“Nobody Loves Alice” „Movie”

Unrated

Directed by Roger Scheck

Starring:
Nitzan Mayer-Alice
Philip Ward-Alex
Amanda Taylor-Abigail

Web site: www.nobodylovesalice.com

Director, Roger Scheck’s first feature film “Nobody Loves Alice” is a story about love and the damaging effects it can have when in absentia. As a child, Alice (Nitzan Mager) was denied love from her alcoholic, abusive father. She spent the later part of her youth in orphanages. The lack of parental love and abuse she faced as a child instilled in her a need to control, if possible dominate, potential lovers, and she will stop at nothing to achieve this basic human need.

Her interaction among coworkers around the office relates a shy, taciturn disposition. Coworkers Abigail (Amanda Taylor) and Megan (Elise Rodriguez) try to befriend her, possibly perceiving her as a lonely, innocent girl. Unaware of the dark side of Alice’s personality, the two involve her in a trap to ascertain if Abigail’s fiancé is cheating. The two don’t know Alice’s twisted methods for capturing love, which includes kidnapping, bounding, torturing and even killing would be suitors. When Abigail’s fiancé, Alex (Phillip Ward) mysteriously disappears after Alice performs Abigail’s ruse, Abigail must discover his whereabouts and save him from the terrible fate fallen upon Alice’s past “lovers.”

Alice’s character develops through the use of flashbacks. The story falls backwards in time to reveal details that led to her psychotic nature. Usually these memories appear only when Alice is planning or finishing a devious act upon a man held captive in her apartment. The movie’s action moves slowly due to the gradual revelation of Alice’s past. The flashbacks become more intense as the movie’s action increases.

Although the gradual development of plot builds anticipation and gives the movie an artistic slant, it also hurts the suspense and action. There are a couple scenes of graphic violence, but those do not appear until close to the film’s end. Also, while the makers of the film pay keen attention to character development, I found Alice’s harrowing memories not harsh enough to create the monster she had become. She obviously came from a broken home, subjected to verbal abuse from an alcoholic father, but the movie doesn’t allude to acts that are commonly associated with the childhood of a serial killer—physical and sexual abuse. Roger A. Scheck’s first feature film has the potential of an intense, cinematic ride, but the movie simply takes too long to shift gears.

note: 6/10