{"id":26845,"date":"2023-08-16T02:26:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T09:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=26845"},"modified":"2023-08-16T02:26:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T09:26:19","slug":"blu-ray-review-wrong-reasons-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=26845","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray Review: WRONG REASONS (2022)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This feature film is currently available on Blu-ray from\nMVD Visual.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As we all remember, the world generally shut down for 2020 and much of 2021. Due to the large number of cast and crew who are involved in film shoots, many studio productions were halted during this period. However, a few low and micro-budgeted independent features were completed. Many of them, well, clearly showed their limitations, but a few showed some promise. The hostage drama\/comedy Wrong Reasons<\/em> is one of these small projects that managed to overcome great obstacles. MVD Visual is now releasing it on Blu-ray.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie was written and directed by Josh Roush, who is\nknown for his making-of documentaries on features by Kevin Smith (specifically,\nJay and Silent Bob Reboot<\/em> and Clerks III<\/em>). Smith himself served\nas executive producer and helped finance the project. Filmmaker Roush\u2019s wife\nplays the lead role and it all feels like a very small group of friends and\nfamily getting together and making a little feature while waiting out the\npandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kat Oden (Liv Roush) is a LA-based punk musician with a\nsmall following. Her albums, while popular with critics and music enthusiasts,\nhaven\u2019t connected with mainstream audiences. This and other personal problems\nhave left Kat addicted to drugs. One night, she is kidnapped by a figure in a\nmask, who takes her to a cabin in nearby Idyllwild. Back in the city, Detective\nCharles Dobson (Ralph Garman) takes charge of the police investigation.\nUnfortunately, the ex-actor seems primarily interested in using the case to\nfurther his own career. He makes a deal with news reporter Julie Marin (Teresa\nRuiz) to give her exclusives as long as she and her cameraman (Kevin Smith)\nmake him look good and help broker a network deal. Soon the kidnapper James\nWinandi (James Parks) reveals his identity to Kat and the reasons for his\nactions. After the two watch TV and see James\u2019s brother Marshall (David\nKoechner) and others promoting themselves instead of showing concern, the pair\nform a friendship.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, this is a low-budget effort (and one that does feel\nlike it was made by pulling together resources on the fly), but it does feature\nsome impressive cinematography and solid performances you wouldn\u2019t normally see\nin such a small production. While Kat gets plenty of time as the lead, the\nmovie is just as concerned with how little the detective, media personalities\nand family members actually care for the victim, only using the situation to\nfurther their own personal interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rather than set it all within one location, the filmmaker\nhas managed to add a bit of production value by jumping between characters and\nlocales. The movie also takes shots at extreme right-wing newscasts with some\non-air commentary bits that don\u2019t feel far removed from what was really being\nbroadcast on some networks during the pandemic. This approach does generate\nsome extra intrigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, it isn\u2019t perfect. The film is far from subtle in its approach or depictions of the selfishness of others. And while it can\u2019t be helped, some of these self-centered characters do have a one-note feel to them. The general theme of the movie is pretty clear from the outset, so James never comes across as desperate or dangerous. As such, Kat\u2019s kidnapping and captivity doesn\u2019t generate as much dramatic tension or stress as it could have.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, overall it is better than one would expect. Some of\nthe discussions between Kat and James about the world around them offer some\ninteresting observations and the movie should impress those who appreciate\nplucky low-budget filmmaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who pick up the Blu-ray can also see and hear plenty\nof interesting bonus features. As expected, there is a director commentary\nfeaturing both Josh and Liv Roush, the co-producer and the composer, as well as\na second track with the filmmaker and Kevin Smith. Smith also delivers an\nintroduction to the picture, explaining how he got involved and ended up taking\nan acting role in it. There\u2019s also an hour-long Q&A featuring Josh and Liv\nRoush, Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman. All of the material provides some\nspecifics in regard to the budget, shooting during the pandemic and more. There\nare also deleted scenes (one featuring Fred Armisen) and outtakes, a trailer,\nand a comedic short film made by Roush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Making an independent feature with very little resources is\ndifficult at the best of times, but those who admire such efforts and can\nforgive a few production shortcomings will find things here to enjoy. In the\nend, Wrong Reasons<\/em> was made for the right reasons. It presents a\npassionate argument on the power of music and the finished product shows\npromise for Roush\u2019s future endeavors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature film is currently available on Blu-ray from MVD Visual. As we all remember, the world generally shut down for 2020 and much of 2021. Due to the large number of cast and crew who are involved in film shoots, many studio productions were halted during this period. However, a few low and micro-budgeted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[213,3075,4660,6251,9774,10248,11061,11638,12521,16624,24519,24520,24521,24522],"class_list":["post-26845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-213","tag-blu-ray-reviews","tag-comedy","tag-drama","tag-independent","tag-james-parks","tag-josh-roush","tag-kevin-smith","tag-liv-roush","tag-ralph-garman","tag-wrong-reasons","tag-wrong-reasons-blu-ray-review","tag-wrong-reasons-film-review","tag-wrong-reasons-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}