TRIBECA REVIEW: ‘43,000 Feet’

Campbell Hooper’s 43,000 Feet is perhaps a little too clever for its own good. The 9-minute film is an extended monologue from a man falling to his certain death after an airplane disaster high in the sky. As he descends into finality, John Wilkins (Dylan Pharazyn) analyzes everything occurring around him. Whether it’s the science and math behind his falling velocity or recommendations he would give to someone else in a similar circumstance, John has decided to spend his final few minutes in deep, introspective thought.

All of the dialogue in the short film is presented as a voiceover. We never capture a full picture of what John looks like — only glimpses of his previous life, his position on the doomed flight and his falling through the sky. Instead, we look closer at mathematical diagrams and animated sequences that bring to life his wayward thoughts.

The totality of Hooper’s film, which is currently playing the Tribeca Film Festival, is sensory overload. The images are sprung at the audience in such quick succession, and the voiceover becomes so convoluted, that it’s difficult to appreciate 43,000 Feet. Yes, the man is falling to his death, so there’s not much time to slow down. But as viewers, we are left with a testimonial and faint portrait of a man who faces the world armed with his vocabulary and practical thinking. There’s definitely a character here, but it’s hidden underneath cinematic tricks and visual displays.

That being said, some of the visuals are quite striking. Hooper has a unique way of showing fluidity and movement, and he captures the originality in any given scene (the split screen at the ticket booth is the best sequence).

The text of the monologue fits John’s profession (he was headed to a statistician conference), but that doesn’t help us understand him any better. Surely, people who deal in statistics are more literal and pragmatic, but that’s not a license for deadpan line delivery and overly mathematical ponderances.

This dark comedy is the product of a skilled hand, but I’m not sure if anything is learned from the experiment. Although I do know that falling into a tree is better than falling on the ground.

43,000 Feet is part of the Status Update program at Tribeca.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• 43,000 Feet will play April 22 at 7 p.m. (AMC Loews Village 7); April 27 at 6:30 p.m. and April 28 at 11:30 a.m. (Clearview Cinemas Chelsea); and April 29 at 5 p.m. (Tribeca Cinemas Theater 2). Click here for more information.