"night catches us" review - los angeles film festival

It can be a bit of a double-edged sword when a filmmaker speaks after his or her movie during a festival. Sometimes, you end up wanting to leave because the director's obnoxious personality counteracts your warm feelings for the film you've just seen. Other times, the filmmaker is such a warm, gracious, down-to-earth person that you wish his or her movie was better. That latter scenario happened last night at Night Catches Us, which is an exceptionally well-meaning and thoughtful film that just doesn't work. Writer-director Tanya Hamilton seems like a good egg, though. Still, it's my duty to report on the film's flaws, which I do over at Screen International.