User Reviews

I felt this movie was entertaining to the point where it did its job in getting me out of my head(which i use movies for). I also felt the characters were fairly well developed, considering all the different characters involved. It had a realism about it that ironically added to the escapism element- that others' misfortunes can go a long way to make my life seem OK! The location of the filming definitely added to the point it was attempting to make. I consider this film for what it is- a decent independent film. I thought it to be very entertaining. It takes me a lot to stop, sit still and get "into" a new film I've never heard of- let alone an independent film on IFC channel, where others films haven't grabbed me. I think the cinematography was a big factor is stopping my remote on this movie initially with the whole "young people" drama thing being another pull.

Despite what other reviewers have claimed, anyone with a good deal of experience watching independent first efforts will recognize this as one right off the bat. The film looks and sounds good, but it simply isn't tight, economical or syntactically advanced enough to be from experienced filmmakers. Of course, that doesn't make this a bad film. Sometimes the rawness of such first efforts enhances the material.

After six minutes or so I wanted to cut the film off, but I decided to give it a little more time. I watched up until the 20 minute mark and gave up. To put it bluntly, I HATED the lead character. He's one of those incredibly stupid people who wear their idiocy around like a badge of honor. Movies about stupid people who do stupid things have never interested me (KIDS, etc.) and I just couldn't take watching another 80 minutes or so of slurred speech, raging egos and pathetic juvenile macho posturing.

Are these characters realistic? Yeah, there certainly are people that dumb and obnoxious. Are they worth making a movie about? Not at all.

Breathtaking in its cinematography and compelling in its story, The Flats is a great first effort for the Requa brothers. Kelly and Tyler do an excellent job of portraying a coming of age tale with subtly and compassion. Far from depicting the damaged Harper as a one-dimensional character, which would have been easy to do, the Requa brothers craft a multi-faceted portrait of a man forced to come to terms with his past, his reckless behavior, and his entrance into adulthood. Chad Lindbergh does a fantastic job of playing Harper with the subtly and skill he has become known for. It is clear that he is poised to break through into super-stardom. That said, however, this film would not have risen to such comedic heights without the able assistance of Greg Fawcett in the role of Chaz. For me, he stole the show. If you consider yourself an independent film buff, your resume will not be complete without seeing this film. I highly recommend it.

This rural tale of troubled teen boys trying to find a future in their small Northwest town avoids being sappy and trite but it never finds it's soul nor does it require the audience to care about the two lead. Harper has problems, often getting into trouble with the law and drinking too much. He comes home only to create problems with his friend Luke's life and relationship with his girlfriend. Unfortunately the story never creates enough dramatic tension between Luke and Harper. The Requa brothers do a good job capturing the juvenile behavior of teen males and Chad Lindberg is fun to watch, but nothing interesting is going on beyond jokes in the bathroom and rants at diners and parties. One scene even forces some bad philosophy on the audience via a card game at the local hangout house. I don't know of any teens who hang out and play cards when they could be partying and drinking. The cinematography and the soundtrack are feature-worthy but the story needed a lot more work to interest an audience beyond the local crowd.

I'd heard a lot of good things about this film, but was still very reluctant to watch it. I feared it was gonna be yet another example of overrated "artistic" dribble that bored the living crap out of me. I figured there were better ways to waste a couple of hours of my life than sitting through yet another over-hyped (and achingly dull) indie film. Eventually, though, curiosity won out and I decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise, I found out pretty quickly that this is one indie flick that is definitely worthy of the hype!! After a somewhat slow start, The Flats evolves into a very moving film that manages to hold the interest of even an ADD-affected, action-junkie like me (which is no small feat!!). The sweet and simple story completely drew me in by mixing together dramatic moments that felt authentic and genuine with comedic moments that caught me off guard with their originality. It was refreshing to (finally) find an indie film that didn't feel contrived and avoided taking itself too seriously. After watching The Flats, I'm a lot more open-minded about giving these smaller films a try, and I'm looking forward to the next project from the Requa Bros. If The Flats is any indication, I think it's fair to say we can expect amazing things from this talented writing/directing team in the future...After all, anyone who introduces the "European Cross Grip" to the masses is definitely worth keeping an eye on!! :)

There is all this hype about reality TV and then we go to the movies to watch a drama and it just feels so forced, so fake. This film, which was done on a miniscule Brothers McMullen budget captures what it is to be young and in your twenties with such a force and passion that it is hard to believe it's the first feature from the Requa Bros. Anyone who gets the opportunity to watch this film will be waiting with bated breath to see what they do next, as well as what Chad Lindberg does. His performance is pacino. His performance is mcqueen.

It's nice that the characters are interesting and that the entire cast is very good. And it's nice that I did enjoy watching this film. It's photographed beautifully, and the music is very original. But the thing that gets me is how poignant the underlying story is. It's tough for a lot of people in this day and age to grow up and become a responsible adult - especially if the hurdles that life has set up in front of you are pretty high. Coming to terms with who we are, where we come from, and where we are going is very real for all of us, and this film examines what this is like for characters that I think everyone can relate to and care about. Bravo for allowing a good story to take place.

This film is incredibly well cast, well directed, and well shot.

