Reviews
"Luke Eberl's "Choose Connor" is a real stunner, an unusual
coming-of-age story that packs a wallop in unexpected ways. It is all
the more remarkable because writer-director-editor and co-producer
Eberl was only 20 when he made it.
Eberl has both a dryly cynical grasp of how the world of politics can
work and a gift for complex characterization coupled with an ability
to draw from actors spot-on portrayals of much range and depth. He can
suddenly unleash a jolting fear yet not let his film lapse into a
standard suspense thriller; he is skilled at the visual as well as the
verbal, a filmmaker of formidable powers of persuasion.
After a prologue that is daringly disturbing, Eberl cuts to a
middle-school graduation where U.S. Senate candidate Lawrence Connor
(Steven Weber) gives a speech and presents 15-year-old Owen (Alex
Linz) with an award -- and ends up recruiting the admiring Owen as the
spokesman for his youth campaign. Owen is a brainy but innocent
idealist bedazzled by a glib politician who sees himself heroically
walking a tightrope between high principle and necessary compromise.
That Owen learns politics can be a dirty business -- and hidden within
that world much darker secrets -- is not all that shocking, but what
makes "Choose Connor" so special and unsettling is the consistent
adroitness and perfect timing with which Eberl makes his revelations.
As equally impressive as Weber in the role of Connor is Escher
Holloway as his troubled adopted nephew, a talented artist of dark
visions."
–The Los Angeles Times
"Draws you in by creeping you out ... What makes the
journey compelling is the relaxed chemistry between the
young actors and an insistently apprehensive tone that
pervades even the most prosaic exchanges ... The filmmaker's
choices - long, easy takes instead of jumpy camerawork,
spare background music instead of a mood-pop soundtrack - smoothly evoke a world of
backslapping cronyism. Here business and politics share more
than financial interests, and idealism and innocence rarely
go unpunished."
–The New York Times
"A Brilliantly devised political thriller."
–Movie Maker Magazine
"Strong thesping and solid mise-en-scene."
–Variety
"For politics what "Wall Street" did for capitalism. It shows us with
subtlety and finesse how the people in power, blinded by the
spotlight, begin to lose sight of the people they're supposed to
serve."
–Las Vegas Weekly
"This excellent independent film exposes the corrupt politicians that
support American capitalism, and simultaneously rails at the
white-collar Americans who support them ... This film compares
favorably with much bigger pictures with similar themes, such as Tony
Gilroy's Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney."
–Political Affairs Magazine
"The performances and the writing were in perfect synch and created a
provocative and timely (and timeless) examination of politics."
–Trevor Groth, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer
"There is nothing more thrilling than seeing a young director ascend
to the ranks of the majors. Twenty-one year old Luke Eberl, the
writer/director of CHOOSE CONNOR has successfully launched himself as
a serious filmmaker. Writer/director Luke Eberl makes some extremely
wise choices, fleshing out the demons while blanketing them with so
much outward respectability that they may never be exposed. Owen
Norris, as the spokesman for youth becomes a suburban celebrity. His
likeness is on posters; he's in television ads. His parents feel the
afterglow of their son's new found recognition. Owen does his job so
well that the campaign starts to swing in Connor's direction. By the
end of the film he has opened Pandora's box. The storyline is both
original and unnerving. Steven Weber, a fine actor who is always
remembered for his starring role on "Wings", rises to the political
heights, making Larry Connor both charming and menacing. In the scenes
where he allows us to glimpse his weaknesses, his loneliness, his
inability to genuinely connect with his constituents, he almost makes
us feel sorry for him. Escher Holloway as Caleb has the right amount
of sexual intensity, innocence lost, and friendship found."
–Jetsetters Magazine
"Choose Connor is Alex Linz's first real chance to show the world what
he has as an actor, and Linz nails his role... Eberl's voice could
become a vital new one for cinema... he is definitely a name to keep
an eye on."
–The Film Lot
"It's really pretty startling that a work of such insight and maturity
was written and directed by Luke Eberl who isn't even 21 years old.
"Choose Connor" has much going on both on the surface and under and
Eberl's a confident director who allows both areas to grow and breathe
on their own. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's an
overall feeling of creepiness to the whole film. As things play out on
screen, they do become downright creepy, but way before that there's a
sense that at any minute, the phony congressman Connor could snap…or
fall apart. I was impressed with the tone of the entire film and Eberl
deserves kudos for that. Excellent directing coupled with a smart
script and solid acting make "Choose Connor" a movie worth your time."
–Film Threat
"Eberl's smart, concise script and steady direction are propped up by
a slew of star-making performances, most notably Linz and Holloway.
Linz is the perfect nerd with ambition, a kind of mini-Bill Gates of
the political world, shouldering the burden of being a kid at the
center of an adult film about an adult world with an almost eerie
ease. Holloway is nothing short of a revelation, conveying the twisted
innards of a disturbed individual with an adroit sense of timing. He
doesn't lose his cool so much as he loses his cool facade and replaces
it with one just enough above room temperature to make him sweat. It's
this bottled-up boil that makes Choose Connor so compelling -- it's as
controlled as a nuclear test site."
–Las Vegas City Life
"A level of insight that rivals the great political drama writing of
TV's "The West Wing" and Robert Altman's Secret Honor. This is a
slow-burn political thriller of great complexity that not only rings
true to life but also packs one hell of a surprising punch."
–Michael Lerman, Philadelphia Film Festival
