Limits to Ambition

By: Soren Reddy
In-House Review - Oct 19 2012

It's a bold attempt for anyone to set out to make a feature film. It's an even bolder attempt when working with a limited budget. Director Mason Stone and writer/star Reiner Prochaska should therefore be commended for their ability to bring Prochaska's novel, "Limits to Ambition," to screen. Unfortunately, their efforts are somewhat hampered by the extent of their own ambition. The film version of Limits to Ambition suffers greatly from haphazard story structuring and terribly unconvincing performances. These two pronounced flaws occasionally pull the experience of the film towards a sublime level of camp, but the overall humorlessness of the production dulls this potentially brightening effect.
Perhaps the filmmakers would argue that the woodenness of the performances were intentional. That the awkward phrasing of each line, the "you speak, then I speak" recording of each bit of dialogue was a deliberate bit of cinematic wizardry meant to highlight the secrets each character is hiding. Perhaps, also, the lack of coherent structure is meant to reflect the lack of coherent structure in daily life. Perhaps, but we're not really buying it.
The story opens with all of the characters who go on to become the principals as children experiencing the 1969 moon landing. Only in the very last scene does this nearly 10 minute opening sequence appear to be relevant at all. We then fast forward over 20 years to Michael (played by writer Reiner Prochaska ) moving to the United States where he moves in with Steve (Douglas Cathro) who is an old friend and a soldier in the U.S. army. We quickly identify a hint of sexual tension between them, before the filmmakers subject us to a seemingly needless foray into Michael's difficulties finding a job. We then meet Julia who is a hooker in Atlanta. These three characters and the way they reveal their deepest secrets form the heart of the drama. There's also a serial killer on the prowl and his storyline is, for whatever reason, given nearly equal weight to those of the central characters.
We can most wholeheartedly recommend this film to a very particular subset of film viewer: those who want to laugh at unintentional awkwardness, bad acting and completely random plotting. Many, many scenes occur that will have viewers scratching their heads and muttering to their friends, "wait, why did that happen?" Equally bad are the performances. Now, we understand that low-budget filmmakers have to cast the people willing to work for the least money, but holy crap are these people awful. Winning the award for worst performance is Leanna Chamish who plays the escort/beard Julia and seems to be modeling her performance on Vivien Leigh's in A Streetcar Named Desire... if they'd replaced Leigh with the dead last place finisher at the Decatur drag ball. Her highly artificial sounding accent might be intentional (a plot twist towards the end will reveal why) but it often will make viewers negatively compare it to their local high school's junior varsity theater department's performers.
So much is wrong with this movie that it almost seems like kicking a dead dog to criticize it so much. But, still, watching it is a strangely enjoyable experience. There's a warmth to the proceedings that shines through despite the over-cramming of plot and the under-direction of all the actors. Viewers may be left flabbergasted at the goings-on, but it is always fun to watch a train wreck.

By: Amos Lassen

"Limits to Ambition" is all about Michael Dvorak's (Reiner Prochaska) search to find out who he really is. In 1990 he left Germany and came to America hoping that the trip would give me an idea of who he was. He is aware that he is attracted to his best friend, Steve (DC Cathro), who is also his roommate but he avoids actually accepting that and begins an affair with Julia (Leanna Chamish) who has secrets in her past. She tries to reconcile her relationship with Michael while working as a call girl. She suspects Michael of being gay but she holds on because she needs him in order to stay clear of one of her clients, a murderer, who knows that her testimony about him could lock him away. She is also affair that Steve is jealous of her relationship to Michael and thinks that Steve could betray her. Each of the three characters has his own demons to deal with.
Does this sound complicated? The film is complex as the men face themselves and each other. Most of us can identify with Michael and his fear of not only facing his sexuality but afraid of what others will think of him. He, therefore, tries to act as if he is someone else and for him, avoidance of facing the issue seems wise. Director Mason Stone powerfully deals with this and gets excellent performances from his cast).
There is a great deal of jealousy in the film and all three of the characters are involved in struggles but they also share a will to survive whatever faces them. Perhaps the most unique struggle is Julia who is using prostitution as a way to make things right. It is not enough to try to find out who she really is but add to that a murder and it becomes that much more difficult. Her life, as well as the lives of Steve and Michael, is falling apart.
The view of sexuality is fresh and interesting and we watch the characters grow into themselves. We only hear about what could go wrong while we see what goes right. This is a very intelligent film that keeps the viewer guessing and also gives him a great deal to think about. It is very hard to find out who one is and as we journey with the characters, our eyes are opened to a new way of life.
I am not sure where this film falls genre-wise and I just do not think that is so important here. The best thing is to sit and watch and allow yourself to embark on the journey with the characters and I believe you will feel rewarded by this.