this had a nice story and some real nice moments. i liked the whole focus of the story - losing shoes and hiding it from everyone, and it did well reflecting a kid’s ideology - where losing the shoes has far more importance than being the smartest in class or winning the big race. i really liked the 2 moments when the girl was at school feeling ashamed for her shoes and trying to hide them. then they followed the first one up with the stupid ‘let’s wash the shoes’ scene. oh, i also really liked the ‘doing homework’ scene the first night, and i’m glad they started cutting when it kept going on.
unfortuantely overall the cinematography really brought things down. they lit way too much, and it looked like some 60’s tv drama with everyone covered in light with shadows on the wall. even a lot of the exteriors were lit. the running scenes were such a big improvement cause they couldn’t light them. the framing and shot construction, too, were wooden and really cheesed things up. it all highlighted the poor acting, especially on the girl’s part, while some more naturalistic styles would have hidden it more. but they were excited to show her smile at every opportunity.
the twist of 3rd place being the shoes kept things in line, but it was still annoying how talented the kid was. it wanted to be uplifting, but they strained credibility with how amazing he was.
