A Fatigue Films (Wales) production. Produced by Mark Faiers, Chris Dawson. Directed, edited by Michael Barnes. Screenplay, Barnes, Mark Faiers.
With: Mark Faiers, Chris Dawson, Simon Spree, Sophie Coryndon, Keith Dickenson, Alan Smith, Ross Cowley, Michael Barnes.
An artfully designed neo-noir knockoff, "Fatigue" distinguishes itself with a tough look and a convincingly bad attitude. Pic, knocking around in different cuts for more than three years, won a feature award at last fall's Great Lakes fest, and could further exhaust itself in midnight showings at other festivals. Commercial prospects are secondary to its value as a stylish calling card.
Grisly crime tale follows Mitchell (brooding Mark Faiers), a waster sucked in over his head with local gangsters among them a po-faced thug (Chris Dawson) who sets Mitch up to take the fall for a diamond heist. When grungy protag ends up with the hot rocks, he hightails it to London, dragging along mercenary ex-g.f. (Sophie Coryndon, who shouldn't quit her day job). Fallout is nasty, brutish and relatively short, allowing for a novel number of gory sendoffs in time allotted. Cardiff and Welsh countryside settings are appropriately dispiriting, and pic-makers Faiers, Dawson, and Michael Barnes (who also has a small part) show tremendous resourcefulness with a story that doesn't quite justify the effort.
Camera (color-BetaSP), Barnes; music, production designers, Barnes, Faiers. Reviewed at Victoria Film Festival, Jan. 31, 2004. Running time: 84 MIN.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com