What great performances across the board in this movie. I saw on another site that this movie cost about $2,500 to make. It looks it, but I don't mean that in a bad way. The grungy aspect of the film-making actually accentuates its effectiveness. It's a tough little crime film, with more implied than seen where the violence is concerned, although there is a lot of blood on the screen. It's like a throwback to the pulp crime film films of the fifties, but with a lot of four letter words.
The cast is what makes it a good ride. Each is excellent in their own way. Robert Watson is the leader of the criminals. He's a sympathetic character, despite his rage and confusion about what to do to get out of their present situation. Jack Valvo is his partner. At first, Jack is introduced as a soccer father playing with neighborhood kids in a park, but then we see him as he really is: pure evil. He gets a lot of the film's funniest lines.
Geri Lee is the only female in the film, and as is probably expected, she handles all of the emotional scenes. She's alternately tough and fragile, a combination that is a lot harder to pull off than we would think. Ronald Fox is the guy with the biggest secret. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about this performance, but on a second viewing I could see just how good he is. And Mark Bowie has the almost thankless role of the "dying" character, but he does a good job of expressing physical agony with the realization that he is not going to survive. His black and white "scene" is one of the best in the movie.
Throw all these people in a house together for 60 minutes, and watch the fireworks fly! When they turn it on, the sparks really fly! Kudos to writer/director Richard Cecere for giving these terrific actors ample dialogue and scenery to chew on. It comes across more like a filmed play than a movie that manipulates time and space, but when you only have $2,500 you do what you can.
The cast is what makes it a good ride. Each is excellent in their own way. Robert Watson is the leader of the criminals. He's a sympathetic character, despite his rage and confusion about what to do to get out of their present situation. Jack Valvo is his partner. At first, Jack is introduced as a soccer father playing with neighborhood kids in a park, but then we see him as he really is: pure evil. He gets a lot of the film's funniest lines.
Geri Lee is the only female in the film, and as is probably expected, she handles all of the emotional scenes. She's alternately tough and fragile, a combination that is a lot harder to pull off than we would think. Ronald Fox is the guy with the biggest secret. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about this performance, but on a second viewing I could see just how good he is. And Mark Bowie has the almost thankless role of the "dying" character, but he does a good job of expressing physical agony with the realization that he is not going to survive. His black and white "scene" is one of the best in the movie.
Throw all these people in a house together for 60 minutes, and watch the fireworks fly! When they turn it on, the sparks really fly! Kudos to writer/director Richard Cecere for giving these terrific actors ample dialogue and scenery to chew on. It comes across more like a filmed play than a movie that manipulates time and space, but when you only have $2,500 you do what you can.