Mile Zero

Starring:Michael Riley, Connor Widdows, Sabrina Grdevich, Gabriel Castello Corry, Derek Bakstad, Katherine Fane, Eric Breker, John Murphy (XXIV), Jean Guy Isiah, Yadira Corbet, Conan Graham, Koa Nelson, Lisa Calder, Kevin Eastwood
Director: Andrew Currie
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Description

Derek Ridley's marriage has fallen apart. Alone and depressed, he fels unable to cope with the separation from his eight-year-old son, Will. Convinced that his wife's new love interest is a sexual predator, Derek devises a plan to take Will to the Rocky Mountains, where he believes a wilderness utopia can be found. At first, the journey brings a sense of freedom and adventure to both father and son, but before long, Derek's world of denial and half-truths becomes too much for either to bear.

Customer Reviews:

"Is this how you love your family?".......2005-03-30

The Canadian film, "Mile Zero" is the story of divorced dad Derek (Michael Riley) who tries to make a new life for himself. Unfortunately, Derek can't seem to make the necessary adjustments to life without his son Will (Connor Widdows) and wife Allison (Sabrina Grdevich). Derek spends his evenings watching and re-watching precious home videos of his family life before the divorce. He's locked in grief for a past life, and while it's perfectly understandable, Derek's life takes an unhealthy turn.

Derek gives his young son a stereo and insists that it is placed in the bedroom. The stereo is actually capable of zooming video images from Will's room to Derek's lonely apartment. Ostensibly, this allows Derek to see his son 24/7, and also provides the absent father with a sense that he is still able to watch over his son. Unfortunately, when another man enters his ex-wife's life, Derek begins to suspect that Will is being molested. Derek kidnaps Will and heads North.

"Mile Zero" covers some old familiar territory here--the divorced dad, the fractured family, the fight for visitation etc. "Mile Zero", however, also looks at some of these scenes in new, sympathetic ways, so we don't just see a demented father. The film makes excellent use of flashbacks to accentuate several points--Derek's arrival in his new, bare apartment, a moment when his wife tells him she no longer loves him, and Will's birth. These flashbacks show that Derek is grieving for a life he lost, and so he isn't portrayed as a complete ogre. The film plays with the idea that Derek's motives may not be quite so pure when he crosses the line with the video recording device. Is the video recorder really to give Derek an added sense of being with his son, or is this just his method of intruding into his ex-wife's life, and trying to spy on events? Derek seems like a fairly sympathetic character, but there's something about his agitation and scruffiness that doesn't bode well. As the film continues, Derek's many problems become glaringly apparent.

"Mile Zero" has a moody restlessness that admirably matches the storyline. Unfortunately, the film rehashes too much old, familiar territory to really grab one's attention, and great cinematography, accompanied by a tight, focused plot still fail to produce anything more than an average film--displacedhuman

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Whacked! & Fourplay

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Amazing Transplant (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Ricochet/Surviving the Game

Boyz Klub