 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Family Director: Casey Kelly |
For anyone that is interested in having a little bit of fun on a Saturday morning with the kids, “The Bracelet of Bordeaux” is a funny
enough movie and is fairly family friendly. Though the film has enough fun packed into it for children to enjoy, it may not have what it
takes in order for it to be welcome for an extended period of time.
The story is focused around Helen, a girl who recently moved to Chem City in Texas with her dad, Lubbock, and her mom, Honey. Upon
being greeted at the airport by a group of smiles, singing twins and a longhorn adorned Humvee, the three arrive at their new Armadillo
Estates home only to find that a group of blackmailing punks that are being back by a mafia that meets on a riverboat have stolen the
French neighbor Marie’s poodle and Honey’s favorite sofa. Since Lubbock is not into fighting crime, a call to 9-1-1 tells him to take a
number and wait and he is soon off to the oil wells to work. That leave Honey to shop and the nerdy Wood Sprout Scout Helen and her
new friend Marie to solve the crime. They work on solving the crime with the help of a magic bracelet that was once worn by Marie’s
grandmother to help the French Resistance burn down a Nazi concentration camp.
The comedy in this film is broad and is often funny as the first time writer Frank Eakin and first time director Casey Kelly in a roundabout
way exploit the small Texas town where the film was set and shot. Even though everything is bigger in Texas, Easkin and Kelly have
aimed for the small is better approach to comedy, gently targeting the do good scouting groups, the not so good petroleum
manufacturers, jingle singing twins, impolite shopkeepers and toothless stoop sitters as the subjects of their jokes. Sure, this is a kid
level satire that feels a lot like SpongeBob SquarePants, but it also feels like many of the speaking roles in the film have been filled by
people that director Casey Kelly knew personally, playing themselves. This means that the humor of the film never gets mean, which is
a good thing, but this means that is often gets kind of dumb. There is a scene which involves a dimwitted dog mafia stooge feeding
Tabasco to the dogs in order to get them to pass gas for a cheap laugh.
Like many low budget films, the film it now and ask editing questions later approach to filsm often gives some awkward sequences and
way too many close up shots without establishing shots to help the audience orient themselves with the action occurring on screen.
Viewers will find themselves frequently chuckling every once in a while at some of the clever wordplay that occurs in the dialogue of the
film. Kelly is able to also get a number of slapstick performances from every member of the cast. Even though Ally Claire Carson plays
her role as Helen well, actually, viewers will find themselves looking forward to the next odd surprise that the next small role offers.
There are a bunch of odd moments in the film, but it doesn’t happen very often in a low budget film that the background action is almost
as interesting as the main action of the film.
Unfortunately for those who decide to take their chance to watch this film, the second half of the film seems to get a little slow, slow to
the point that it could be run a double speed without really missing much of the film. At 99 minutes, the story of the film seems to be
stretched roughly 30 minutes too long for adults, though a majority of kids will be able to make it through the film just fine as long as
they have a snack to munch on and possibly a coloring book to work on during the dull moments of the film.
Of course the film offers a lesson to be learned by those who are watching, but the lessons seem to be a little strange. First, Marie’s
grandmother lectures her about the dangers of being led off course by organizations that are developed for children, the primary
reference being to the Hilter Youth, not the Wood Sprout Scouts, which may be difficult for all to understand. It also gets confusing when
her grandmother describes Hitler as the man who turned the world upside down. It is difficult to understand what exactly the writer was
working towards with this comment, and what children were supposed to do with this information. It is obvious that there is a lesson to
be learned with this comment from grandmother, but it is difficult to understand what that lesson is supposed to be.
Second, when Marie and Helen go behind grandmother’s back to use the Magic Bracelet to break the crime ring and rescue the stolen
dogs, Marie is clearly given the message that it is okay to break rules once in a while in order to serve the greater good. Though it is a
great message to send, it seems to be a much more relevant lesson for adults than for children. Most children would think that
anything that benefits them is considered the greater good.
