Box Elder (film)

Infobox Film
name = Box Elder


caption = A comedy about dudes, bros, and dude-bros.
director = Todd Sklar
producer = Todd Sklar
Brock Williams
Credit Cards
writer = Todd Sklar
narrator =
starring = Alex Rennie
Nick Renkoski
Chad Haas
Todd Sklar
music =
cinematography = J. Rockwell Seebach
editing = Kamau Bilal
distributor = Range Life Entertainment
released = March 3, 2008 (Ragtag Cinema)
runtime = 91 min
country = USA
language = English
amg_id =
imdb_id = 1215458

Box Elder (2008) is an American independent film. It was written and directed by Todd Sklar, his first feature film. The film stars Alex Rennie, Nick Renkoski, Chad Haas, as well as Sklar.

Plot synopsis

Box Elder follows best friends and roommates, John Scott (Sklar) Alex, Nick, and Chad (Haas) through their final years of college. The loose narrative structure is anchored by John's breakup with his girlfriend Laura (Hina Abdullah). The four dudes party, eat sandwiches, and repeatedly ignore their scholastic responsibilities.

Self-Distribution

In the Spring of 2008, Sklar and a number of cast and crew from the film toured the film from city to city, mostly focusing on college campuses and art-house cinemas. [cite web|url=http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/self-distributing-an-indie-feature/|title=JohnAugust.com: Self-distributing an indie-feature|last=August|first=John|publisher=johnaugust.com|accessdate=2008-07-06] Sklar, via his distribution company, Range Life Entertainment, entered into direct 50-50 revenue-sharing deals with the majority of the theaters at which "Box Elder" screened. [cite web|url=http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2008/04/03/72166423|title=The Great American Bromance |last=Flasher|first=Eli|publisher=Minnesota Daily|accessdate=2008-04-03] According to the filmmaker at numerous post-screening Q&A sessions, Sklar will be bringing "Box Elder", along with a number of other films, back on the road and into theaters in the fall of 2008.

Critical reception

A review on film blog, Row Three, provides an analysis and review of the film, giving it 4 out of 5 stars and calling it, "a witty and funny story that exceeds expectations." [cite web|url=http://www.rowthree.com/2008/04/08/indie-review-box-elder/|title=Indie Review: Box Elder|last=James|first=Andrew|publisher=RowThree.com|accessdate=2008-04-08]

During the film's engagement at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, Time Out Chicago gave the film 3 stars and said it, "plays like a cross between Richard Linklater’s "Slacker" and TV’s "Seinfeld"." [cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/film/chicago/reviews/85506/box-elder.html|title=Box Elder Review|last=Gronvall|first=Andrea|publisher=timeout.com|accessdate=2008-05-15] The Chicago Reader gave a brief review, praising, "the dialogue has actual wit in addition to the usual ironic gloss and Sklar's vision of college is the fond fiction we all like to remember in adulthood." [cite web|url=http://onfilm.chicagoreader.com/movies/capsules/33148_BOX_ELDER|title=Box Elder|last=Jones|first=J.R.|publisher=Chicago Reader|accessdate=2008-05-15]

A review by MyMissourian.com found the film to be humorous at times, but that otherwise the film was "flat and chaotic". [cite web|url=http://mymissourian.com/2008/03/19/box-elder-movie-review/|title="Box Elder" Movie Review|last=Zima|first=Lauren|publisher=MyMissourian.com|accessdate=2008-06-16]

Cast

References

External links

*imdb title|id=1215458|title=Box Elder
* [http://www.boxeldermovie.com Official Site]
* [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Box-Elder/11987386116 Facebook Page]
* [http://youtube.com/boxeldermovie Box Elder Youtube Channel]
* [http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2007/09/27/box-elder-and-sundance-kid/ Vox Magazine - Box Elder and the Sundance kid]