Movie Comments & Reviews
"Lost Angel" is a riveting, compelling film that rocketsyou from the euphoria of dreams fulfilled to the depths
of despair and darkness. It is painfully real, and the performance from writer-director-actress Keri Lurtz is mesmerizing. She makes you feel the character's pain as she plunges into the deadly spiral of drugs, alcohol, and self-destruction. The supporting cast is extremely believable & the look and texture of the film is excellent. It is a masterful achievement that tells a story that is too often true.
Michael Dugan, Thrill Street Entertainment
"Unflinching scenes that call to mind that Bergman/Ullmann quandary -- too intensely gritty and personal to watch without feeling like a seedy voyeur, but too real and compelling to turn away from. . . ."
Bob Lind, Singer/Songwriter/Author
"Lost Angel, a gripping new independent film with a
star-making performance by emerging talent Keri Lurtz. It’s a haunting rollercoaster of emotion that takes the audience into the joys and tragedies of today’s misguided youth and leaves an indelible impression. Well worth the ride."
Alyn Darnay, Writer/Director at Chaos Films
"David Fine’s short, shocking appearance in Lost Angel
is so harrowing that it’s hard to get out of your head. It also makes you want to talk anyone you know
out of ever moving to Los Angeles."
Leslie Gray Streeter, Palm Beach Post Columnist
"Tour de force" is a term not properly applied in most cases, but with Keri Lurtz, and "LOST ANGEL" it is. Had Lurtz chosen "only" to write, or "only" to direct, or "only" to act in this fine opus, that would have been a stellar choice, but she does all three, and that she maintains such a high level in each is simply amazing. In addition, she has asembled a fine supporting cast, and quality production values. She shows that she is a director that knows what she can get from each actor. As an actor, she shows a range that is vast and varied, but entirely genuine. As a writer, she has presented a tale that moves anyone
that sees it. "LOST ANGEL" a film to be seen.
KERI LURTZ - a name to be remembered.
Todd Vittum, Writer/Actor/Producer
I just viewed this film and met the cast who were promoting it at The Coolidge tonight. Keri Lurtz is an amazingly versatile dramatic lead; a one take wunderkind who is as authentically labile as any leading woman in mainstream film today. The "Hollywood" ending is unexpectedly perplexing. Industry corruption, peer pressure and personal tragedy take their toll on the
hopeful trio...support this work and see. Thank you all
for your gift of suspending my belief; the hallmark of
fine acting. You depict how addiction wreaks havoc
in the lives of those who aspire in the realm of
theatrical sets and difficult stages, haunted by
engineered emotions, bodies and beliefs.
Julie Gee, Writer, Boston
I just returned from a quick trip to Florida where I
attended the First Annual L-Dub (Lake Worth) Film
Festival. I enjoyed many of the films and was very impressed by the amount of young talent in the area.
Over the next few weeks I will write about different
aspects of the festival. Today I want to mention one movie in particular from the festival that I liked very much. It's a feature film, written, directed and starring Keri Lurtz called "LOST ANGEL." It won the Audience Award and is about three actor friends (two women and a man) who go to LA to "make it" there. It's painful, poignant and very well done. I can't help thinking about it since viewing it. Ms. Lurtz has real talent-- I'll watch for this movie and
let you all know when it is released.
