Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Eddie Marsan, Paul Anderson, Ivana Baquero, Richard Brake, Oliver Coopersmith, Alexis Rodney, Anthony Head, Alana Boden, Nacho Aldeguer, Stephen Hughes, Lis Torron, Garrett Wall.
When you are the king or queen of your own little bubble, when you can say exactly what is on your mind and damn the consequences, that is the moment when you should arguably take note of your surroundings more and keep careful watch for the haters and the accusers, the Feedback is one that is important, because it might stop you from being placed in a situation that you cannot win.
Jarvis Dolan is king of the radio, a man whose opinions rub people up the wrong way, and yet there is something deeper, something even more rotten eating away, for the greatest privilege in having a voice, is using it for those that cannot speak; something that Jarvis Dolan has completely forgotten.
Eddie Marsan never seems to let the viewer down in his performances, the perpetual underdog who rises magnificently to the occasion, he is once again on hand to keep this chilling tale of deception and retribution rolling at just the right pace.
The characterisation he brings to the demeanour of walking the tight line between sympathetically moral and dubiously corrupt, which is always endlessly fascinating, takes in a different beat in the role of the opinionated radio host, and the question of guilt is shrouded by the way that Ivana Baquero and Richard Burke hound him and threaten his daughter for the truth as they want to hear it is one in which the malevolence in the character would mean little in the hands of another actor.
Feedback is one of those films which seemed to escape the attentions of the cinema going public, a case perhaps for the declaration that the ‘super-hero’ led industry that has come in the last ten years has overshadowed, perhaps even consumed, the smaller independent film, and whilst heavyweight directors such as Martin Scorsese have waded in to the frame with their own thoughts on this state of cinematic affairs, it should be noted that a film does depend on financial equality to make it viable, that does not mean, as Feedback aptly proves, that it should not be produced, enjoyed, and talked about.
One of the finest examples of claustrophobic filmmaking, the intensity of the story is elevated beyond what is expected; damning, impressive and created with the element of Noir weaved tantalisingly throughout; Feedback is arguably a contender for film of the decade.
Ian D. Hall