Bailiwick (2017) Reviews

• Detroit magic

  BandSAboutMovies2019-03-11

  Bailiwick is an ultra-low budget feature film shot in Michigan that stars an all Michigan cast of actors. It tells the story of John, a lonely, quiet man who is given a gift that changes his life. That said, his life needs changing. He's a quiet man with an abusive boss and co-workers that ignore him. All he goes is watch videos and read books about magic until he receives a flyer for a magic show. John attends the show and soon is rewarded with a gift from a mysterious stranger that changes his life: a book on magic that will teach him how to do all the tricks he's ever dreamed of and how to get everything he's ever wanted. He's warned not to look too far ahead though. Can John get the girl of his dreams? Will he be able to do something about his horrible boss? Will he get free cupcakes through the power of a book on magic? Will he get deathly sick like the last person who had this power? The last act of this movie feels like it changes the motivations of John to the point that you question whether or not he's been the hero all along. And the ending honestly feels pretty abrupt after all that, with several leaps forward in time. The film's PR refers to Bailiwick as less of a worn out modern horror movie and more of an early Roger Corman movie or episode of The Twilight Zone. That seems like a pretty fair assessment. Its low budget doesn't hurt it that much and you can tell the filmmakers were trying pretty hard here to make it work. The story didn't 100% work for me, but I hate to tear apart smaller movies that try to do something big.

• Slow

  ashleighabsurd2019-01-24

  I thought that this movie was really slow to get into and that I ended up not liking the main character of the movie which just made this a little tedious for me to watch. The ending was good however but personally this wasn't for me