Movie Review

JACKRABBIT SKY

Much like the wild animals of the Sonoran desert, naturalist Max Boden, played by writer and director Andrew Bergmann, displays an allusive yet dignified presence in the film Jackrabbit Sky. The movie, which was shot in Tucson, follows Max, a fictitious professor from the University of Arizona in the 1930s, who has hopes of saving Sabino Canyon from becoming the site of a copper mine by filming the wildlife for a newsreel company.

Jackrabbit Sky opens with Max purchasing a used 16mm crank style motion picture camera. Through trial and error he learns how to take some outstanding footage of the creatures of the canyon he is trying to save. With just several months to complete the project, Max becomes single minded in his efforts. Stalwart and stoic, he moves through Sabino Canyon with the stealth that nature demands to get close to the animals. Max moves through his personal life with the same down-played demeanor.

There is no shouting in this movie. Every point of tension between the characters is met more with contemplation rather than conflict. When his girlfriend, played by Joanna Foster Wilson, breaks up with Max, he simply walks to his truck, gets inside and sits there and thinks. He sits there silently thinking. It’s unusual for a movie in this day and age to show such restraint. I liked the feeling it gave me as a viewer. Even with the rumblings of World War II serving as background noise on the family radio, there was a feeling of serenity and safety in the movie’s version of Tucson in the 1930s. I feel the movie captured the Tucson of my youth–no shouting–everyone relaxed, everyone safe.

Jackrabbit Sky is a beautifully filmed movie, rich in color and texture, the Sonoran desert looks like the pages of Arizona Highways magazine come to life. Because part of the plot line involves Max improving as a cameraman, the beauty of the surrounding movie is even more evident. And there is Max dressing up in homemade costumes in order to get the perfect shot of the wildlife.

The actors in Jackrabbit Sky are from top to bottom outstanding and I am glad to say that because many of the smaller parts were played by actors from the Tucson area. To say Bergmann owned the part of the lead character would be obvious, yet his unforced style is unusually perfect for this taciturn yet tenacious character. His story was excellently embellished by veteran actors Blanche Baker who plays his widowed mother and Christopher Lucas who plays his grandfather. The three live together in a complicated yet loving situation. Again, this family doesn’t shout at each other, they may not talk to each other for a while, but their relationships remain calm, contemplative and caring.

The real stars of Jackrabbit Sky might be the Sonoran wildlife. From bobcats to sucker fish, from mountain lions to lizards, from longhorn sheep to javelinas, the black and white footage, prepared for the newsreel, shows the wildlife up close and in vivid detail. I couldn’t help think that people not familiar with the southwest would be mesmerized by the footage.

I saw Jackrabbit Sky at a private showing. The film has not yet been released to the public. Bergmann is planning to enter the film in several film festivals before its release.

By: William Ackerley
May 25, 2008