In the world of no-budget cinema, Mick McCleery has come up with some pretty good flicks. Although he first came to my attention as an actor in Kevin J. Lindenmuth's Addicted To Murder series, I have been much more interested in what McCleery has been coming up with as a writer/director. From his early efforts such as Twisted Tales and The Killing of Bobby Greene through a series of comedic skits entitled Don't Watch This Show, it is clear to see that this guy has some cool ideas floating around in his head. When I heard about The Altruist, I was intrigued to say the least as McCleery delivers another interesting film that has a great concept but was somewhat flawed in it's execution.

Billy Franks stars as Nick Andrews, the owner of a company called Terminal Assist. This guy is a bit of a prick as he spends a lot of time cursing at people and generally being a bit of an ass but I suppose you would have to be if your business was to match up serial killers with suicidal folks who do not have the guts to do themselves in. You have to admit that it is quite a concept (and frankly not a bad idea) and Nick has assembled a team of misfits who need to keep the serial killers in line while screening victims/customers that would prefer to be offed by a killer than their own hands. I was looking forward to a number of inventive kills and ironic comedy moments but alas, McCleery had higher ambitions for this one.

For me, a concept like this should be exploited as it is such a great idea. The problems that I found in this film arose from the fact that rather than running with this great idea, McCleery took a more subtle approach by focusing more on the back-story of Nick and his relationship with the wife of a now-deceased Terminal Assist client. Aside from this, there are a series of cover-ups as well as a number of shady characters who want to put an end to Nick's business. Although this was all great, as I said earlier, I feel like the potential was lost by trying to do too much with this film rather than simply having fun with it. This is not to say that the movie did not have some good moments, I just felt like it could have been a lot more memorable with such an awesome premise.

From a technical perspective, McCleery is getting better with each film. In addition to directing, he also handles the cinematography duties and composes his shots with care that is usually not taken in low budget flicks. It is a welcome change having a filmmaker attempt to come up with a variety of interesting shots rather than just pointing and shooting. Another aspect of filmmaking that McCleery excels in is picking a great cast and getting above-average performances from them. While Franks steals the show as Nick, all of the cast members we obviously chosen carefully for both their looks (Mike McLaughlin and Nick Cammarano) and their talent (John Innocenzo and Bobbi Ashton). McCleery clearly takes the time in both pre-production and on set to ensure he is getting what he wants from his talent. This adds an air of professionalism that you don't get from the usual family and friends that usually populate micro cinema movies.

I have yet to be thoroughly disappointed with a movie from this director. My only hope is that next time he gets an idea as great as this one, he has a little more fun with it. Although this was a good flick, it could have been great if he had dropped some of the more serious tones and replaced them with some campy fun. I understand what the intention was; I just wish that these characters had more to do. It is awesome that McCleery has been making low budget movies for fifteen years, I just hope he realizes that he doesn't need to be too serious to be taken seriously.

Read more about this movie at the Official Site. (Josh Pasnak, 5/1/06)

Directed By: Mick McCleery.
Written By: Mick McCleery.

Starring: Billy Franks, Bobbi Ashton, John Innocenzo, Mike McLaughlin.