In Jerren Lauder’s “The Color of the Ground,” absolute strangers find comraderie despite a language barrier. The style of camerawork and editing bring a unique feel to the movie. However, with a great potential for the story, the movie falls flat.

The film is set near Big Bear Lake in California. Felipe (Alexander Ordonez), a Mexican who has just come to America to find a new life and job, walks into a situation he never anticipated when arriving in America.

As he enters the forest, he encounters an area strewn with a lawn chair, ornaments and even a guestbook. It is an area inhabited by an American man (Robert Longstreet) who is desperate for someone to talk to.

The American calls this his house. Objects are strewn across the floor of his home, including a recorder with a microphone. The American could only speak English and Felipe spoke Spanish. To ensure interaction with Felipe, the American records himself speaking.

When he speaks, it starts the communication through body language. Longstreet’s character has frustration and sadness in his face and his eyes, allowing Felipe to know how he feels.

The American speaks about being a compulsive hoarder and how that destroyed his marriage because his wife could not stand the “clutter.” All of the objects to him represent memories. He can’t let them go. Eventually, all objects he picked up with his family turn into bad memories.

Due to holding onto memories he encounters a loop of bad memories causing him to run away from everything, seeking refuge in the woods.

The recorder allows Felipe to open up and to share his feelings and frustrations of why he came to America.

Felipe has come here for new work. He has a dream of owning his own business. He wants the opportunity to make his mother proud, hopefully sending her a photo of himself in dress clothes with his hair combed. Felipe wants to show his father, who owns a meat market in Chihuahua, Mexico, that he not only doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps, but wants to be his own man.

When Felipe speaks he starts to cry, communicating to Longstreet’s character that his story is emotional and private.

The breaking of the language barrier is a fascinating detail of the story. The opening sequence introduces Felipe with a gritty, guerilla style camerawork, which brings a level of authenticity to the film.

However, when the overall plot line is strong, there are issues with the script. The character dialogue did not always reflect the main premise of two individuals breaking the language barrier and discussing their deep secrets. There were moments where lines detracted from the main focus, but did nothing to really acclimate the audience with the two characters. For the short duration of the film, it did not lend to a cohesive, final product.