Approved for Adoption (now on video)

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

It's sad when a once-worthy narrative gambit wears itself out. Remember once upon a time when the found-footage gimmick seemed so fresh and exciting? It's so overdone now that I can't imagine THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT getting booked today at the Cleveland International Film Festival, let alone its historic Sundance slot.

Once upon a time a film was considered brave to reference 9/11; nobody much notices now. Maybe if someone makes the first September 11th balls-out comedy (WORLD TRADE CENTER CRASHERS, anyone?), and even then...who cares?

I'd like to ascribe this jaded, South Park/Omigod everything is crap! attitude to our present-day, dumbed-down society and attention spans, but I'm pretty sure the syndrome is as old as the movies themselves. I'm told it took just a few years for audiences of the silent era to lose their enthusiasm for recorded sound and talkies.