Writer's Block Review: An Interesting Setup and Quirky Characters

Release date: November 6, 2020
Running time: 98 minutes
Starring: Mike Gassaway, Katusha Robert, Craig Nigh
Written and Directed By: Jeff Kerr, Ray Spivey

A struggling writer accepts a once-in-a-lifetime offer to collaborate with a best-selling novelist at his remote Texas ranch.  Writer's Block has an interesting setup with a struggling writer seemingly catching the break of a lifetime when he is noticed by a famous novelist and asked to help ghost write a novel.  Sensing a chance to revive his career and learn from the best, Skip (Nigh) jumps on the opportunity.  However, as soon as he arrives some strange occurrences happen that make him think this is more than meets the eye. 

And if that setup sounds interesting it is because it is.  I really liked the premise of this movie and the ghost writer setup for Skip.  It lent an air of mystery to the film originally as the main writer, Chester (Gassaway) was very secretive in a lot of what happened.  And this is helped along by some odd things that happened during the start of the film, with strange occurrances and Skip not being allowed the freedom you would expect of a guest.  But these odd occurrences are slow at the start, as the film generally takes a long time to develop.  It lays a lot of ground work, but doesn't really get to the exciting parts until very late in the movie.  

And Writer's Block has some odd choices that highlight the indie nature of this movie.  There were some strange film choices that seemed to be related to budget, and a few sound issues.  But overall, the main problem with this film is that it is very slow to start, then devolves into craziness towards the end.  And I found it tough to really understand why the ending occurred in the way that it did.  I don't feel like the ultimate activity was explained throughout the film, so when it did occur it just felt like a crazy situation for the characters involved.  And the ultimate conclusion in this film is a plot twist that just felt like it was thrown in for shock value.  It left me feeling confused at the end.  And with a little bit of Writer's Block of my own.  

Writer's Block has an interesting setup and some quirky characters, but the story has a slow start and ultimately devolves into chaos at the end. 

Pass on it.

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