Review – Memory Lane

There are movies that transcend their intended purpose to entertain and either by accident or purpose become something else. As creators, we are on the precipice of a new age of entertainment. The internet has almost single handedly obliterated the brick and mortar video rental business and put major hollywood studios back into the think-tank, questioning the delivery and channels of delivery for major motion pictures. Up until the last few years, filmmaking has still been largely a youtube experience for no-budget productions. Amateur filmmaking was still relegated to the obscure ranks of glutted upload-it-yourself video sites. Shawn Holme’s Memory Lane heralds a shift in amateur filmmaking. Made for only $300.00, Memory Lane is better than most genre films in the indie category, and although stylish never makes the jump to art-house pomposity. Memory Lane follows Nick (Michael Guy Allen), a war veteran who returns to his hometown to pick up the pieces of his life after enduring the traumas of battle. While jogging he encounters Kayla (Meg Barrick), a distraught young woman attempting to commit suicide and the two begin a whirlwind romance that tragically ends in Nick finding Kayla dead in their new home. Overcome with grief, Nick survives his own suicide attempt only to find that his methods actually allowed him to relive his memories with Kayla in the space between life and death. Nick decides to repeat the conditions in the hopes of learning more about Kayla’s demise, killing himself and being reanimated increasingly more frequent until answers are found. There are shades of other films here (Butterfly Effect, Flatliners and others) but Memory Lane holds its own distinct voice. With beautiful cinematography and a memorable performance from lead Michael Guy Allen, ML feels more like a bigger budget picture trying to disguise its price tag in the hopes to connect more on an intimate level with its audience than the reality of its almost non-existent budget. In this it represents something extraordinary: a benchmark. Memory Lane represents a true shift in the accessibility of film. It marks a film that can be made on a blue collar paycheck and still have the zeal and appeal of a film that can manage to reach a wide, mainstream audience. Memory Lane is currently available for streaming on the film’s website, www.553am.com