Chronicles of the Roman Numeral X (2007) User Reviews

Interesting traditional sci-fi

[tdoggmia · 7/10 · 11 February 2007]

I attended the preview showing of this movie at the Miami Cinematheque presented by the Miami Beach Film Society. It was refreshing to see an underground film with an actual plot, dialog, as opposed to be being overtly gross, vague, and insolent for the sole purpose of showing how out of sync with the rest of the society and uniquely rebellious the filmmakers are. This movie had a genuine and engaging first and second act. Unfortunately, the movie lacked a decisive third act. Evidentally, the producers are looking to create a series, and in fact, the entire piece had a "demo" feel to it. The plot followed well worn traditional futuristic scifi plot lines, but the filmmakers were able to cleverly attach those plot lines with contemporary American political issues with thought provoking effect. The movie was very talkie, but the dialog was clever, and the acting was professional and much better than the average for these no budget movies. The exception was the actress who played the Roman Numeral X (that's a character's name and the actress is named Kelli Nordus) was exceptional. She handled a boat load of complex dialog as smoothly as silk. This very lovely actress created an aura of mystery about the character, with just enough insight to give you a hint of what X was up too. Also of special note, local Miami actor, Greg Schroeder presented a powerful and professional performance as a washed politician. The movie was likely shot in a low rent studio somewhere, and the blue screen work and cgi stuff was OK, especially considering the budget. If the filmmakers splurged at all, it was on the costumes, which were elaborate and beautiful. What sets this one out from other low budget movies is good acting, good story telling, no nonsense directing, and a fresh and contemporary take on a time honored storyline. The filmmakers are a husband and wife team. I have attended several of their screenings, and as always the movie played to a jam packed room.