Deadlock

Before I checked, I assumed this was directed by some amateur unexperienced young filmmaker - or a high school drama class, and was shocked to find out that Jared Cohn has 47 directorial credits and 20 writing credits under his belt. It was so horribly directed in every aspect - from poorly executed scenes, transitions, and camera angles, with prop and set mistakes, massive incohesive and illogical plot and structure issues, failure to direct his cast, etc. This felt like a 1980's amatuer camcorder production. And the flaws are so obvious, a little effort would've gone a long way. Even the use of actual Katrina disaster clips were poorly edited in.

The screenplay (jointly written by Cam Cannon and Cohn) bounced all over the place with scenes in and out of nowhere, and the first half was convoluted in the poor attempt to create some plot twists, which even when they become evident, there's many bits and pieces missing. Most of the dialogue will make you shake your head and/or cringe. However, the use of a hydroelectric dam as the main setting for this crime thriller was well conceived and utilized, and I'm sure helped maintain the film's low budget. But the entire "payback" premise of the dam was far fetched and a cringeworthy attempt to piggy-back the Katrina disaster.

Casting and performances were ok for the most part, but very evident many actors much-needed at least some direction from Cohn. Willis' performance was actually one of his better, in his usual monthly b-film showcase appearances. Patrick Muldoon, Chris Cleveland and Ava Paloma were the only actors close to being convincing in their characters, although Douglas Matthews was on point as the comic-relief. The score wasn't bad, and even though the pacing was decent, the 97 min runtime could've used some trimming.

Nevertheless, I finished the film, and wasn't disappointed I watched it, especially since I had nothing better to do. It's a generous 5/10 from me.