LONDON'S CALLING // A FILM REVIEW OF "GIDDY STRATOSPHERES"
The new indie film GIDDY STRATOSPHERES has a beautiful trailer, an exciting poster and an appealing lead cast. However, when you glance at the running time you may start second guessing your desire to check it out. This feature film is barely over an hour. Often when you see a feature so short you fear the worst: the film is so bad that most of it has been chopped out of it and barely a sliver remains. I've experienced that many times myself with very short features. However, don't let that sway you from seeing this. Yes, it's barely an hour long and yes I do feel that there could be more meat on its bones (the movie as a whole is very slight). But in a little over an hour, writer/director/star Laura Jean Marsh weaves an honest, entertaining and heartbreaking film that's worth your time.
The setting is London 2007. More specifically, the London indie music scene 2007. We are thrown in head first into the scene through the eyes of Lara (Marsh) and her best mate Daniel (Franklin). Their nights are filled with dark hallways, music filled back rooms, drugs and drinking and, when the morning comes, barely remembering the night before. Lara doesn't want to talk with Daniel about how much she drinks or how hard she's living her life. She just wants to keep being the life of the party. There are real world issues to deal with, specifically the funeral of Lara's Grandmother. Through a non-linear storytelling approach, we follow the BFF duo as they party, prepare for the funeral, and be forced into examining their own lives no matter how hard it may be.
There is more I wish Giddy Stratospheres had to say. With a running time of 68 minutes, it sometimes feels like a long form short film that's waiting to be adapted into a longer format so it can say even more. That being said, Marsh has written and directed a film that perfectly captures the music scene in London of the time and is also a bittersweet ode to friendship and being young in the music scene. Jamal Franklin and Marsh herself make a great pair, truly feeling like a duo that can't be split up, no matter what. The film has a distinct indie feel, which some may point out as a flaw. However, that was part of the magic for me. The amount of love and care that clearly went into making this (on what I'm sure was a shoe-string budget) is very clear and the fantastic soundtrack keeps up feeling the music just as strongly as the characters. Spend some time in London 2007 with Marsh and Franklin. You won't be disappointed. I for one, can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
GRADE: B+
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Laura Jean Marsh STARRING Jamal Franklin, Laura Jean Marsh, Nick Helm, Richard Herring. ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS STARTING SEPTEMBER 14th. FOR MORE INFO: GIDDY STRATOSPHERES