‘7500’: It’s Worth It
7500, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and directed by Patrick Vollrath, is now on Amazon Prime. It’s a one location thriller set in the cockpit of a passenger plane.
Right off the bat: this was an extremely pleasant surprise. Watching this after the recent Project Power on Netflix was an utterly adequate decision. Project Power, also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, was underwhelming and disappointing; 7500, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.
We went into this with no expectation. There was absolutely no press for this film, close to no marketing, and the actual reason we found this was because of a Reddit AMA Joseph Gordon-Levitt did. In that AMA, he stated that he had three films coming out this year: one, 7500, is very artsy, the other, Project Power, is more fun and commercial, and the third (which we know is Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7) is not to be talked about just yet.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is right: 7500 is a very artsy film.
But in the best way possible. There’s usually a special magic that comes with films which share a writer/director. It seems that’s the best way to keep a project true to its soul and really bring to life an uncensored artistic vision. 7500 is exactly that. It is Vollrath’s vision and nothing else. The director wanted to go for extreme realism; in fact, the whole film was shot as a series of extremely long takes that were later chopped up in post-production. This provided an opportunity for freedom on the actors’ side (and the cinematography, too) and really highlighted the sense of realism that Vollrath wanted to go for.
That is the core of 7500: it’s real. The story and the way the characters experience it is something we completely believe and experience with them. It’s engaging and gut-wrenching. There’s a sense of rawness to this film that truly helps elevate the feeling of loss and anxiety Vollrath wants to impose on the viewer.
And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is insane.
This actor has always been one of the most versatile and interesting artists in Hollywood. These are some of JGL’s project only in between 2010 and 2016: Snowden, The Night Before, The Walk, Don Jon, Lincoln, Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, and Inception. With such a track record of extremely colorful roles and projects, JGL has proved himself as one of the most talented artists currently working in the industry.
And he reminds us of this in 7500. JGL is truly fantastic. Absolutely real and true to the character, the actor takes this role and destroys it. He took a four year break from acting to focus on HitRecord and this, it seems, is JGL’s reminder to the audience that he is still a brilliant and capable actor worthy of his position in Hollywood. Some of his scenes in 7500 are absolutely gut-wrenching; and it’s rare nowadays that an actor can make us feel the sorrow and loss JDL did through his role in in this film.
And that goes for Omid Memar, too. Omid is 21 years old and definitely an actor to look out for in the future, especially after his role in this project.
It’s also rare that a one location film keep our attention throughout.
Especially one set solely in a pilot’s cockpit. Emerging filmmakers are often drawn to the one location genre because it’s so much cheaper; but to write a one location script and to direct that one location script well is a challenge many fall victim to. The viewer is used to stories being told through a certain formula and within certain circumstances. To break that formula and set a story in a space that is probably 3×3 and to keep us interested for 90 minutes is really surprising and truly praise-worthy.
Maybe 15 minutes before 7500 was about to end, I asked myself what is actually wrong with this film. Having been a film critic for so many years now, this is usually a continuous process for me: I analyse while watching and can distance myself from the story. But 7500 is so impactful I realized I had been completely sunken into the plot and hadn’t had a chance to reflect. So when I asked myself that question, I realized: there isn’t really much wrong with 7500. It’s thrilling and it was refreshing to see a new production that is so good. Yes, there are a few bits here and there that might have needed tweaking, but in the big picture, those did not matter to me.
7500 destroyed me and left me breathless.
It’s a quality production, a surprising one, one that shines higher due to its vision and spectacular acting. We recommend 7500. We were pleasantly surprised and we hope you are, too.
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— Pouty Boy