Is this gonna turn into a "I love Mikey" thing? I've seen the film five times now, and have come to really appreciate Mike's portrayal of the character.

When I first watched it, Heather was the tragic hero, and she still is. Like Macbeth or Hamlet or Othello, Heather has a tragic flaw. With Hamlet it was indecision. With Othello it was jealousy. For Heather: morbid curiosity. The inability to look away. The inability to turn off the video camera, leave it in the woods and run as fast as she can in the opposite direction.

As I reviewed the film, Joshua became my main interest. My first indications were that he was playing a vague character, and that surely he couldn't have chosen to do this. There is no drive, no certainty about him. This makes his character all the more real because I've seen people like that, and I've seen that myself when I look in the mirror but surely this wasn't the actor's intent.

If it was, Joshua is so good that he makes you question whether or not he was acting. People argue that all the time. Was this acting? I've already made my opinion clear elsewhere. Here, with Joshua, let me see how I can explain it.

Joshua was acting, but in a way that questions the very craft of even method acting. He was reactive and responsive. He was not an actor, but a lost man trying to find the way out of the maze he found himself in. When you can make the audience forget you're acting, you've achieved greatness.

But now, when I see the film I am impressed beyond words with the more quiet one: Michael.

Look at the calm tranquility of the final day. All they can do now is wait. They've tried to get out and there is no way. No matter how long they walk, they end up in the same place. They're tired. They're trying to run away from what chases them, but in the final day they realize they have to come to terms with it.

The moment when Mike is eating the leaf, and Heather questions the absurdity of it. Mike is simply accepting his surroundings. If you can't beat it, join it. Make it become a part of you.

There's a scene where Heather puts the camera down and goes over to sit with Michael, and they just sit there and comfort one another. Very little movement. Heather's weight leans against Mike's, and the picture says a thousand words.

They're turning their heads into the storm. I see a lot of Moby Dick in this story, especially regarding Heather.

If Heather is Captain Ahab, Joshua is Starbuck the first mate, and Michael is like Ishmael, the new member of the crew who has a wide-eyed and positive viewpoint at the world, and sees both the respect and insanity of the crew.

For those of you who haven't read Moby Dick, lets try using Three Stooges or comparison. Heather is Moe. Joshua is Curly, the one who questions authority. Mike is Larry. The one who sometimes questions authority but usually just follows along without resistance. Of these three, Heather is definitely the leader. At least in the beginning. Unlike the three stooges though we see these characters change and grow. Which is why Moby Dick's a bit better of an example than the Three Stooges.

Both of the boys question Heather's authority, but Michael retains a level of respect for Heather even at the end, which Joshua never truly mastered.

The scene where they are considering whether or not to go east, the 'Wicked Wizard of Oz' scene. Despite all of this, Heather and Michael respect one another's opinions and are still trying to work together,

But notice in the final scene as they are in the house, who's leading? Who's going first? It's not Heather leading any longer. It's Mike!

In the final moments of her life, Heather is able to relinquish control to someone who has won her trust, or perhaps SHARE is a better word. We see her character come full circle.

And the same is true for Mike. When we first meet him, he's Mama's Boy. He calls out to his Mom and says goodbye as he's leaving. He respectfully thanks Heather for this opportunity. He's not a leader. Mike is a follower.

Reading the back story in the dossier gives the indication of a Michael Williams who did as he was told, be it by his father or backstage at a concert where he works sound. He will push himself harder but only when asked. He's a dependable and diligent young man, but in the course of the movie, we see a man who begins to wonder if the person in charge really knows what she's doing.

He practically refers to Heather as "ma'am" in the first scene in the car. Later in the hotel room, when Heather goes for a drink he says, "you can't do that!" why not? "Because you're the director!" You're the one in charge! You're the boss! You're not human you shouldn't enjoy yourself, you're the LEADER.

And as we progress through the story, Mike learns that the leader (not just Heather, any leader) is just as human as he is: an equal. A peer. And his respect remains but he uses this knowledge to share the load of responsibility in their final day or two before the final scene at the house, where he takes charge because Heather simply can't any longer.

But for Heather, unlike Ahab, the goal is not to kill the beast that stalks her mind. It is just to see it. And we don't even know if she achieves that in the end. Did she see it? Or like Captain Ahab was she merely pulled under by it?

The more I look at this film, the more I'm amazed there was no script. The more I'm fascinated with the fact this was just a plot outline. Thirty-five pages of outline, granted, but compare that to a shooting script that's usually 90 to 120 pages long!

All three of these actors used themselves as clay, and molded and shaped their characters into flesh and blood in a way that I have only seen in some of the best presentations of Shakespeare by very talented actors.

I once saw a presenation of King Lear performed at Stage West in Fort Worth many years ago. The man who played Lear worked like that. It was like he saw himself in a mirror as an old man and then showed us his image in the mirror. The actor, I had worked with before. A man of energy and vitality, and I watched him on the stage that night mold himself into a decrepit, senile old man whose presence made you weep, but still retained a regal elegance about him even as he held his daughter Cordelia in his arms.

Such performances are rare, to pull from one's own heart that which will stir the deepest emotions in others. When we see Michael rocking back and forth, soothing himself, commenting that as long as we're still smoking, we're still alive, you FEEL the same defeat he feels! Yet you also feel the unabated determination to move forward.

It's a phrase I've carried with me for years. And I can't remember where I got it from originally.