Ninth Street

9th Street is a movie you are unlikely to stumble over. It did not get a theatrical release and your local Blockbuster is sure to not have it. If you DO stumble over it, though, give it a try.

Kevin Willmott is a screenwriter and director, an instructor at the University of Kansas and generally a nice guy. His movie has a lot of personal stories to tell and is a film rich in ideas, though they do not all work out.

Willmott models 9th Street after the Jazz music that once made the title-supplying location great. That means the movie has a ramshackle, loose and improvised rythm to it. The main idea is old stuff vs. new stuff and an elegiac look at the glory days of the Jazz Age. There is more, much more in fact, but that is up to the viewer to discover.

As I mentioned, there are some minor flaws. It's greatest strength, the ideas who go all over the place, do not add up at all ends and the violent tone of the conclusion was a bit too much of a turn from the mostly light tone established before.

Martin Sheen's role is basically a cameo and was done as a favor to Queen Bey (who plays the bartender). At least his participation ensured that this movie was distributed. It is a shame that movies like 9th Street that go against the grain are buried like this...so if you stumble over it, be sure to give it a try.