TL;DR – While the premise is novel, the final product left me more frustrated than anything else.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Walden Review –

When you make a film, you have the whole world to play in, and more really. However, when you touch on real-world issues, do you have an obligation actually to engage with them in a meaningful way? Today, we look at a movie working in that space to see.  

So, to set the scene, in the small town of Alexandria near the City of Atlanta, there is a court stenographer called Walden (Emile Hirsch). It is a job that he is good at, but it does mean that he sees the worst of humanity every day. When a particularly monstrous person tries to kill the judge in front of everyone, well, that changes someone, even worse when you discover you have a brain tumour. However, knowing you are going to die does have a clarifying factor on one’s life and goals. Suddenly helpless, Walden might not be so helpless anymore.    

At the heart of this film is what happens when a quiet man fights back and becomes a vigilante. It is as if a switch gets turned in his brain one day, and he becomes a different person. There are, of course, exciting stories in that space; famously, John Wick went on a murderous rampage all for a mission of revenge. Indeed, there are moments when you can really feel the movie playing in this space. So, there is space for a film like this to work; unfortunately, it just never comes together.

The first issue is that it feels like every person in this film felt like a caricature, every person. This creates a barrier between you and the story because it is not real-ish people who are going through their struggles. It is almost a farce at times, and I mean, who brings up someone’s mother’s extra-marital affairs over dinner when they are meeting for the first time? Because of this barrier, I was never able to connect with any of the stories, to the point of absolute frustration at times. I am not sure if it is the script, the acting, or the direction, but Emile Hirsch never felt comfortable in the role in either of the guises of his character.

Then there was the general narrative that, at best, was surface level; it throws a lot out there, but it never wants to analyse. There are notions of power, abuse, guns, violence, and race that the film saunters into and wants to use for set dressing. However, they are too important not to reckon with. Often, they are just used as shorthand, i.e. ugly people are evil, etc. The script never felt authentic in any tangible sense, with moments, for example, the closing discussion, making no sense. There is no scenario where you think those two people would act or behave in that way. This is another thing that rips you out of the film. Also, this might just be a personal thing; there are things depicted in this film that didn’t need to be there.    

In the end, do we recommend Walden? Unfortunately, not. There were moments that did feel like something was coalescing. However, what we got in the end was just a frustrating time. If you liked Walden, we would recommend to you The Beekeeper.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Walden?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Walden
Directed by – Mick Davis
Screenplay by – Mick Davis
Music by – Mathieu Carratier
Cinematography by – Viorel Sergovici
Edited by – Joel Cox
Production/Distribution Companies – Benacus Entertainment, RNF Productions, Uncork’d Entertainment & Eagle Entertainment
Starring – Emile Hirsch, Shane West, Kelli Garner, Tania Raymonde, David Keith, Steve Coulter, Luke Davis, Gavin Borders, Kathrine Barnes & Sunny Mabrey
Rating –  around an Australian: MA15+;