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Reviews
Fifth Ward (1997)
More of the same...
...old same old. This story sheds no new light on what has become a tired genre. It's a shame because there's so many stories to tell about inner city life and African-American relationships, but the writer/director of this movie had no imagination and chose to preach the obvious.
The look of the movie is muddy at times because of its low budget. The acting at times good, but most of these unknowns were out of their reach with emotional scenes that felt forced.
Like most movies in the modern ghetto genre, it steals from other films, like Pulp Fiction and Menace 2 Society. The use of "voice over" has become the standard for ghetto movies, because the director feels the need to explain everything to the audience instead of doing the work visually.
When will a director with vision come along and capture African-American life as it is today, without preaching, and pandering to the audience for sympathy for a movie that is poorly made and without any goal other than getting your hard earned cash. Buy this video at your own risk, it's better to catch it on cable.
A Walk in the Park (1999)
Not bad in a Henry Jaglom kind of way.
This is an adult film for people that enjoy watching character driven movies.
The plot is simple. A sucky comic takes on a job driving around a bitchy handicapped woman.
What makes this simple romance comedy charming is the real to life characters. The bitchy chick in the wheelchair is not always a mean spirited person. She's actually nice when she lets her guard down. And the sucky comic, cares about people in his own care free way. He's not one of those self-absorbed comics that just make basic cynical observations about life. He's a regular guy.
The movie isn't great, but has a breezy style that makes an hour and a half feel like twenty minutes.
Fucking Åmål (1998)
Finally, a story about teenagers that's smart.
This is the story of two girls. One popular. The other a loner.
The popular girl takes a bet to kiss the loner, and we're off and running with the plot. But this film isn't about plot points and cardboard cut-out characters. Oh no, the director cares much too much about the people that occupy this film. Their insecurity, fears, wants, needs, are allowed to show itself in a natural way that American movies stay clear of.
It's not a T and A lesbian flick, there's no Larry Clark exhibitionism, just pure acting and wonderful camera work. It's done in a documentary style. Its grainy look works well here.
The soundtrack is nice, and the style of the characters are surprisingly hip.
Check it out. It sometimes plays on HBO.