I was reading his autobiography that I picked up at a yard sale (good read) and learned that before Malcom In The Middle, when he was still scrounging for work, Cranston wrote, directed, co-starred in and mostly self-financed with his wife Robin, who had the lead role, this indie film.
I was curious and searched for it. You can only stream it on Tubi. Free, with just a couple of brief ad breaks.
Very well done. Fine cast, good cinematography. I think he said the budget was only $300,000. Almost ran out of money to finish it. If you see it, pay close attention to the document that gets a close up for a second or two right at the end. Nice Easter egg that was probably used to save a few bucks.
I'll always remember this because it's one of the only times I remember a director doing something like this. Also, it was at a time before Bryan Cranston became the superstar that he is today.
Like any proud father, I don't particularly like it when my "baby" is criticized, however, when one displays their art for the public, one must take the "pounding" along with the "pats". Anonymous has the right to an opinion, so my missive is not intended to declare that Anonymous is wrong, rather to offer a different viewpoint to balance the scale, then let each film goer decide.
First, let me concur with Anonymous on the occasional darkness of the film itself. We were aware of the problem, but opted to go with what we had at the time instead of missing the Palm Springs Film Festival altogether. As of this date the visual and sound "blemishes" are being corrected. Our gamble was that the audience would be emotionally invested in the characters and story and would overlook the few problems. From the official results of the audience poll, we guessed correctly. After word-of-mouth filled the theater to near capacity (400 seats) for our first screening, we got a "standing room only" response (300 seats) on our second and last screening. On a scale of 1-5 (1=poor, 2=okay, 3=average, 4=good, 5=excellent) Last Chance received a "4.5"! So, nearly 700 people had a completely different experience than did Anonymous. Just their opinion.
Secondly, I won't argue the point that my direction was "inept" as Anonymous put it, but I won't agree with it either. The jury is still out on that. But I will say that any professional actor will tell you that all good performances begin with good writing. When Anonymous stated that Last Chance had "decent to good performances", he unknowingly complimented me. That's not to take anything away from the actors mentioned, they were fantastic, as were the rest of the cast, in fact the area I'm most proud of is that there are no bad performances anywhere in the film...again, just an opinion.
Lastly, my curiosity beckons me to challenge "Anonymous" to elaborate where the film has "gaping lapses in plausibility, scenes tossed in at random for non apparent purpose". Maybe we can have a respectful debate on the issues over the internet? Are you willing , Anonymous?! Perhaps you'd also reconsider your desire to stay anonymous. I find that when anyone is bold enough to build a soap box, stand on it, and declare their feelings to the whole world, but refuses to back it up with their name, the message looses some of its validity...but then again, that's just my opinion.
Bryan Cranston
Writer\Director
In comment 16548609 DCOrange said:
I'll always remember this because it's one of the only times I remember a director doing something like this. Also, it was at a time before Bryan Cranston became the superstar that he is today.
Like any proud father, I don't particularly like it when my "baby" is criticized, however, when one displays their art for the public, one must take the "pounding" along with the "pats". Anonymous has the right to an opinion, so my missive is not intended to declare that Anonymous is wrong, rather to offer a different viewpoint to balance the scale, then let each film goer decide.
First, let me concur with Anonymous on the occasional darkness of the film itself. We were aware of the problem, but opted to go with what we had at the time instead of missing the Palm Springs Film Festival altogether. As of this date the visual and sound "blemishes" are being corrected. Our gamble was that the audience would be emotionally invested in the characters and story and would overlook the few problems. From the official results of the audience poll, we guessed correctly. After word-of-mouth filled the theater to near capacity (400 seats) for our first screening, we got a "standing room only" response (300 seats) on our second and last screening. On a scale of 1-5 (1=poor, 2=okay, 3=average, 4=good, 5=excellent) Last Chance received a "4.5"! So, nearly 700 people had a completely different experience than did Anonymous. Just their opinion.
Secondly, I won't argue the point that my direction was "inept" as Anonymous put it, but I won't agree with it either. The jury is still out on that. But I will say that any professional actor will tell you that all good performances begin with good writing. When Anonymous stated that Last Chance had "decent to good performances", he unknowingly complimented me. That's not to take anything away from the actors mentioned, they were fantastic, as were the rest of the cast, in fact the area I'm most proud of is that there are no bad performances anywhere in the film...again, just an opinion.
Lastly, my curiosity beckons me to challenge "Anonymous" to elaborate where the film has "gaping lapses in plausibility, scenes tossed in at random for non apparent purpose". Maybe we can have a respectful debate on the issues over the internet? Are you willing , Anonymous?! Perhaps you'd also reconsider your desire to stay anonymous. I find that when anyone is bold enough to build a soap box, stand on it, and declare their feelings to the whole world, but refuses to back it up with their name, the message looses some of its validity...but then again, that's just my opinion.
Bryan Cranston
Writer\Director