As I progress through my personally designed course of film studies, I’ve added some essential reading to the curriculum this week with Timothy Corrigan’s “A Short Guide to Writing About Film.” I hope the text will help articulate my perspectives and analysis in cinema that will grow through study from the other textbooks I’ve been diving into. The first foundation in “Writing About Film” is focused on understanding the various types of film essays, be they reviews, theoretical or critical analysis. By better understanding the differences, I can position each entry on this site based on intended audience and purpose.  

The first exercise “Writing About Film” seems easy enough. Identify elements of a film that I consider both good and bad and write a paragraph about each. With that prompt in mind, I present my thoughts on director Duke Johnson’s The Actor (2025)

Good

The Actor wastes no time in dropping its audience into the dreamy story of Paul (The Actor) suffering both an injury and memory loss as he slowly journeys to the one thing he can remember, home in New York. The film is filled with an interesting cast playing a variety of roles within “The Troupe” a stylistic choice proudly announced in the opening title cards. The performances are solid, and the actors commit to their roles with sincerity, particularly Gemma Chan who showcases convincing turns in a variety of expressions: enchanting, sultry, jaded, forlorn. The Art Direction makes the most of the budget, raiding the wardrobe and set departments from the early seasons of Mad Men to capture the late 50s, early 60s aesthetic.

Bad

With a muddling plot that paces out the breadcrumbs of Paul’s memory coming to light in abysmally slow faction, The Actor takes years to get to it’s unsatisfying conclusion. Even with a relatively short run time, this Twilight Zone episode of a concept (even alluded to with an opening scene narration) is stretched out so thinly, it becomes a slog, especially when the setting transitions from small town Ohio dynamics to the New York nightlife scene. Soft focus cinematography that aims to depict a fuzzy dreamlike quality only lessens the quality of the film, acting more like a nostalgic Instagram filter that tries to paper over the insufficiencies rather than set the appropriate mood. It squanders the positive visual setting with it’s theatrical flourishes, the settings though visually appealing, don’t feel lived in or real, rather appearing glued and starched into place. The Actor relies too heavily on theatrical tricks, stage lighting, the blocking of performers and trickery of transitions. All of which could be an intentional choice based on the lead character’s profession, but in contrast to a similar style employed by Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, feels artificial often steering into a poor student film that had a little bit of extra money to spend.