FILM REVIEW: Detours

By Amy Nichol Smith

At the heart of Detours, there's a familiar story for most of us.

Diego knows what he does is wrong, but makes no apologies for his behavior. Until it is pointed out that he's worse than most of the guys who pick up girls at clubs, sleep with them and leave in the morning. He makes promises. He lies and tells the girls everything they want to hear. And he's good at it.

He picks up his friend from the bus station and tells him his woes. At one point, he hides from a girl named Cat he slept with and left just the night before. Then he bumps into a beautiful girl who seemingly changes him forever. At least, he hopes he can change.

Detours follows the story between Diego and Gracie, the girl who inspires him to be a better man.

This is the first feature film from the boys at M3 Productions. The movie is only 45 minutes long, but manages to tell the full story.

The movie also manages to make the viewer feel like they're watching the story take place somewhere other than their backyard. The entire movie was filmed in McAllen and Pharr, but the direction and editing of the movie made it seem as if it were all happening in a bigger city.

While Detours is a good story, the dialogue was a bit disjointed and sometimes things moved too quickly to make it seem believable. Maybe that's the fault of the screenwriter, maybe that of the actors. The conversations between most of the characters didn't feel natural.

Every romantic comedy needs a couple of sidekicks, I guess, and Detours was no exception. Josh was Diego's friend trying to help him with his decision to change his path, but the actor's role seemed pointless. Except they needed a love interest for Gracie's best friend, of course. In a not-so-surprising twist of the plot, Gracie's best friend is the latest girl for Diego to bed hop with, Cat. Josh had some good lines and Cat's indignant attitude lightened the mood of the movie at times, but it would've been nice to see something other than the Hollywood stereotype.

The soundtrack featured all local musicians and really fit the movie well. In fact, the soundtrack was one of the biggest highlights of the movie.

For first-timers, this isn't a bad attempt at all. Overall the story was cute and I could see this being made into a full-length movie, with more obstacles and characters and relationships being fleshed out. Hopefully M3's next film will have some better acting, more believable dialogue and more time devoted to devloping the characters.

3.5 stars out of 5.

For more info: http://www.m3films.net/

Amy Nichol Smith is a freelance writer for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4420.