Overall, “The Bracelet of Bordeaux” does a pretty good job for being a low budget film. This who watch the film won’t regret renting the
film for some weekend entertainment, but many probably won’t want to watch the film more than once.
enough movie and is fairly family friendly. Though the film has enough fun packed into it for children to enjoy, it may not have what it
takes in order for it to be welcome for an extended period of time.
The story is focused around Helen, a girl who recently moved to Chem City in Texas with her dad, Lubbock, and her mom, Honey. Upon
being greeted at the airport by a group of smiles, singing twins and a longhorn adorned Humvee, the three arrive at their new Armadillo
Estates home only to find that a group of blackmailing punks that are being back by a mafia that meets on a riverboat have stolen the
French neighbor Marie’s poodle and Honey’s favorite sofa. Since Lubbock is not into fighting crime, a call to 9-1-1 tells him to take a
number and wait and he is soon off to the oil wells to work. That leave Honey to shop and the nerdy Wood Sprout Scout Helen and her
new friend Marie to solve the crime. They work on solving the crime with the help of a magic bracelet that was once worn by Marie’s
grandmother to help the French Resistance burn down a Nazi concentration camp.
The comedy in this film is broad and is often funny as the first time writer Frank Eakin and first time director Casey Kelly in a roundabout
way exploit the small Texas town where the film was set and shot. Even though everything is bigger in Texas, Easkin and Kelly have
aimed for the small is better approach to comedy, gently targeting the do good scouting groups, the not so good petroleum
manufacturers, jingle singing twins, impolite shopkeepers and toothless stoop sitters as the subjects of their jokes. Sure, this is a kid
level satire that feels a lot like SpongeBob SquarePants, but it also feels like many of the speaking roles in the film have been filled by
people that director Casey Kelly knew personally, playing themselves. This means that the humor of the film never gets mean, which is
a good thing, but this means that is often gets kind of dumb. There is a scene which involves a dimwitted dog mafia stooge feeding
Tabasco to the dogs in order to get them to pass gas for a cheap laugh.
Like many low budget films, the film it now and ask editing questions later approach to filsm often gives some awkward sequences and
way too many close up shots without establishing shots to help the audience orient themselves with the action occurring on screen.
Viewers will find themselves frequently chuckling every once in a while at some of the clever wordplay that occurs in the dialogue of the
film. Kelly is able to also get a number of slapstick performances from every member of the cast. Even though Ally Claire Carson plays
her role as Helen well, actually, viewers will find themselves looking forward to the next odd surprise that the next small role offers.
There are a bunch of odd moments in the film, but it doesn’t happen very often in a low budget film that the background action is almost
as interesting as the main action of the film.
Unfortunately for those who decide to take their chance to watch this film, the second half of the film seems to get a little slow, slow to
the point that it could be run a double speed without really missing much of the film. At 99 minutes, the story of the film seems to be
stretched roughly 30 minutes too long for adults, though a majority of kids will be able to make it through the film just fine as long as
they have a snack to munch on and possibly a coloring book to work on during the dull moments of the film.
Of course the film offers a lesson to be learned by those who are watching, but the lessons seem to be a little strange. First, Marie’s
grandmother lectures her about the dangers of being led off course by organizations that are developed for children, the primary
reference being to the Hilter Youth, not the Wood Sprout Scouts, which may be difficult for all to understand. It also gets confusing when
her grandmother describes Hitler as the man who turned the world upside down. It is difficult to understand what exactly the writer was
working towards with this comment, and what children were supposed to do with this information. It is obvious that there is a lesson to
be learned with this comment from grandmother, but it is difficult to understand what that lesson is supposed to be.
Second, when Marie and Helen go behind grandmother’s back to use the Magic Bracelet to break the crime ring and rescue the stolen
dogs, Marie is clearly given the message that it is okay to break rules once in a while in order to serve the greater good. Though it is a
great message to send, it seems to be a much more relevant lesson for adults than for children. Most children would think that
anything that benefits them is considered the greater good.
Overall, “The Bracelet of Bordeaux” does a pretty good job for being a low budget film. This who watch the film won’t regret renting the
film for some weekend entertainment, but many probably won’t want to watch the film more than once.
