If you haven't seen it, it just recently made its debut in L.A., go see it. Very good movie. Two actors in particular come to mind when I think about this movie, Turk Muller, and Mik Scriba. They are older, but they've been around for awhile, playing smaller roles, but solidly portraying them almost as well as bigger roles that well-known stars do! And I had no idea that I had seen them in so many movies! Kudos to Turk and Mik for a job well done!
2 Reviews
A sorry picture.
SpokanesFinest20 November 2002
Warning: Spoilers
***SLIGHT SPOILERS*** The lead character, played by the illustrious John Clayton Shafer (Exit to Eden, Return to Two Moon Junction) gets out of jail, on account of good behavior or something, only to wind up back in his home town to beg for a job. When his father, played by Mik Scriba (The Last Seduction, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood), sees that his rehabilitated son is begging for a job as a car mechanic, he beats him up, right in front of his method-acting mother, Wanda De Jesus (The Insider, Robocop 2), who throws a temper tantrum, from time to time.
Shafer's rejection from his father pushes him back into the seedy underbelly of the city, where he is reunited with his no-good-dirty-although-they-do-drive-a-nice-car-friends. Shafer finds himself town between the make-things-right-with-dad attitude and the sheer fun of being naughty (like getting all cracked-out and crying in a cemetery). Meanwhile, Mik the mechanic gets some old-man-to-old-man-advice from an old friend in the garage. This is supposed to be touching, I think.
Now, it's somewhere in here that I lose focus, because the next thing I know, Shafer is held hostage by his hoodlum-friends, who are now perched on a building rooftop with crappy graffitti-art as some sort of 'urban' decor. There's some yelling. There's some sappy tension-inducing music. And the next thing you know, 50+ year old Mik and his soft-talking buddies are packing heat, climbing fire escapes, and having themselves a little shootout with the gang-bangers! Forget the cops, do it vigilante style!
Honestly, the film is garbage. The acting is mediocre at best, but who can blame them. The script is awful.
However, I must mention that writing this review is every minute worth the 3 week, consistent 15-17 hour days I spent as a lowly PA for $40/day. And all at the start of a brutal Chicago winter.
By the way, we'll see how long it lasts as Mr. Donal Tavey's one and only directorial credit.
Shafer's rejection from his father pushes him back into the seedy underbelly of the city, where he is reunited with his no-good-dirty-although-they-do-drive-a-nice-car-friends. Shafer finds himself town between the make-things-right-with-dad attitude and the sheer fun of being naughty (like getting all cracked-out and crying in a cemetery). Meanwhile, Mik the mechanic gets some old-man-to-old-man-advice from an old friend in the garage. This is supposed to be touching, I think.
Now, it's somewhere in here that I lose focus, because the next thing I know, Shafer is held hostage by his hoodlum-friends, who are now perched on a building rooftop with crappy graffitti-art as some sort of 'urban' decor. There's some yelling. There's some sappy tension-inducing music. And the next thing you know, 50+ year old Mik and his soft-talking buddies are packing heat, climbing fire escapes, and having themselves a little shootout with the gang-bangers! Forget the cops, do it vigilante style!
Honestly, the film is garbage. The acting is mediocre at best, but who can blame them. The script is awful.
However, I must mention that writing this review is every minute worth the 3 week, consistent 15-17 hour days I spent as a lowly PA for $40/day. And all at the start of a brutal Chicago winter.
By the way, we'll see how long it lasts as Mr. Donal Tavey's one and only directorial credit.
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