The story is one we've seen before, but the scenery and characters have a style all their own. The main character of Harper is perfectly played by Chad Lindberg (The Fast and the Furious, October Sky, The Rookie). He gives a moving performance as a drunkin' showboat, who's made one too many mistakes. The understated performances by Sean Christensen, and Jade Herrera are a perfect balance to the over the top antics of Harper. The rest of the cast provide mostly comic relief, but do it with much more timing, and talent than the average indie. Once you get through the first third, the story starts to build momentum, and it doesn't let up, leading to a great finish. Look for this film, and check it out!

Chad Lindberg put on a great performance in this movie. "Harper" was a great character in this well written show. The conflicts he shows by being a drunken fool, respecting his friends, his criminal acts and even as a caring man drags around the viewer's emotions. One may never hate the character but condemning some of his behavior. Yet, I was having flashes of hope for him only to see him dig a deeper hole at the end of the movie.

The movie held me in with a solid story and a great cast. Honorable mention should go to the younger brother of Val Kilmer look-a-like.

Chad Lindberg gives his finest performance to date as Harper in the Requa Brothers' under-seen film, "The Flats" and to call it outstanding is no exaggeration. He embodies an over-the-top drunk without acting that way. He is profoundly loyal, wise about people and particularly the friendships he navigates, and loves to learn about life through experience using his contagious, magnetic personality. He's also profoundly sad, unwise about responsibility as well as how to handle undesirable conformity and sacrifice, and can be a shameless womanizer. Lindberg always makes the character his, from convincing drunkenness to convincing friendship.

As easy as it could be to pick apart a low-budget debut film like this, "The Flats" is unique. It may have some rough edges in terms of its script (dialogue and forced and/or clichéd events) and some of its peripheral actors, but it's more than the sum of these parts. In terms of movies about American youth, "The Flats" has heart and more closely resembles the emotional subtlety of "The Last Picture Show" rather than trying to be one of the numerous brainless movies about superficial youths living superficial lives in typical cities. And it's not lacking humor either.

These are all characters who come together organically with believable chemistry as a group of close friends but all face a certain isolation: from societal norms, from taking chances outside of them, from family, from finding love, or even from their own heritage and ancestral culture. The film uses its unique geography as another character (also like "The Last Picture Show") as well as its unique subcultures to elevate itself to uniqueness, authenticity, and heartfelt emotion despite its imperfections. This film took me by surprise. Hopefully the Requa Brothers will take another stab at a film, and hopefully Chad Lindberg (who seems usually relegated to roles in either small films like "The Flats" or smaller roles in poor ones) finally gets the chance to show his talent to a larger audience to get the appreciation he deserves.

I liked this film very much; it struck me as beautifully crafted and full of subtle emotion. Although the main characters initially seemed different from most of the people in my own life, I found myself very interested in their lives and stories. A few months after seeing this movie, another movie with a similar story line was more broadly released and more critically acclaimed- yet of the two films, I much preferred "The Flats", which seemed to be the prototype for the other. By the end of the movie I felt that I understood the people portrayed, especially the main character; their drama felt so real. Did I mention that I loved the ending?

well, i may be a bit biased because i live near the skagit valley and just loved watching the movie. however, as a twenty something, i can totally relate to this movie... the characters could have been my friends... the film was so real.

It has a great mixture of sad and happy, but the crazy energy keeps the sad from being depressing. I love films like this, because if I want to be brought down, I'll just read the newspaper. No matter what happens, I never feel like the movie is trying to beat me into submission like so many others do, yet it isn't light and fluffy. I think they got the right balance in all the emotions, problems and even in not tying everything up in a perfect finish. That gives it the feel of real life and real people, with all their quirks and not always having all the answers to life's troubles.

This is different and I'm really glad I stumbled upon it.

Roger

Anymore we don't get this kind of emotion from a film. Once watched one cannot help but be drawn to the characters. When I first came across this film i had missed the first half on IFC. But luckily IFC decided to run it about 3 hours later. Though it did keep me up until four AM i am glad i was able to watch it.

Also it is nice to have a film that actually shows what being young in America is like, rather than the ideal party society that has now become standard in film. All of the characters just seem like regular kids who could be me or any of my friends. Though I haven't seen any other of the Requa brothers' films I am hoping that they do make some more stuff.

I really enjoyed how the filmmakers framed the shots. They were evocative of other movies,without being obvious enough to stick out. The story was engaging, but had some clunky, heavy, dialogue which at times could break the scene ;especially egregious was the card playing scene towards the beginning, though with more experience I'm sure those types of bump will smooth out. I enjoyed Chad's acting for the most part, though I do hope he stops channeling Matthew Lillard at his worst. I appreciated the organic way in which the story developed and really hope these guys can get funded and continue on to make another feature.

i just have to say that i stumbled into this movie at four o-clock in the morning about five to ten minutes after it started and instantly got sucked in and couldn't take my eyes off the television screen until the movie was over.this movie has made it to my top ten list.it was written very well and filmed perfectly for itself.i strongly recommend that everyone at least give this movie a chance cause i thought it was excellent.i cant wait for it to be on again so i can watch the whole thing again and finally catch the first five or ten minutes that i missed cause its killing me thats how much i enjoyed this movie.i cannot give anything away about this movie you just have to see it and trust me on this one.