Nik Belcevich’s media credits are both for producing and acting. Nik Belcevich produced mostly independent films that have made interesting comments on American life and attitudes.
Chlorine (2013), for example, is an illustration of the dangers of excess, even though it is a humorous one. The film is set in New England, and the plot is centered on Roger Lent (and his family). A banker, Roger becomes involved in a risky real estate investment which was compounded when a shadowy figure (who is also a friend) invests his ill-gotten gains in the same investment.
The characters who round out Roger’s life are just as flawed. His free-spending, materialistic wife, Georgie, exacerbates his problems with her desires for a bigger home in Copper Canyon. Incidentally, Roger is a part of the Copper Canyon Country Club, and it is his boss who suggests that he invest in a real estate development deal on the estate.
There is a lot going on in the text, but one theme that sticks out is regarding the dangers of excess. The film was produced on the heels of the end of what has been called the Great Recession (2008) and other investment scandals, and the movie draws a few parallels to the ethics in finance, much less banking. For one, that Roger is a banker who is involved in a precarious real estate developmental deal that only becomes worse when a friend invests his ill-gotten means is a comment on risky behavior in finance.
Viewers almost feel sorry for the character because Roger is passed up for a promotion, which might explain his grasping at a way to make a ridiculously amount of money quickly. While this is a “keeping up with the Joneses” tale, the picture leaves viewers confronting and questioning the consequences of chasing excess. Ultimately, the financial fiasco that ensues forces the characters to re-evaluate their relationships.
