A tepid screenplay, desperately weak acting and a false attempt to even create a realistic Beale Street atmosphere (and the surrounding area in New Orleans) mixes instantly forgettable within the first half-hour even though it deals with murders involving a heroine ring. Character actor Stacy Harris keeps cancelling fishing trips with his son as the murders of heroin addict females within the Beale Street District. The elderly black band leader witnesses the crime and quickly disappears although his sudden reappearance is neither important to the plot nor intense in presentation.
A cast of unknowns give truly amateurish performances whether playing lawmakers or lawbreakers. A song sung about the Beale Street certainly would never be considered as an anthem for New Orleans and is laughably bad. The dialogue is beyond trite, and any attempt to create any tension with the situation just falls flat on its face. It is a sour saxophone note that doesn't come to an end too fast. The sound design too feels like scenes were taped separately then spliced together to have conversations between two actors who weren't even in the room when they were filmed.
A cast of unknowns give truly amateurish performances whether playing lawmakers or lawbreakers. A song sung about the Beale Street certainly would never be considered as an anthem for New Orleans and is laughably bad. The dialogue is beyond trite, and any attempt to create any tension with the situation just falls flat on its face. It is a sour saxophone note that doesn't come to an end too fast. The sound design too feels like scenes were taped separately then spliced together to have conversations between two actors who weren't even in the room when they were filmed.