Ripple Effect (2007)
7/10
Hit and run
23 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
As the movie starts, we watch a man on a lonely road at night, walking. We hear an impact and naturally, we think the man has been hit by a car we don't see. After the titles, we are taken to a shoot for a clothing sports line using the label Trash. The main force behind the clothes is being photographed with a hot model. This man, Amir Atrash, seems to be on his way up in the fashion industry.

Well, things don't go too well for Atrash, who has to cut expenses when the investment bankers that are behind a deal to take the label to the stratosphere, have cheated on the contract that would make the designer a millionaire. He walks out the deal. Atrash, who has a lovely wife, is not a happy man. This explains why we see him at a party where a paraplegic man is among the guests. Atrash follows him, and his wife because he has a thing to tell Philip, the man on the wheel chair: he was the one that struck him and is responsible for his present condition.

This film written, directed and acted by Philip Caland, was a surprise when we stumbled into it recently. "Ripple Effect" is an engrossing film of redemption as the guilty man has carried a burden within him for a lot of years and now, when we meet him, he wants to ask forgiveness as he tells his victim what happened that fateful night.

Some of the great cast that was assembled are also producers of this picture and it helps explain how comfortable they feel playing their roles. Forest Whitaker is the paraplegic man. Philip Caland plays Atrash with conviction. Also seen the gorgeous Virginia Madsen, Minnie Driver, Kali Rocha, John Billingsley, among others.

The haunting music is by Anthony Martinelli. The fantastic editing was done by two men who know a thing or two about movies, Yvan Gauthier and Joseph Semanse. The camera work by Daron Keet also enhances the film.

While no doubt this film will be liked, or dismissed, it's worth a view by discerning viewers.
10 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed