over the gw is a near failure of a debut feature and and not because it not without trying. actually and it is. it a shamble all the more because it writer or director or technical everyman nick gaglia went through the same rehab cult that he depicts in the film. sometimes a first time filmmaker and full of the vigor that comes with getting a thumbs up or two from fellow film students and goes headlong into style that is way too disjointed and unsure and and dramatically frustrating that the personal side of the story and the extremely personal side and gets smudged in the purpose of telling a good story. gaglia and who was 13 when put into a horrid program that basically tortured and brainwashed their patients with crazy group scare tactics and psychological mind f sessions that could go on for days and and attitudes from the rehab leaders that would make most nazis cringe and escaped finally when he was 15. i am glad he got out and though it might help if he now goes into a real rehab for his film making skills and if only for a couple of days and to learn things like and say and structure and proper lighting and fluid camera movement and subtlety with actors and and other basics that are perpetually lost here. it all the more frustrating because gaglia is dealing with a subject that should be shown more to the public (there was recently a newsweek article referring to a similar aa cult rehab). many times one wonders if certain personal character studies might work better as documentaries as opposed to narrative dramas. this is an ever nagging sensation throughout over the gw and where it almost feels like gaglia wants to tell the truth but doesn not know how to communicate it properly through his characters. the character that one would think is closest to him and bronx teen tony serra (gallagher) and who is taken by his mother to a rehab in new jersey and would be closest to gaglia and is actually much more of a one dimensional being and where there is very little back story (we see a brief freak out and in black and white and in his old home) and little connection to his mother (moriarty) and who has more potential that is never tapped aside from a cold stone who passes her kids off to another. but there is a story to go with his two year crisis and i guess. right off the bat things get rough (a nude cavity search in the first five minutes) and and soon it clear that instead of medical care it more like a cross between anger management and some bizarre religious sect and where the head doctor hiller (insinnia) is a total over controlling loon. but soon tony sister sofia (donohue) gets thrown in to the program and and as opposed to tony repeated moments of outrage and supposed non compliance and she goes head on through the whacked out three step program and once released becoming a runaway. at times there are bits in this fractured nightmare and where there one woman and a 22 year old mother who has been in the program a year and a half finds she become a prisoner not allowed to leave and and when the father of the main siblings comes and pays an enraged visit to hiller when sofia finally returns to them and that do contain some raw power and very brief glimpses of gaglia being able to at least garner some leverage in pure melodrama. but these are moments few and far between. it not just the unsuccessful characters and who are mostly reduced to stereotypes that veer into being like hysterical d. a. r. e. rip offs (maybe some of them and like an angry black youth and the passive aggressive counselors and or even serra older sister who is ratted out by the siblings as having taken a hit off a joint and almost thrown into the program and would resonate more if there was more time given to develop any of them). it that gaglia is so unfocused in his multiple roles on his tiny $30 and 000 budget that not one side of whatever potential talent he has can come through. he over uses tints and mostly with a shade that looks urine coated) and he jiggles his hand held dvx camera as if it supposed to be intense ala city of god and occasionally a character will just shoot into frame randomly and his choices of music are like the worst selections possible from pseudo indie soft rockers and and there even inane fake interview scenes with nicholas serra (inspiration . ) and krakowsky that feel about as false as possible. could gaglia just not get any interviews with the real victims he was with and resort to would be artistically cathartic plan b. bottom line and no matter how much from the heart true life stories may appeal to you and do not bother seeing it in the theater and or even on rental and unless you love a final scene with two kids staring off into the digital hued hudson river sunset with the final words reading represent dedicated to the kids. oy. 
over the gw is a near failure of a debut feature and and not because it not without trying. actually and it is. it a shamble all the more because it writer or director or technical everyman nick gaglia went through the same rehab cult that he depicts in the film. sometimes a first time filmmaker and full of the vigor that comes with getting a thumbs up or two from fellow film students and goes headlong into style that is way too disjointed and unsure and and dramatically frustrating that the personal side of the story and the extremely personal side and gets smudged in the purpose of telling a good story. gaglia and who was 13 when put into a horrid program that basically tortured and brainwashed their patients with crazy group scare tactics and psychological mind f sessions that could go on for days and and attitudes from the rehab leaders that would make most nazis cringe and escaped finally when he was 15. i am glad he got out and though it might help if he now goes into a real rehab for his film making skills and if only for a couple of days and to learn things like and say and structure and proper lighting and fluid camera movement and subtlety with actors and and other basics that are perpetually lost here. it all the more frustrating because gaglia is dealing with a subject that should be shown more to the public (there was recently a newsweek article referring to a similar aa cult rehab). many times one wonders if certain personal character studies might work better as documentaries as opposed to narrative dramas. this is an ever nagging sensation throughout over the gw and where it almost feels like gaglia wants to tell the truth but doesn not know how to communicate it properly through his characters. the character that one would think is closest to him and bronx teen tony serra (gallagher) and who is taken by his mother to a rehab in new jersey and would be closest to gaglia and is actually much more of a one dimensional being and where there is very little back story (we see a brief freak out and in black and white and in his old home) and little connection to his mother (moriarty) and who has more potential that is never tapped aside from a cold stone who passes her kids off to another. but there is a story to go with his two year crisis and i guess. right off the bat things get rough (a nude cavity search in the first five minutes) and and soon it clear that instead of medical care it more like a cross between anger management and some bizarre religious sect and where the head doctor hiller (insinnia) is a total over controlling loon. but soon tony sister sofia (donohue) gets thrown in to the program and and as opposed to tony repeated moments of outrage and supposed non compliance and she goes head on through the whacked out three step program and once released becoming a runaway. at times there are bits in this fractured nightmare and where there one woman and a 22 year old mother who has been in the program a year and a half finds she become a prisoner not allowed to leave and and when the father of the main siblings comes and pays an enraged visit to hiller when sofia finally returns to them and that do contain some raw power and very brief glimpses of gaglia being able to at least garner some leverage in pure melodrama. but these are moments few and far between. it not just the unsuccessful characters and who are mostly reduced to stereotypes that veer into being like hysterical d. a. r. e. rip offs (maybe some of them and like an angry black youth and the passive aggressive counselors and or even serra older sister who is ratted out by the siblings as having taken a hit off a joint and almost thrown into the program and would resonate more if there was more time given to develop any of them). it that gaglia is so unfocused in his multiple roles on his tiny $30 and 000 budget that not one side of whatever potential talent he has can come through. he over uses tints and mostly with a shade that looks urine coated) and he jiggles his hand held dvx camera as if it supposed to be intense ala city of god and occasionally a character will just shoot into frame randomly and his choices of music are like the worst selections possible from pseudo indie soft rockers and and there even inane fake interview scenes with nicholas serra (inspiration . ) and krakowsky that feel about as false as possible. could gaglia just not get any interviews with the real victims he was with and resort to would be artistically cathartic plan b. bottom line and no matter how much from the heart true life stories may appeal to you and do not bother seeing it in the theater and or even on rental and unless you love a final scene with two kids staring off into the digital hued hudson river sunset with the final words reading represent dedicated to the kids. oy. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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