Lovers in a Dangerous Time

Lovers in a Dangerous Time is a simple and charming film, but falls short due to its lack of character and story development. Shot and filmed in small town Creston, BC, the film stars Mark Hug and May Charters (who also wrote and directed the film) as former childhood friends Todd and Allison. Todd (the boy who never left town) dreams of buying land to build a house on. Feeling unhappy and unfulfilled with his life, he resents and lives in the shadow of younger brother Bobby (Mark Wiebe), a star hockey player. Allison, on the other hand, has a successful career in Toronto as an illustrator. But unsure about what her life holds, she's afraid to face the future. Reuniting at their ten-year high school reunion, the two set out to relive their childhood. They form a complicated relationship that pressures them to take the next step when Allison finds her childhood home empty and up for sale. She considers buying it, but the idea only seems like a plan to escape the reality of growing up. While Todd deals with his jealousy over his brother's success, Allison begins to wonder what she wants to do with her life and career. Struggling to face the harsh realities of adulthood, the two attempt to cling to each other but discover their past is more of a burden than benefit. The plot of the film has potential, but the lack of dialogue and character development hold it back. Despite a few anecdotes and a couple of short clips of Allison and Todd's childhood put into the film, not much of their history is revealed. In fact, the movie has a great deal of dead air, which is often covered with shots of beautiful scenery. What can be said is that the two leads have great chemistry. This can most likely be explained by the fact that Hug and Charters were, at the time, a real life couple who worked together to create the film. Add th a few lines about hockey and booze, and the film is undoubtedly Canadian, which is a nice touch for those who live in the country. The disc also features deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Thank goodness the deleted scenes were omitted because most contribute little to the story. And while the behind-the-scenes featurette looks like a shaky home video, it's nice to see Charters and Hug tour the town of Creston while sharing their experiences and thoughts about making the film.