Caught Up

Director Scott's debut leads us through a well paced maze of mystery. He keeps our interest by injecting unpredictable twists and turns throughout. A brave effort that goes against the formulaic grain of the majority of Hollywood releases.

Bokeem Woodbine gets out of prison with an ambition to keep out of trouble. He wants to open a club, but lacks the money. So when a buddy tells him he has the money in the bank, he drives him there.... and discovers himself part of a bank robbery. When he gets out the next time, he gets a job with a limousine service. But it's a cover for a lot of illegal activities, and soon Woodbine finds himself on the run, with people shooting at him, and Cynda Williams, an exact duplicate of his old girl friend getting him in even more trouble over ten million dollars of stolen diamonds.

It's a pretty good neo-noir with Woodbine trying to figure out why everyone is trying to kill him, and also why. It's cheaply shot, mostly interior sets ad night shots, but Woodbine is good, the people he runs into flamboyant stereotypes, and a script that keeps you guessing. With Jeffrey Coombs, Clifton Powell, Snoop Dog, and L L Cool J.

This is a silly movie that involves a man who has recently been let out of prison. He meets a girl and gets mixed up in this silly underworld scenario, complete with renegade rastafarians and peel away facial disguises. But its not as good as it sounds... you have to put up with a lot of mediocre writing and overacting in order to get to any of the above-mentioned treats. The story has all of these tricky twists that aim to add depth but really only complicate the already-ailing story. To tell you the truth, the only reason I watched it was so that I could see the extremely short cameo by rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, playing the character "Kool Kitty Kat".

One funny thing- you should watch for all of the funny faces that the actors make throughout the movie. Its really strange how often it happens, and I don't know if it is a biproduct of the overacting or an inside joke or what. In any case, if you for some reason DO decide to watch this movie, its something to do.

A very typical set up - ex-con with a kid, wants to make a new start. The main character's complete lack of bravado makes him an amiable enough lead, but it's not enough to save the film from clunky dialogue, and some clunkier acting. However, there are some cinematically nice moments, and it's worth the rental price just to see Jeffrey Combs' hysterical, and very... memorable... cameo.

This was pretty nice, though absolutely everything is seen before. The plot thins out towards the end, after a bland start. Of the characters I'd like to pull out "Vanessa" for her good looks, and "Billy" for a good performance. The rastas are, on the other hand, just plain silly. Watch this movie if you have nothing better to do. 6/10