Starring: Ashley Butler, Chris Butler
Director: Chris Butler
What makes a good documentary? In my mind unlike feature films you don’t need a focus on people that you can relate with or even like. It all comes down to the premise and how much it can fascinate the audience. Life with Ashley has people that I can’t relate to and honestly wouldn’t want to hang out with but oh boy was I fascinated with what was happening.
What we have is a look into the life of Ashley Butler as filmed by her brother Chris. In a few days time they will be hosting a party where Ashley hopes to bed Stewart, the current guy in her life. What sounds simple is an in depth look into the party mentality of the youth of Australia, and also could make a few of us remember what it was like to be a teenager when stuff like this was the most important thing on our minds.
As the focus of the film Ashley is fascinating as she comes across as an arrogant teenager who thinks she knows everything, yet there seems to be a deeper vein of thought running underneath which does show with her more creative pursuits. Other than her brother who acts almost like a safety net for her plans, all the other people we are introduced to don’t really matter much other than to build Ashley up as a person. Even Stewart who is the target of Ashley remains very much an enigma over the course of the documentary.
Chris keeps the style of the documentary pretty simple, letting the story of Ashley take centre stage. There is an interesting sequence that happens midway through the movie when Chris and Ashley are telling their grandparents about what happened to their mother and her car in the morning. Acting like a flash back it does show Chris has the ability to stylise but instead has chosen not to be too flashy.
Overall this documentary really taps into the reality television idea. Just keep the camera on the person with hardly any agenda and let the person create the entertainment rather than force the situation. Also because the idea of the documentary is simple it means that most people should be able to digest it and come up with their own feelings. I am glad I managed to catch this documentary and I would recommend giving this documentary a try to just about everyone.
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