True to the Game

I'll never be able to explain what keeps me coming back to urban dramas even when I've expressed my occasional distaste for many. Maybe it comes from the hope that as the years go by, there will be one urban drama that shakes up the genre and challenges old concepts and writing. However there are films like True to the Game that makes me believe the genre has gotten too comfortable.

The film, based on the based selling novel by Teri Woods, follows Quadir (Columbus Short), a well established street hustler. He began to have thoughts of stepping out of the game after falling for Gina (Erica Peeples) and receiving threats from others taking over his position.

Usually by this point, I try to say something positive about the movie, but frankly, I just don't have much to say at all about this. It's your typical run of the mill urban drama and no plot point or actor can elevate the material past that. While the movie does have some occasionally nice lighting, it's not long till almost every scenery looks artificial to the eye. The editing is even stranger, when it almost immediately changes scenes after someone is shot or a short time to react from a shooting.

The one thing that bothers me the most about the film is the lack of emotional impact. There's one scene in particular near the end of the film, that's supposed to be a emotional moment, but is so rushed like the rest of the film and the rest of the film slogs even further down a hole it can't crawl out of.

I haven't read the book to True to the Game, but I feel the movie gives me the feeling I'm not missing much at all. While I commend them trying to make material with a very small budget, it doesn't make up for lazy writing, unengaged acting or the lace front beards almost every male has on.