Bypass, 2014
Written and directed by Duane Hopkins
Starring George MacKay, Benjamin Dilloway, Charlotte Spencer, Lara Peake, Matt Cross
SYNOPSIS:
Tim is a good kid. Tim is a criminal.
Duane Hopkin’s Bypass is one of those movies that displays a “slice of real life”. Nothing in the movie is manufactured to fit film standards, plot threads start but don’t get conclusions and, like real life, not everything is tied up in a neat bow. The life on show is utterly depressing and far from uplifting, but that’s what sets the film apart from the crowd. However, like real life, Bypass can often be mundane and – even worse – pretty boring.
For example, let’s say there was a movie this reviewer’s week. A couple of days ago, I moved some boxes out of a house, went to band practise and caught up with an old friend, reminiscing about our teenage years. The following day however was less involved, with a couple of movie screenings and a lot of sitting at my laptop writing. One of those days is visually more appealing and helps further character, while the other is more just about “capturing” my day-to-day life. Both days are important to a ‘movie of my life’, but if they were moulded in the same vein as Bypass, they would be given the same amount of screentime. And that’s where the fault in the movie lays, at times it’s really interesting and gripping and then at others it’s really not.
The same can be said for the performances with George MacKay at times giving a sublime performance as the troubled Tim, but then other times falling flat. He is a character who has to balance a life of looking after his sister after their mother has passed as well as carry on the illegal “jobs” his brother used to do before he went to prison and MacKay sells all of this perfectly. But the script often lets him down and his dialogue sounds forced, contrived and even unintentionally funny. MacKay makes you feel sorry for this poor lad who has had the worst of the worst thrown at him, but certain exchanges between characters really take you out of the moment. And aside from Lara Peake, who gives a horribly stilted performance, the rest of the cast support MacKay really well. They shine in each scene, but like MacKay, they are often held back by dreadful dialogue which puts a damper on the movie.
With that said, the depressing tone and awful scenarios for our “hero” really put you on his team, and you just want to see him make it out the other side okay. Bypass is the sort of movie that feels like it’s trying to coerce its audience into “counting their lucky stars”, but it’s never forceful in its message and Hopkins isn’t heavy handed with Tim’s plight. It’s a very mature movie and certainly not an easy watch, but when the movie isn’t hampered by awful contrivances, it really works. And yet Bypass can’t escape often being a boring movie, which is down to Hopkins’ lack of focus. Much of the movie’s runtime is taken up by scenes that last ten minutes, but would have accomplished the same amount of drama in two. The film is far too long for its own good and because a lot of plot threads aren’t resolved, it feels pointless to spend so much time with the characters.
Bypass isn’t a terrible movie, but it’s terrible to watch. It’s an utterly joyless experience but then that’s one of the movie’s best attributes. Bypass borders on being interesting and dull as ditchwater from start to end and it sadly drifts into the latter category. A good effort by all involved, but several missteps along the way mean Bypass is nothing more than an average movie with nothing to say.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published October 4, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
