Cade: The Tortured Crossing

This film is a breathtaking piece of cinema. The chances are that you did not stumble randomly into a Breen movie. You know exactly what you are getting yourself in for - an experience of a lifetime. And his latest film delivers exactly that, and yet so much more. In "Cade: the tortured crossing", Breen nonchalantly dismisses conventional movie making practices, disregarding trivialities such as continuity, plot, character development, credible special effects and effective editing. Instead, Breen boldly challenges our notions of cinematic entertainment with a 96 minute tour de force of insanity that will leave you questioning why you even got out of bed this morning. Breen masterfully uses computer editing techniques to produce some of the most breathtaking martial arts battles ever to be captured on camera. While some critics argue that this film could have been made by inept high school students, they simply do not understand what Breen brings to the cinematic table. Breen's genius lies in his ability to create extremely low-quality, low-cost films that somehow manage to become cult classics regardless of how bad they are. Yes, its true - this film is a disaster in terms of production quality. The film was shot entirely on a blue screen, using only five or six backgrounds for the whole production. Shots are held for too long, the dialogue is barely audible and rarely makes sense, and the music is too loud. There are few sequences where more than four shots are linked together logically. However, in spite of these shortcomings, this film presents a thought provoking and profound analysis of the human condition, and an incisive critique of the US mental healthcare system. Thoroughly recommended.

This was my first Neil Breen film. I knew what I was getting into, so I wasn't shocked by how inept it was--I doubt anyone who chooses to watch it would be surprised about that. Most folks who seek this out will be wanting laugh at how bad it turned out. Well, it's hard to imagine a movie could be any worse. The story is so poorly told, it makes The Room look well-structured. The basic plot is simple enough, but the way it unfolds is very hard to follow along with. There are absolutely no filmmaking techniques that will help the viewer understand anything that is happening. And the performances are so poor that unless someone states something implicitly, you don't know what they are doing or thinking. Neil might have had it worked out in his head, but he has no ability to communicate his intentions. I really beleive that for a person to put in the time, money, and effort to produce something like this, they must have some kind of impairment. I don't know if it was a brain injury, a developmental delay, or some other form of neurodivergence, but not only is Neil afflicted, I think that anyone who appears in his films must be, too. I can't think of any other reason a person would allow themself to perform the way these people do--not for money, not for acting experience--not even if they were being blackmailed. I haven't even gotten into how visually assaultive this movie is. Anyone who rates this higher than a 1 is only doing so to be funny. There is nothing to appreciate about any moment of Cade, except for fans of bad movies. Those are the only people I would ever hope will sit through this.

I didn't think there would ever be a movie to top the.1997.seminal masterpiece Booty Call with Jamie Foxx and Tommy Davidson, but it has finally happened.

This movie has everything. Giant chairs, 3 second looped fighting clips, dialogue, and even acting. What more could you want?

I can't imagine how long Neil spent doing location scouting on shutterstock, but it was certainly worth the time. The scenery is amazing. I've never seen JPEGs seem so alive!

The script is so complex. I didn't have any idea what was going on, but that's just because I'm a moron compared to the Breenius that wrote it.

I stumbled upon this person's imbd page because life can be cruel. Intrigued, i went to the official site for the film, and subjected myself to the horrors of watching the trailer. What happened during, as well as the aftermath is sonething I wish not even on my worst enemy.

Let's begin with the "acting" (if it can even be considered that). I have watched adult films that have better acting than this. Hell, my dog (may she rest in peace), once faked an injury in order to stay in bed all day. Her acting was far better than what I saw in this (I know she was faking because I had knee surgery, and within minutes of getting home with a my leg immobilized, she suddenly started limping - plus the vet who examined her said there was absolutely nothing wrong... By dinnertime, she was running and jumping all over the place).

Then there's the green screen... Was every "set" a green screen? You're telling me they couldnt even be bothered to rent some warehouse and adapt it?

Fight scenes.... Enough said...

If you're a glutton for punishment, or need to atone for some really bad things you did in the past, then watch the trailer.. Might even get you karma points for future bad acts. If you really want to suffer, watch the entire film. I'm not going to subject myself to that level of torture, but you may be a bit stronger than me.

In short: A wealthy benefactor funds a hospital to study genome editing that is plagued by black-market medicine theft and poor maintenance.

Neil Breen makes many decisions in this film that, if they were part of a more complete and coherent vision, would be bold and truly represent ambitious B-movie filmmaking.

Aesthetically: The entire movie is shot in green screen, over stock photos. Establishing shots are also stock footage. This is really exciting to me; it represents a really interesting way to do a film on a budget and nobody else would dare to do a film that way.

Narratively: The first 20 minutes of this movie has a lot going on, and it honestly made me wonder if Breen had learned from his previous films. He's certainly learned a few editing tricks. But as the film continues, it's clear that Breen still hasn't figured out how to write a plot with a beginning, middle, and end; scenes happen in seemingly random order and repeat information.

And as usual for Breen, characters speak vaguely without specific details or characterization. This is especially frustrating because it feels like this film, of all his post-Fateful Findings films, really has a clear and interesting premise.

Ultimately I came out of this film really wanting to see Breen direct another writer's work, or another writer direct a Breen screenplay. Both the central narrative idea and the directorial style have interesting things to say, but they both need some external contribution to really make them click.