Killer B's on DVD: Able Edwards

According to the box cover, Able Edwards, which releases on May 29 from Heretic Films, holds the Guinness World Record for the first film shot entirely with green screen. Other films like Sin City and 300 have since accomplished the trick with more style, but director Graham Robertson must be commended for shooting an entire feature without sets for a paltry $30,000. Set in a future world where humanity has migrated to a huge orbiting space station, the story lends itself well to a world that is created entirely in the editing process. The backgrounds are largely static images rather than full blown 3-D digital constructs, but the final result is a film with an atmosphere all its own. The look is far from seamless, but that often adds to the retro feel Robertson is going for, as does the black and white Mini DV photography. If you can imagine Citizen Kane with Walt Disney as the main character and set in the future, you've got the basic concept.

As explained in an old style newsreel at the opening of the film, Disney-esque entertainment mogul Able Edwards (Scott Kelly Galbreath) died in 1960, leaving behind the massive Edwards Corporation. The company carries on for hundreds of years, even continuing to thrive after the Earth becomes uninhabitable and mankind relocates to an orbital platform that looks like a digitally rendered set of Tinker Toys. The Edwards Corporation's primary business is now the manufacturing of androids, but when profits reach a plateau, Chairman Warren Hastings (Brian Carpenter) sets in motion a plan to clone the company's founder whose remains still lie in cryogenic freeze down on Earth. Hastings and his wife will raise the clone, with the intention of him assuming control of the company when he reaches the age of 25. An android/human hybrid named Gower (Steve Beaumont Jones) is assigned to be Edwards friend, and to help guide him into becoming as much like the original Edwards as possible.

When Edwards finally assumes control of the company that bears his name he does so with gusto. He has sweeping reforms in mind, and anyone who fails him is summarily dismissed. Edwards has a plan for changing the company's focus from manufacturing to what he calls "reality entertainment". Living in the confines of a space station, humanity has grown accustomed to various forms of virtual entertainment. He proposes to build a new Edwards Fantastic Wonderland, similar to the theme parks his predecessor built on Earth.

Like Citizen Kane, the majority of the film is told in flashback. When the film opens the Edwards clone has already died. A probate hearing to determine whether Edwards' holdings belong to his widow or the Corporation serves as a focal point for the examination of the clone's life. A string of witnesses are called, including Gower, Edwards widow Rosemary (Keri Bruno), and Morgan Farina (Johari Johnson) Edwards campaign manager for his eventual run for the senate. Each character provides his or her unique perspective on Edwards.

This is a remarkable film in many respects, though no one could claim it is perfect. The Edwards Corporation's machiavellian plot to force the Edwards clone's life along a path similar to the original is quite obvious, although when it's revealed late in the film I think the audience is supposed to be surprised. The clone mentions his desire to be his own man, pointing out that his differences from the original include his inability to draw. An interesting bit, but it too arrives late in the proceedings and is never expanded upon. The green screen process hits a few sour notes, especially a few unconvincing tracking shots where Edwards and his employees are obviously walking in place while the background moves. Fortunately, Robertson has created such an interesting world here that these flaws can be forgiven.

The commentary by director Robertson and his producer Scott Bailey answers a lot of the questions I found myself asking during my initial viewing (yes, those are the space suits from the Val Kilmer flick Red Planet). You may want to keep a cool drink on hand, because the behind the scenes piece narrated by Robertson is a bit on the dry side. The green screen reveals are more interesting, showing several examples from the film before and after the backgrounds are inserted.