dylan

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stealing cars

source: Stealing Cars

Not the space it plays in, but the script that is. It's a really decent effort into crime territory, though mostly played in a "restricted" area (to put it mildly). If you know more about the story, than you know what I mean, otherwise be surprised if you want to, where this is going (with or without stolen cars). This is definitely not another Gone in 60 seconds, it's much more of a drama and the stellar cast gives it more than a bit of gravitas. I'd argue they were drawn into the project by a very neat script. If all translated onto the screen, is something you have to decide for yourself. Does it have faults and flaws? The answer is yes, so do the characters in it, but that's what could be described as the extra something that keeps this ... driving

I highly recommend this movie. It's one of those movies that worth watching. Good performances. The main character, a really clever and complex boy will make you more and more interested. The performance by Emory Cohen is very powerful. I have to say that this movie caught me since the beginning. If you feel a particular interest in independent films, you should watch this one.

After a promising first half, the second half felt like the writer and/or director quit and was replaced by someone who filled the movie with clichés in what amounted to a mess filled with continuity issues. Emory Cohen was great and carried this movie. I watched this movie for him and he did not disappoint. The cop's actions in the final act? C'mon man.....

--- The movie is well worth watching. I am simply explaining what bothered me and how it could have been made better in my opinion. --- I like continuity in movies and also a sense of closure. Nothing makes me lose feeling for a movie, that makes me loose that feeling of the suspension of reality that I need than a lack of closure and that is where I think this movie lost points in my opinion. Even so it was still a good 6/10, but it could have been a 7. --- They spend a good deal of time developing certain characters in the movie, the weak but sensitive boy, the strong and silent "Poeta" boy, and to a lesser degree the leaders of the white gang and the leader of the black gang. However the movie spins off to the ending and never gives us any closure on what happens to these characters. Even with Billy we only sort of get a idea of his over coming his issues as he steals yet another car and rushes a friend to the hospital. But that's it, exit stage right? I want to know what happened to the weak kid that was dropped at the hospital and the "Poeta". Time was spent building their characters just to drop them suddenly. Not an efficient use of screen time in my opinion. In the end we see what appears to be a prison riot kick off, the most violent guard turn into a cream puff and the weak kid dropped at a hospital, but that's it. The movie ends and we never hear if the weak kid lived or the riot was quelled, or the violent guard and the "warden" get what should be coming to them.

A pleasant (sic) enough drive along life's highway, but things just seemed to work out a little too well for Billy. It never felt like there were real hurdles in his way, that anything was really a battle to overcome. All in all -- and despite the brutality (which was not unexpected) -- this just didn't feel real.

The twist and the action in the last ten or fifteen minutes give a taste of how truly memorable this film could have been, but the eighty minutes of set-up show how lazy and delusional filmmakers can be. There is an overt reference to A Bronx Tale but far too much harking back to The Breakfast Club and similar, with unlikeable characters in unrealistic situations. Billy would never have got away with the rambling smart-arse speechmaking on show here, but would have been told to sit down and STFU (at best) or, more likely, punched in the mouth. The distinction between the gangs is underplayed unless it is critical to a plot point, at which time it feels forced. The kindly sheriff, damaged nurse and bullying guard stereotypes rely on one actor in each role, and we are expected to believe they work almost around the clock and with no support. There is no suggestion that education extends beyond reading one book, sport involves more than knocking one character to the ground repeatedly, or rehabilitation extends beyond polishing the boss's car. The annual building project is as believable as finding Elvis on the moon. Most of the film is made up of red herrings and blind alleys, with very occasional flashbacks that confuse rather than illuminate. Even after seeing the twist I am not convinced I fully understood what they were trying to say but by that stage I was making up my own story. The end is forced melodrama but need not have been. There was a great film here struggling to get out.