Duke

This film will be studied one day and funny enough I audited an acting class years ago in Los Angeles and they were doing the scene between Morrison and Roman, partners played to perfection by Anthony Gaudioso and Michael Bowen in the film. I almost fell off my seat, lol. I thought I was the only one who had heard of this masterpiece. For me this is indie film at it's best. For anyone who knows the Gaudioso Twins they know these two are the real deal. Indie filmmakers to their core. Both from an exceptionally blue collar background these two came from nothing. No industry connection. No inside track. They discussed this film during a screening stating they drew upon their fathers ill fated time spent at Mount Loretto's institution as a jumping off point for this heartbreaking and stirring narrative.

Aside from my one gripe, that being the extreme vagueness of the suggested abuse suffered by these brothers as Tweens that resulted in such extreme emotional damage to both of them, in different ways, that leads to the state of beings they ended up in to "be" this movie's plot and environment. (How they lived and what they did and the story itself). This was a highly enthralling movie.

It really holds ones attention (Provided you are intelligent enough, or a movie buff enough, to actually enjoy movies where thinking and pondering are) required. The acting was good, the cast didn't have any bad participants, the story, though taking the first act to really settle in, (Considering you are baffled at the beginning as to who, what and how these guys are living and why) continues on to really engage your senses and keeps you wondering how this is all gonna end, especially since you know it's not going to be a happy ending by any means. The end did bring me to unexpected tears (I didn't realize I was as engaged as I turned out to be until the tears came at the end...or shall I say both endings).

I'll restate my first thought, I think a LOT more emotional engagement would have been accomplished had their been more backstory about how these two brothers became such damaged individuals, even a SMALL amount of further revelations regarding their tween years in "the home", which seemed to be some sort of ?orphanage? Type place, but even still, I found the movie very thought provoking, sad, and heartbreaking on several fronts. Both these brothers were terribly damaged and lost in this world, almost seemingly without any real ability to live in it, I'd really like to know how they became to such a state of damaged and doomed yet still innocent and good guys...I am very glad I bought it and can say I've experienced this film.

I have to say; I am impressed. If you're looking for a hollywood smash, this isn't for you. But if you love a complicated slow burn, with some unexpected twists. This movie is definitely for you.

I have never been one for indie films due to grit and low budget feeling acting and camera work. The Gaudioso Twins are very very good at telling stories and doing so in an attractive package. This film is highly gritty but not in a way that turns the average movie goer off. There are many many moments where characters really perform well. The camera angles are nice. The story is very bitter sweet. For me most films/stories can be boiled down to one moment, the climax. This story unfolds and by the end, emotions will run very high. The first there quarters of the film are very fun and entertaining, like sin city. The final quarter the film takes a turn from action to drama and narrows focus on the heart of the main characters. Like any good flick we see snippets of characters background to shine light on the "why" of certain moments and certain expressions of the characters. I have watched this film just in the last week or so about 25 times simply because by the end the emotions are very bitter sweet and deep. Beneath the grit lies a beautiful and sad story that is sure to stroke those emotions. As a composer my self I would like to commend the music for doing its job, it played a very big role in ushering in the emotions of the sequences. I would say indie fan or not this is a great story!

There's about a 5 minute scene of a strip club fully naked women.