The Reel Dr. Bob, South Florida Film Critic
I have some experience in the film industry...google: "charles pitt" And from what I can see Ms. Lurtz has done quite a unique job both in her direction and performance. This film COULD have been a slow moving down and out Bergman film with NO HOPE...however, "Lost Angel"..always seems to have a small smile even in the heaviest scenes. Good actors know that you never play a "down" scene down..but play up and against it. Lurtz's performance does NOT hit you over the head with tragedy of the piece. In short, "Lost Angel" is NOT really lost, just a little off course in a nose dive to oblivion BUT with a thread of hope of pulling up at the last moment and landing on a nice tropical beach. Fortunately, Ms. Lurtz as the writer did NOT have this sappy happy ending..but left it to the viewer to fill in the gaps. This is great film writing and direction. It is difficult enough to be on camera and give a special performance let alone direct the production. Ms. Lurtz has done both equally well. Now let us see this special film properly distributed as it certainly merits a large and appreciative audience. Brava! Keri Lurtz
Charles Pitt, Singer/Actor/Writer
Upon its premiere at Mos Art Theater in North Palm Beach, I recommended a special screening of Lost Angel, to the Broward County, United Way Task Force on Substance Abuse, because this multi-layered film has more to say than, Just Say No, to advocates, parents and professionals when it comes to preventing abuse. While the descent into dysfunction has been covered by other media, Lost Angel takes us to that moment of first-choice, when a young person is confronted by peers to fit-in, alongside societal dictates to survive, and wrongly chooses escape. Whether it is drugs, food, gambling or isolation, Lost Angel provides an intimate look at how the talented girls and boys next door have been left unprepared, when faced with throes of inevitable rejection. Lost Angel is as much about our lost youth, as it is about the societal message, beamed 24/7 from City of Angels, with all its dictates to achieve stardom, and having one's name, etched along the Hollywood walk of fame. We see that hometown family values and the closest of friends, aren't nearly enough when one is faced with the reality that one isn't really special. When the perfect-10, blond wannabe Closes her Eyes and Opens her Mouth, we as the audience shriek "don't" to ourselves, knowing that this wrong choice will lead to the climatic scene, where the aspiring female lead encounters abandonment by all. Keri Lurtz, writer, director and lead actor, provides more than a memorable one-woman show. She leads by example, and the collective Lost Angel cast and crew produce a nuanced, reality-based narrative that's almost too graphic to relay: but relate to, we must. Lost Angel is an intelligent, powerful and caring look-see into the perils of addiction: from first seductive acquiescence, to the momentous decision to take back one's life. As parents, advocates and elders, Lost Angel forces us to open our eyes, and provides the real-lived experience to open a dialog with our young, to work their way past the inevitable 99 "No's", and grasp the bright future of yes, where
they realize how special, each one of them are.
Karen Kelly Hicks, Author, "If She Were A Woman"
Keri Lurtz is triumphant in her first feature "Lost Angel" dealing with the trials of ambition, desire and lust which
are older than "Hollywood" herself. She proves her
multiple talents as a Filmmaker and is an inspiration
to others pursuing a DREAM.
Steve Daron, President, First Edge Film Studios
ART IS NOT SAFE
An inspired critique of the "Lost Angel"
movie poster as an artistic singularity:
Invasive in its intention, the foreboding portrait of scorched beauty is a forcive glimpse at the unnatural growth that sprouts from a graveyard of lost souls surrounding Hollywood, California. The city of Los Angeles itself is painted as hallowed ground birthing its cruel inheritance of human casualty, reflecting our own good intentions and sinful ambitions in a road sign on the path to the fabled promised land. The woman, whose emaciated silent scream discolors the suicide blonde-bombshell actress as a gaunted after effect of tinseltown's disassortative inbreeding of desire and reality, unashamed of its own sexual animalism. As an advertisement for its heartful promise, it is an enticing infection of curiosity. A preconscious redirection into darkness and a telling depiction of reprimand for that unwitting naivete that drives the starry eyed cattlecade of unknowns from their hometowns in a pilgrimage-like exodus toward the bright lights of the big city where all roads lead to "fortune and fame". "Samantha" is the lifespan of human reinvention and the murder of its creator. She lives and breathes, exhorting her
cautionary tale with a faceless gesture,
leaving us mourning the death of a dream.
Mike McGill, Writer/Director Weed Zombies
Lost Angel Trailer: It looks extremely down to Earth,
and the realism of the obstacles is extraordinary. The
acting is even real in most ways. An exquisitely
good job, and I haven't even seen the movie yet.
Films like this are what inspire me to act.
5/5 stars.
Little Teddie, Writer/Actor
LOST ANGEL should be required viewing on the first day in acting class 101 for every acting student. There should be no illusions about this industry. LOST ANGEL exposes what happens to the lost souls that are eaten up by the pursuit of a dream turned nightmare for instant success and fame.
Gene Picchi, Actor
This is as real as it gets, the dangers of drugs. This film was very well produced it shows the reality,brings out the feelings and fear in this movie. It's a great one!!!!
Andrea, South Florida
