Fall: Blu-ray Review

Over the last few years, director Scott Mann, has directed forgettable action thrillers like Heist and Final Score. While those were pretty-much direct to On-Demand titles that featured talent such as Robert De Niro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Dave Bautista and Pierce Brosnan, there was nothing about them worth remembering. Mann’s latest, Fall is a much more scaled down feature which mostly takes place at the top of a 2,000 foot radio tower, where two women find themselves trapped. Co-written by Jonathan Frank, it is also his most entertaining film to date.

After the death of her husband Dan (Mason Gooding) while rock climbing, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) turned to drinking and isolation. She pushed away everyone in her life, including her father (Jeffery Dean Morgan). When Becky’s long-time friend Shiloh (Virginia Gardner) shows up out of the blue, she convinces her grieving friend to come with her on an adventure. They drive out to the desert to climb a decommissioned radio tower that is not in the best of conditions. Since her husband plummeted to his death, I felt it should have taken much more convincing to get Becky to even consider this.

Becky and Shiloh do make it to the top, but unfortunately, the ladder gives out at the top thanks to some loose rusty screws. The friends find themselves stuck, with no food, no cell phone reception and no one who can see them because they are 2,000 feet in the air. Mann keeps the tension high and while some of the visual effects don’t look great, most are convincing enough to allow the viewer to believe the situation.  It is the performances however by Currey and Gardner that keep the narrative engaging and the longer they are trapped the more hopeless things feel, learning more about the characters in the process. While the endgame isn’t all that surprising, there are some twists in the story that keeps the journey feeling fresh. Fall arrives on Blu-ray this week.

By: Marc Ferman