Writer-director Terre Weisman tells a deeply human story with “Max Dagan”, a penetrating crime drama that follows two shattered families whose overwhelming personal animosity towards each other leaves everyone involved wounded in one way or another. Weisman’s feature premiered in New York at Dances With Films and just screened at the El Dorado Film Festival. It’s now preparing for distribution and it’s certainly a movie to look out for.

“Max Dagan” is a drama driven by flawed and in some cases damaged characters. It’s a story about bad choices and painful consequences. But it’s also a story about not letting those choices and consequences define you. It’s about overcoming your faults and finding mercy for those who have wronged you. But Weisman doesn’t pretend it’s easy. In fact, it can sometimes feel impossible. Such is the case with the characters in “Max Dagan”, most of whom find themselves struggling with past mistakes.

The altercation that sets the main story in motion takes place in an extended prologue. Ilene Brennan (Lisa Roumain) is a battered alcoholic; John (Richard Neil) is her abusive husband and a cop whose personality can change in a snap. After an argument turns violent, Ilene slips away to secretly meet Albert Dagan (Rob Morrow) who she’s been having an affair with. But a suspicious John surprises them and begins brutally beating Albert. Weisman cuts the scene short, leaving the details a little hazy. But we have a good idea how things played out.

In the incident’s aftermath, John ends up dead and Albert is charged with manslaughter. His lawyer and brother Bob (Rob Brownstein) makes a strong case for self-defense. But the jury finds Albert guilty and the judge sentences him to fifteen years in prison. Left in the rubble is Albert’s 15-year-old son, a guitar prodigy named Max (Harry Holden White) who now has nowhere to go. Bob won’t accept custody for reasons involving his wife that never makes much sense. So Max becomes a ward of the state. But he runs away before he can be taken to a foster home.

From there we jump ahead several years as Max (now played by Zachary Gordon) has become a successful guitar player for a popular rock band. He has also been working hard to get his father out of prison. But so far they’ve lost every parole hearing in large part due to the testimonies of John’s heartbroken daughter, Alaina (a superb Lindsey Dresbach) and a dirty detective named Dan Clancy (Michael Madsen) whose shady motives remain murky throughout.

But a new sense urgency comes after Albert is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. With only a short time to live, Max hopes his father is granted a ‘compassionate release’ rather than dying in prison. But getting such a release won’t be easy, and it may require working with his uncle who he still blames for not taking him in. It may also require convincing Alaina to show mercy and not testify against his dad.

From there the story unfolds at a well-modulated pace as Weisman unknots and then reties the many narrative threads that make up his story. Meanwhile the performances stay grounded and feel firmly rooted in the gritty and textured Los Angeles setting. DP Tim Banks shoots the city in a way that helps vividly bring the characters and their circumstances to life.

Not everything in the story comes together as it should and we’re left with a few head-scratching questions. But those things don’t stop Terre Weisman from telling a compelling story that is imbued with humanity from beginning to end. The film deals with some weighty subject matter and difficult themes. But in the end it’s the characters who take center stage and who steadily grow through the tensions that bind them. Weisman keeps them as his main focus, and as the audience, so do we.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS