First and foremost one can't watch this film without first engaging in an inevitable comparison to HBO's "The Wire". Benjamin Busch culled many of that series actors at the season's end to take part in his directional debut. Being a huge fan of that show it can prove to be an initial distraction but the styles are much different and the actors are allowed to stretch into different characters. If you expect "The Wire- The Lost Episode" than you will be disappointed. You shouldn't be.Opening with a brilliant performance by the vastly underused Domenick Lombardozzi the film slowly builds into a taut, thinking-man's thriller. There's many twists and turns and it requires constant attention. In many ways it reminding me of a more cerebral version of the Mark Wahlberg film "Shooter". Throw into the mix several fantastic performances by the cast, including a standout turn by Clarke Peters, and you're in for a solid hour's entertainment.Busch's direction recalls the 70's paranoid thrillers and the work of such directors as Alan J. Pakula, John Frankenheimer, and Arthur Penn. I hope to see him directing more as his debut shows a lot of potential for a good run of films. And if he gave himself a role that wouldn't hurt either, particularly after his memorable role as Colicchio in The Wire. Find this film at your local festival. You won't be disappointed.P.S. IMDb doesn't count 10 star ratings are "real" so I gave this an 8 to make it believable. But it should be a 10!

First-time writer-director Benjamin Busch has created a fine film, with an excellent cast and acting, great production values, and the same judicious eye he brings to his other métier as a fine-art photographer. Rarely has so ambitious an effort succeeded so well and with such highly limited resources and a suffocatingly tight production schedule. Featuring a cast and crew almost completely drawn from the HBO original series "The Wire," "Sympathetic Details" is full of talent and made with care both in front of and behind the camera. From its seemingly banal yet arresting opening monologue to its devastating ending, the film catches you up in its thought-provoking twists on the hit-man genre. This is a film into every aspect of which great thought and all deliberate care was injected. In his notes on the film, provided along with its entry in February in the Almost Famous Film Festival (A3F) in downtown Phoenix, Busch discusses the levels of meaning contributed by his choices of settings, props and the composition of the shots. Apart from the narrative level in which a hit-man with a conscience is enveloped in ever-shifting mazes of intrigue, there are larger philosophical themes at play, contrasting the ways in which we care for one another (or don't) with the cold indifference of Nature, the universe--with its lack of intrinsic meaning or purpose. This film stood head and shoulders above other A3F entries, many of which held their own as typical fare of a lower-tier short film festival. (We say that in all fondness for it, as a past judge for, sponsor of, and writer about the event.) Regrettably, Busch had the time and resources to shoot only an hour-long movie, though his original script would have resulted in about a 95-minute feature. Regarding the abridged length, how can anyone, as a viewer, know or even guess how keeping the originally conceived elements of a unitary, coherent work of art would affect it? Possible lulls in the middle of this film are as easily a result of things not hanging together and propelling forward as well as they might, due to the missing elements. In our opinion, this film cries out to be realized at its full intended length. Watching it, we seemed conscious that there were additional plot twists and nuances of character development and the characters' relationships that were missing from the screen and that we, and the film, would have benefited from incorporating.However, we have found the somewhat opaque title less than apt, not very conducive to piquing initial interest in the film. Granted, it references a meaningful moment and catch-phrase in the film, but it's a bit esoteric and also doesn't trip too easily off the tongue.Back to the performances: Yes, there may be a few stiff moments, but it's correct to dwell more on the predominant, noteworthy turns on the part of Busch's comrades from "The Wire" (and the one or two outside cast, such as Marisol Chacin), who clearly aren't chary with their talents. They evidently believed in both Busch and the material, and brought to bear their full acting skills in realizing characters the viewer buys into without reservation.This is a film we'd have been glad to pay to see, and if there's a benefactor out there with the resources to help see it brought to full feature length, we'll be glad to sing its further praises to them. In the meantime, attendees at other film fests in which it's entered are in for a treat. And we WILL pay to see it when it graduates to merited commercial status. Republication of preview and folo articles on A3F and "Sympathetic Details" can be found by googling the name of our print publication, The Midtown Messenger, and clicking on the link for its blog.

