The Chosen One

Indican Pictures

R1 DVD

Reviewers: Jeremy & Renata Kong

Production company: Indican pictures

Web site: www.IndicanPictures.com

Writers: Chris Lackey, Chad Fifer

Director: Chris Lackey (The Investigators, Atom Films Greenlight Award)

Producer: Andreas Olavarria

WINNER — Best Experimental Feature / 2007 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival
HONOURABLE MENTION — 2008 Bi-National Independent Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION — 2008 Newport Beach Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION — 2008 Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival

Voice Cast: 

Tim Curry (Scary Movie 2, Spamalot, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Three Musketeers)

Traci Lords (Zack & Miri Make a Porno, Cry Baby, Blade, Melrose Place)

Chris Sarandon (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Dog Day Afternoon, Princess Bride)

Debra Wilson (Mad TV, Speed Racer, Reno 911)

Danielle Fishel (Boy Meets World, Dorm Daze, Dorm Daze 2)

Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Alien V Predator, Appaloosa, Super Nova, Millennium)

Laura Prepon (October Road, That '70's Show)

Plot Synopsis:

Lou Hanske is your typical layabout loser who is forced out of College for being a perpetual student; loses his job, his girlfriend, and his car; pisses off a foreign power; and then gets attacked by a bear. 

Broke and owing thousands, Lou is forced to room with a down and out old guy, Zebulon, who introduces him to the Church of Frank.  The crackpot Church informs him that he is "The Chosen One" and that he has a mission from God.  All he has to do is get to Kansas in one day and receive the word of God on a mountain... after which the Church will give him $30,000. 

Lou, Zeb, and Lou's only other remaining friend, Donna, take a road-trip to Kansas, that is full of surprises and excitement.  They get some help and guidance from an unexpected source, and are hounded by a group of mercenaries hired by a union of Western Religions who desperately don't want The Chosen One to succeed.

Will Lou and his travelling companions make it in time to talk to God?  Will the Western Religions succeed in their plot to destroy The Chosen One?  Is The Chosen One a force for Good or for Evil?????

The Verdict:

Firstly, while it is not perfect, it has a real 'sneak up and grab you' charm about it, and it is certainly deserving of the awards it has received.

Even though this is an animated film, don't let this lull you into thinking it's a piece of fluff.  It successfully comments on the big questions in life:  Does having it all really make you happy?  Are happiness and bliss all they're cracked up to be? Can we have world peace? What is the nature of human existence?  Are giant robot Ninjas effective security? Can Satan do the one thing even he has been to afraid to do??

It deals with some very interesting philosophical questions without ever being heavy handed or blatantly preachy.  While religion, faith and God are major components of the film, the writers have presented them in such a preposterously funny way that it, paradoxically, allows you to consider the movie's concepts totally outside the framework of religion.

The animation is edgy and may irritate some people.  It is a cross between South Park and The Wiggles Cartoons where there is a simple colour scheme with basic geometric shapes.  The shading is limited so things look 2D, and once again the shading is done as geometric shapes, rather than graduated shading.  The movements are jerky and reminiscent of stop-motion technique, and the lip syncing is haphazard.  The dialogue is not polished, however, the screenplay is good and packed full of humour and satire.  For me, a highlight in the dialogue comes from the head of the Eastern religions: when told that the Chosen One has been found he says "Hmmmm. Well, whatever happens, happens.  Want a cookie?!".

The simplistic quality of the screenplay, animation & dialogue means that the message of the film sneaks up and slaps you in the face, and allows you to have an "A-ha" moment.  I think a slick production would have overwhelmed the message and reduced the film's impact.

The voice actors had 2 standouts.  Chad Fifer is well cast (self-cast) as the whiney, self-involved Lou, and he sounds a lot like Owen Wilson (You, Me & Dupree, and Wedding Crashers).  Tim Curry, as always, is fantastic as the sultry voice of the enigmatic and complex Lucifer.  Most of the other voice actors are good, but Traci Lords, as Miss Sultry, is horribly annoying.  Her voice is so soft, and she mumbles so much, that you cannot hear her lines properly unless you turn up the sound and blow yourself out of your chair when anyone else speaks! 

It is a little bit slow here and there, and some people may find it difficult to get into (particularly if they are not fans of animated films), but there is certainly a lot to be commended about this film.  It is worthwhile persevering to the end, in order to get your A-ha moment.... and perhaps, reach enlightenment!

Make sure you access the Special Features menu and select "The Story of the Chosen One -as told by an Old Man over Pictures of Cats" (I kid you not). It tells the story of the ups and downs in making the film, and it is a really interesting, quirky and funny piece. I'll bet you've never seen anything like it!

This review will appear in Volume 2:1 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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