Unlike Crash, however, the characters in The Strand are interesting and their stories aren't as portentous or pretentious. An ancient and pleasantly delusional Hollywood belle (Katherine Helmond), a struggling screenwriter, obnoxious yuppies, surfers, artists, street people, con men and a conniving new arrival from the Midwest get stirred into Myrick's Venice Beach pot. Forgive the relatively amateur acting and DV-quality cinematography and The Strand rumbles purposefully to its multiple/singular resolutions, with Kevin Smith somehow involved. (Whether this is a nod or a wink is never made clear.) Some scenes -- a ridiculous mini-motorcycle chase through the beachfront streets -- are less graceful than others, but the perversely satisfying ending shows that Myrick hasn't lost his touch as a deliverer of the unexpected.

Tags: Daniel Myrick, The Strand

Orlando Weekly

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