'I live alone' very quickly makes certain impressions, and then distinctly cements them. Many scenes or small inclusions feel unnecessary, overdone, and/or disjointed. There's little to no nuance or subtlety to be found at any time, no delicate hand; on the contrary, most aspects of the film are tawdrily inelegant, heavy-handed, and/or over the top. This applies to sound design, sound effects, music, camerawork, sequencing, editing, dialogue, scene writing, characters, effects, direction and pretty much all else - not least of all the acting. The narrative is rather lacking for a majority of the curt runtime; whatever promise there may be in the concept, the movie doesn't seem to care much about earnestly communicating its story. I can't tell if we're supposed to laugh at the bluster and its bluntness, or if it's intended to elicit a visceral reaction and simply fails big-time to do so. I assume the uneven or sometimes unconvincing acting is a result of the conscious slant of the picture, and Krsy Fox's writing and direction, but I suppose I can't entirely rule out the possibility that the cast just aren't up to the task.
It's not that this is entirely lacking of entertainment value - but I discern no effort to infuse a meaningful sense of dynamics, and definitely no effort to refine or polish the presentation. One could possibly argue a measure of kinship with the film-making sensibilities of Roger Corman, or otherwise older genre flicks from the 50s, or even 40s. The directness speaks to that possibility, if nothing else. However, the fact remains that whatever it was Fox had in mind for 'I live alone,' it sadly does not come off well. Even as the narrative writing is a little unfocused, the feature is so forthright and "in your face" that it feels gauche and overblown. I recognize the filmmaker's capabilities, but just don't understand why such an approach was taken here; in my opinion, I regret to say it just doesn't work. Best wishes to all involved and good luck in their future endeavors, but I kind of think I should have spent my time on something else instead.
