FilmQuest Review: MURDER, ANYONE? is a Fun and Zany Film From The Writer of ANIMANIACS
I’m always looking to find new movies that are wild, crazy, unique, and tell a great story. Well, I recently caught a film at the FilmQuest film festival this week titled Murder, Anyone?, and it’s just one of those films that made me happy. I had a smile on my face throughout the whole movie because it was just so damn entertaining!
The movie is a comedy and the story is told in a wonderfully fun and creative way. It was that wild, crazy, and unique movie that I was looking for! The film was written by one of the writers of the classic 1990s animated series Animaniacs, the late Gordon Bressack, and it was directed by his son James Cullen Bressack.
The film is based on a stage play written by Gordon Bressack, and while watching the movie, you could totally feel that same tone, humor, and comedic timing that we loved about Animaniacs.
The story follows two playwrights, George and Charlie, who are tasked with the challenge of creating the next “avant-garde, surrealistic, mind-bending neo-noire thriller”. As they write, the story comes to life in real-time.
As they work on the script, their own emotions and arguments also begin to manifest on film, creating “sharp twists and turns that affect the entire movie.” The story also deals with art versus commerce with one character wanting to write a play for the freedom of art purposes, while the other wants to write a movie so they could make more money from it.
Bressack also describes it as being “filled with hilarity and chaos, Murder, Anyone? is a comedic play-within-a-play-within-a-movie that contemplates the complexities of language, art, theater, film and more.”
If you enjoy films filled with fun and zany imagination and wit, Murder, Anyone? Is right up your alley. I’m pretty confident that it will be released one day.
Director James Cullen Bressack previously helmed films such as Mel Gibson’s Hot Seat, Bruce Willis’ Fortress, Surviving the Game and more. He’s got a ton of films under his belt, but he made this one to pay tribute to his dad after he passed away. Before Gordon died he told his son that he didn’t want his scripts to just sit on a hard drive where nothing will be done with them, so he went out and made Murder, Anyone?, which he funded himself. It was a wonderful tribute to his dad and I hope you all get a chance to see it.
