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Locally filmed movie debuts in Lansing

January 31, 2006

"Last Night Out" describes the night before Brandon's wedding as Joshua takes a reluctant Brandon out on the town.

The characters are played by Brandon Bautista and Joshua Ortman, whose first names correspond with their characters'.

Ortman begins the night by flaunting his bad boy persona — he hits on girls, drinks excessively and enthusiastically takes Brandon to a strip club against his wishes. Brandon, on the other hand, is chained to his cell phone calling his soon-to-be wife and not having a good time. As the movie progresses, the tables turn. Joshua, reminded of the one that got away, grows disgusted with himself. Brandon is drunk and having a great time. Joshua envies Brandon, and vice versa. But don't worry — it all works out in the end.

This is all spelled out for us courtesy of excessive dialogue in the form of heart-to-hearts between the two protagonists. It was a little overdone and would have been better if the film could have shown us these realizations instead of telling us via forced dialogue.

The movie does a great job incorporating scenes that are easy for viewers to relate to. A hammered Brandon retreats to the bathroom at a house party and tells his reflection he's not drunk. Then, he goes downstairs and sings karaoke badly. Area viewers could also enjoy seeing Grand River Avenue and other local stores in the background. The local scenery added to the familiarity of the film — these guys are in your town and they could be your friends.

The feeling that Joshua and Brandon could be people you know makes it easier to relate to the film, but it also takes a little bit away from the experience. Ortman should have given the main characters names that were different from their actual ones. It makes the viewer feel like the movie is supposed to be a true story. It's as if they weren't acting, but were just being themselves.

Perhaps the strongest aspect of the film is the soundtrack. The music in the film is from local bands, and most of it is written and performed by Ortman. The songs are all incorporated at just the right time and add to what the scene is trying to express.

The cinematography started out really interesting. The beginning of the film was full of original shots exploring different angles, but after the first 20 minutes or so, you don't see much variation.

The movie's weakness is that it's not universal enough. The film seems to be tailored toward the actors and their friends. I guess that's what happens when you use an all-local cast consisting primarily of people you know. It had a fairly simple and undeveloped plot. The film needs to be more complex to appeal to a larger audience. The jokes were mostly based on sophomoric humor or specific to those who knew the actors personally.

Despite the narrow scope of the film, it was well executed. It encompassed all the everyday aspects of relationships and laid them out for everyone to enjoy. It focused on enjoying life, and that made for good post-film feelings. Overall, it was a good debut for Ortman.

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