A college freshman joins her university’s rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost.
Chuck says:
Alex is the type of person that sucks the oxygen right out of any room she enters. Her intensity serves as a sponge that absorbs any sense of mirth; for her, fun does not exist and those who do not take whatever task she’s set for herself as seriously as she does will not be recognized. That she alienates everyone in her pursuit of perfection means nothing to her – emotional entanglements are a hindrance, a complication that will not be brokered. No, her only purpose is to succeed, at any cost, even if may harm her in the end.
Without question, Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice” is a bracing first feature, a debut that immediately has the viewer sit up and take notice as it tells its story of a troubled college rower. Using a unique sensory approach that puts us in the shoes of its troubled protagonist, it contains enough high-sheen, visual razzle dazzle that it, and a fierce performance from its lead, blinds us to the film’s major flaw, one that prevents Hadaway from creating a masterpiece her first time behind the camera.
Isabelle Fuhrman (“Orphan”) is Alex, a college freshman whose compulsive approach to life is off-putting to everyone she encounters. While her peers rush through exams, she utilizes every minute of class time, going over her work three and four times, never satisfied with the results. She takes the same approach when she joins her school’s rowing team. Having never touched an oar in her life means nothing to her, nor does the fact that her coach tells her it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be an expert – she will succeed at this, no matter what.
Soon, Alex is getting up to practice at dawn on her own, no matter that her hands resemble raw meat, her personal best times being shattered again and again. Her hard work pays off as she’s assigned to the varsity squad, something she doesn’t celebrate as much as expect. That her studies are suffering, she’s suffering physical harm and has estranged everyone on the team mean nothing to her.
Hadaway brilliantly captures a sense of Alex’s mania with a variety of techniques. Using a frantic, jagged editing style during racing or training sequences, coupled with kinetic and at times, intrusive camera movements, she allows us to experience the nature of her troubled heroine’s fractured mind, one that never rests, constantly pushing her past the point of reason. This approach is vital to our understanding how Alex is suffering and why she can’t stop.
Fuhrman is equally committed in her approach, investing the character with the type of energy that ends up leaving a performer drained. She takes on the physical demands, as well as the emotional ones, with a fervor that’s commendable and while we may not like Alex at times, it’s to Fuhrman’s credit that we sympathize.
As good as all these elements are, I wish the script was more complete. Hadaway never gives us any concrete reasons for why Alex behaves as she does. There are some vague suggestions throughout but the fact that we never delve into her past and examine her family life feels like a bit of a cheat. Fuhrman deserves more for her efforts.
In the end, “The Novice” may not be a complete movie, but much of what’s on display is exceptional, so much so I’m eager to see what Hadaway does next. Here’s hoping her writing skills catch up with her technical prowess the next time out.
3 1/2 Stars
