The Earth, the Way I Left It (2013, Jeff Pinilla)

Oh, good grief. I really wanted to start out with the positives about The Earth, the Way I Left It put director Pinilla goes out on such an unbelievably saccharine note–after being way too obvious a minute or two before–I just can't.

Pinilla's got some very good composition chops. But Earth just keeps on biting off more than it can deliver. It's set in 1962. Why? Why not. Because 1962 is the only time kids can like astronauts, apparently. And then there's a 8mm camera, so Pinilla can fill us in on the situation through flashbacks. But not real ones because the dead brother (sorry, it's about some girl who's visited by her dead brother's ghost dressed up as an astronaut) disappears from the footage for emphasis.

Then there's some weird thing with the parents not speaking English.

It's all over the place.

Earth needs to be insightful; it's trite.

Not Recommended

CREDITS

Edited and directed by Jeff Pinilla; written and produced by Pinilla and Matthew Pourviseh; director of photography, Justin Simpson.

Starring Amelia Osborne (Alexandria).