Benjamin Busch's Sympathetic Details showed here at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival as the "short" film of a double-header bill with a feature length work. It is tough to call this film a short because its 57 minute runtime puts it on the cusp of being more. I don't think anyone would ever release a movie under an hour, however, so I guess it becomes a short by default. As is, I think Busch did the right thing in not trying to expand on it to increase the length. Anything more would have been noticeably filler and have screwed up the pacing, which already is a bit odd in the middle. Maybe because it screened from a DVD, but it looked and felt like a true indie, done on the cheap with some friends, yet still reached a higher level of professionalism than would be normally expected from something like that.With all his co-stars from the HBO drama "The Wire" in action, we are treated to a darker rendition of similar themes as those in this year's black comedy In Bruges. The story concerns a hit-man who has grown a conscience and started asking about his target's survival statistics, the family he will be leaving behind, or as his boss calls it, unnecessary sympathetic details. In this line of work, asking moral questions and then walking away is practically a suicide note as is relayed during the course of the movie. If you are too soft to do the job, you may be too soft to allow others to continue it as well. Any risk of an ex-assassin going informer must be dealt with.Our evolved killer is played by actor Ryan Sands with mixed results. At times he is perfect, but in others he plays it a bit stiff and unnatural. Maybe this was intentional as he was going out of his cold-blooded mentality, but he seemed completely devoid of emotion, a trait that appeared in the script to be what he was discovering. He should have been affected by what happened around him and not just started asking questions while doing his job business as usual. The stoic façade does work perfectly for the final act, though, as he uses his skills to try and save his own life.As for the rest of the cast, we are treated with some solid turns. Clarke Peters is pitch-perfect as the big boss without morals, doing his job because it must be done. His handling of an assistant, at the start, and his conversation with Sands, at the end, are two great scenes. John Doman is effective as Sands' handler, showing the evolution of feeling that his employee and friend should have had as well. Mixed on whether to do his job as he knows it should be done, (these are bad men with reasons to die, one shouldn't forget that fact just because they have a family at home), or to protect his colleague because he knows what his future may hold adds a nice layer to the story. There are also nice showings from Marisol Chacin, (a crucial cog to the system that one may overlook), Domenick Lombardozzi, (setting the tone of the film), and Seth Gilliam, (the true nature of how a criminal lives dual lives of deceit and love depending on who he is dealing with).Busch has crafted something here with a lot of potential. There are flaws for sure, but the base is solid. Starting out with a bang—showing an incident and fringe characters, playing with the audience's notion of investing in people because they are on screen for a long time without knowing how the story will progress, that really just sets up our introduction to the lead role hidden from view—and concluding with a stellar final act that brings everything full circle, the film is bookmarked perfectly. The middle is the weak link, trying to set up relationships without really needing to. You forget any lulls once the end comes as it all falls into place and everyone's allegiances are brought to the surface. I give a lot of credit to Busch for ending it as it needed to be. Not quite completely bleak, but definitely not cheery, Sympathetic Details concludes on a note of closure for all involved, bringing each arc to its inevitable finale.

I had the pleasure of screening this entertaining and well-shot film at our festival in February 2008. "Sympathetic Details" was one of three Jury Award winning films from over 75 international submissions. We also had the honor of having the film's director, Benjamin Busch, in attendance and conducting a Q&A with the audience after the screening. Benjamin has made a quality film that is a fine example of what a true independent film can achieve. Its high standards in cinematography, acting, production value and most importantly, story-telling, made this a must-see movie at our festival.I highly recommend "Sympathetic Details" to any indie-film enthusiast or up-and-coming filmmakers looking for examples of quality work.Jae Staats, Director Almost Famous Film Festival www.theA3F.net