tlashop.com

Amos Lassen wrote on 03/24/2011:

I just finished watching “Burned”, a new film written and directed by Dale Jeter and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the reason for that was because I thought I had it all figured out in the first fifteen minutes and then discovered just how wrong I was. I love when that happens. The movie is about Martin Foley (Steve Rowe), a married man who has been cheating on his wife for years. He would sneak out, pick up men, bring them home (when his wife was out of town), have sex with them and video capture what went on, He would later used the movies he made for masturbatory activities. Martin harbored secrets that make everyone else’s seem small in comparison.
Hs daughter, Christine (Katie Stoll) comes home from college to celebrate Martin’s birthday and she comes with boyfriend, Scott, (Derrol Murphy) in tow. From the moment that Scott enters the film, one gets the sense that something bad is going to happen. And here is where I must stop summarizing the plot because to go any further would be to ruin the film for everyone else.
Another interesting aspect of Jeter’s film is the casting. There are no stereotypes here, no buffed bodies, handsome men let we usually get in gay-themed film. Everyone in the movie looks like someone you might see anywhere and never suspect that they were gay. We all know members of the GLBT community just like the men in this movie. Also interesting is the way Martin’s wife, Elaine (Julie Sachs) dotes on her husband and he seems naive to her attention. But then she had no idea that he was fooling around with men. Elaine wins our sympathy while Martin comes across as a real bastard. Scotty appears as a self-deprecating gay man who will do whatever he can to get what he wants and to me, at least, he is the kind of gay that I would love hating. There is another character, Martin’s brother, Roger (Robert Brill) and we get the impression that he and Martin are close. To me he represents the family. And while not being much like his brother, he serves to be a member of the family that everyone can rely upon.
This is obviously a low budget independent film and Jeter shows us just what can be done on a limited budget and still produce satisfactory results. Even though the actors seem to be a bit amateurish, they still manage to turn in convincing performances. We are aware that something very serious is happening in the film and the surprise is not what you think it is and so begins a series of twists and turns. The ending came as a true surprise and when the film ended, it just ended leaving it to the viewer to decide what happens next.
I understand that this is Jeter’s first film and he should be very proud of himself. I have the feeling that we will be hearing a good deal more from him.

sillytee wrote on 08/24/2010:

although the cover is quite deceiving. i'm sure the headshot were photoshopped on other bodies, but who cares (a bit misleading though). i found this movie quite interesting. the story was delivered pretty well for 80 minutes. it made me want to wish there was more to this family. maybe a series of films leading up to the ending ( well, i wish it didnt end that way but i wanted more). all in all it was wa great effort on the part of mr. jeter. decent acting and cinematography.