Marvelous Mandy (2016)
Film Review
by Asaf Angel
“Down-on-his-luck single dad Harvey Fowler gets a much needed boost when he meets children’s author Mandy Simpkins, author of the Marvelous Mandy storybooks that his daughter loves. Their beautifully vivacious relationship seems like it couldn’t get any more perfect, until Harvey gains some disturbing insights into her fractured mental state…”
–Samantha Dudley
Hapless Harvey Fowler (Jonathan Stottmann) is raising his young daughter, Clementine (Kenna Hardin), all on his own. Desperately pining for the love of a good woman, he wears his heart on his sleeve and unfortunately gets shot down often, sometimes in humiliating fashion. That is until he meets the beautiful and perky Mandy Simpkins (Paula Marcenaro Solinger), author of the Marvelous Mandy children storybooks that his daughter loves. Harvey and Mandy hit it off, as she seems to be just what the doctor ordered, brightening his life and filling a void in his heart. Just as everything seems to be going swimmingly, Harvey starts noticing red flags pop up regarding Mandy. Even though some doubt and suspicions arise, nothing could have prepared him to what comes next.
Marvelous Mandy was written by Brentt Slabchuck and directed by MyIndie featured artist Chase Dudley, who co-produced with Samantha Dudley.
It feels that Dudley and his team aim to create intrigue revolving around a fantasy scenario, in which a man, aware of and insecure about his ineptitude in the romance department, finds a beautiful woman, who connects with him and accepts him for who he is without any hesitation.
The cringey vibe, which accompanies the instantly brewing romance was unignorable, and at the very least made me wonder about Mandy’s character. The story does offer proper tone set to her eccentric personality, as it is cemented that she is attracted to shy and insecure men. We see this in an early interaction between her and former lover, Charlie (Spencer Korcz), a nerdy, extremely shy and anxious young man.
Several decisions, or perhaps limitations, unfortunately hinder the final product. Story structure and dialogue lack refinement. There are technical issues ranging in various departments, from frame selection, shot compositions, use of lighting, sound recording, to editing and colour grading which made the viewing experience at times somewhat challenging. Having said that, it strongly feels that all the above mentioned issues are likely a consequence of production challenges, due to budgetary limitations or otherwise, and lack of experience, with respect to Dudley’s level of skill at the time of production. Let me remind you that this is one of Dudley‘s earliest efforts, first released back in 2016.
Marvelous Mandy was made for an extremely low budget of $5,000. For that and other reasons, this 100-minute runtime film deserves to be examined through a different scope. Any filmmaker who ever put in blood, sweat and tears, working with extremely limited and often rapidly depleting resources, should be able to give Marvelous Mandy the respect it deserves.
The production included a cast of approximately 40 actors and extras, and a multitude of locations, some of which quite challenging to film at. Among the supporting cast members are Jessica Paige York, Ryley Nicole, Keith Nicholson, R. Wayne Hogue Jr. and Bridget Thesing. Co-producer Samantha Dudley also plays the role of Doctor and Chase himself appears as Levar, the quite creepy bookstore manager and Mandy‘s boss.
Despite the ridiculously limited resources at hand, the production team somehow managed to use impressive locations, provisions and practical effects, which I refrain from elaborating on to avoid risking introducing any spoilers.
A glance at Dudley’s IMDb page is enough to reveal that he is not the type of filmmaker who likes to test the waters by dipping a toe in, but rather chooses to jump in head first into the extremely tough world of feature film production. While most filmmakers start off making short films (which are less expensive in general and thus easier to make) in order to hone their skills, Dudley seems to have decided to forego this rite of passage and dive right into the deep end of the pool.
In conclusion, I believe I understand what Dudley wished to convey in his vision of Marvelous Mandy, even if the execution slightly missed the mark in places. The film testifies to a hard working director and team, who bravely tackle complex feature-length productions with inspiring determination.
Marvelous Mandy leaves plenty of room for improvement, as most early works do, yet delivers a commendable effort, which was, for the most part, entertaining, and gave us a glimpse as to the potential Dudley possesses as a director, which was soon displayed in follow-up features, 2017’s PayDay (our review, HERE) and 2019’s Beasts of the Field (our review, HERE).
A commendable, entertaining effort. 7/10.
