Review Fix 2012 Tribeca Film Festival Coverage: Hilary’s Straws Review: Great Story, Poor Execution

Posted by on 4/24/12 • Categorized as Movies

Phil Cox’s short film, “Hilary’s Straws” is inspiring, but it’s more for the character and content and not his organization of both. Just about any director could make a film about Hilary Lister, the world-record holding quadriplegic sailor from England- and it would be inspiring.

Her story is one that exudes passion and perseverance.

In spite of that, there’s just this inescapable shallow sensation when it’s all over. The film doesn’t feel complete.

Its length isn’t the problem. There are plenty of pictures, even at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, which clock in at three minutes and manage to tell a complete story. This one just doesn’t.

Although Cox’s film tries to make up for the film’s lack of precision by having a solid score and some beautiful shots of Lister on her ship, there isn’t enough of her story. There isn’t enough about this technology that allows her to do the amazing things that she does. Simply put, three minutes isn’t enough time to tell Lister’s story and Cox spends too much time, especially early on, wasting precious seconds.

The end result is a haphazard telling of an already amazing story.

Patrick Hickey Jr.

Patrick Hickey Jr. is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Master Jedi and Grand Pooh-bah of ReviewFix.com. He is currently a Journalism and English Professor at Kingsborough Community College and a Weekend News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media. He also teaches Multimedia Journalism at Brooklyn College and has had articles and photos published in The New York Times, The New York Daily News and The Syracuse Post Standard. Love him. Read him.

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