Line of Fire

Potent and brimming with inter-generational rage, filmmaker Weston Porter’s short film Line of Fire brilliantly captures the current climate found in many Western societies. 

Oliver (Max Mattern) and Shelley (Sidney Flanigan) live in small-town America where the opportunities are as sparse as their relationships with their parents are tumultuous. The film opens with Oliver being aggressively wrestled in his home by his brother Jacob (Michael Kishon) before being berated by his brutish father Bobby (Blake Robbins). After escaping his toxic homestead, he meets up with Shelley, who has her own issues with her overbearing mother Marie (Cathy Moriarty) and her absent father (Michael J. Gwynn). Shelley and Oliver decide to finally escape their horrible home life by making a plan to rob the local store and make a getaway, but will they make it? 

Line of Fire (not to be confused with the Clint Eastwood film - but the link to such a classic gun-toting title can’t be coincidental) explores a lot of key issues in U.S society, from toxic masculinity and homophobia to gun ownership and parental damage caused to offspring. It’s a film jam-packed with discussion topics which could keep audiences chatting for hours, if not days, after viewing. And whilst the filmmaker certainly creates empathy for Shelley and Oliver, it’s not a film completely preaching one side of the argument, instead showing how these inflammatory issues have been allowed to prevail, through generations of prejudices which have been allowed to survive, nay flourish, unchallenged. 

The Bonnie and Clyde setup to the story feels familiar but fresh when viewed through the lens of two modern teenagers, and when also given a meaty backstory with their abusive parents. We get a lot of character development in a really short space of time, including Jacob - Oliver’s brother - whose hidden sexuality is causing him immense distress, as well as the festering resentment Marie feels about being abandoned by Shelley’s father - who now seems to have another family elsewhere. This comprehensive and intelligent writing enhances Line of Fire as a short film greatly and audiences will feel in safe hands with Porter’s excellent direction. 

Max Mattern gives a terrific performance, showcasing his character’s trembling attitude to his father’s pigheadedness excellently. It’s a treat to see Cathy Moriarty in a short film and she manages to steal a couple of scenes with excellent acting. If a criticism could be levelled at this film, it’s that it needed about another hour. There is so much here and so much detail given to the story and characters that audiences may feel a little undeserved when it quickly comes to a head in the final scenes. That being said, as a short film it’s brilliantly filmed, well acted, and contains enough thought-provoking pathos to have you all riled up…in a good way.

Now watch our Video Film Review of Line of Fire on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeF-S-6mlh8