Gimme the Loot

A Jewish kid from trendy Greenwich Village embarks on making a film that shows the gritty underbelly of the Bronx, assisted by his high school chum, a NYC tour guide. One of the film's producers suggests using 2 white actors "to increase marketability", but the filmmakers resist, enlisting 2 mostly unknown African-American talents as well as an ex-con with no acting experience, all the while shooting covertly in many locations because they didn't have a film permit.

If that sounds like a wacky plot, it's not. That's the true backstory of "Gimmie the Loot" which, as a film, is no less quirky than the odd circumstances that spawned it. Shot on a micro budget of $65,000, the cinematography and authentic feel put it squarely in league with the big boys, if not a cut above, due to the filmmakers' intimacy with the city. Some shots were done with zoom lenses at a great distance so that the actors could seamlessly blend with the urban reality. Thus by removing the Hollywood polish from the apple, we get a true taste of what lies under the surface of New York City.

The plot, while quite original, isn't the focus of the film, but I'll tell it to you anyway. In the 20 years since a gang of graffiti artists attempted unsuccessfully to spray paint the Shea Stadium apple (an enormous prop that pops up whenever the Mets hit a home run), nobody has succeeded. Thus, to graffiti artists, or at least to our 2 main characters Malcom & Sophia, this caper is the urban equivalent of stealing the Hope Diamond. The movie follows 3 days in the lives of these 2 teenagers as they cook up their half-baked plan and set it in motion.

But the movie itself is far more than this. It gives us one of the most entertaining & charming views of the 'hood, yes, with its moments of menace & violence, but mostly in a light-hearted, enchanting way. This is a story of innocence in a not-so-innocent world, and it succeeds brilliantly. For example, Meeko the "ex-con" I mentioned in the 1st paragraph may frighten you at first with his imposing stature, forceful speaking and many tattoos, but he soon becomes one of the most entertaining, childlike criminal misfits you've ever seen. Watch the DVD bonus feature which features Meeko on a public access show "All City Hour" alongside Sam Soghor (the "tour guide" I mentioned above) being their hilarious selves.

Yes, the film has some great comedy, but it's not a laugh riot with punchlines galore. Instead the humor is low key like in "Pulp Fiction" with strange, almost surreal banter between the actors during tense situations. I absolutely loved the scene with Meeko & lead actor Ty Hickson pulling off a heist and suddenly stopping to argue about whether stairs begin at floor 1 or floor 2.

So even though the film has frequent references to drug use, drug dealing, robbery, gang violence, and oh yeah the F word used in practically every sentence, "Gimmie the Loot" is very much a sort of urban fairytale, full of innocence and naïve idealism, all encompassed by the gritty streets of the Bronx.

This film is a fantastic experience for anyone who likes watching interesting characters, impressive urban scenery, and exotic cultures... even if those exotic cultures are in your own back yard. I feel comfortable mentioning "Gimmie the Loot" in the same breath as the foreign masterpieces "Bicycle Thieves" (1948), "Alice in the Cities" (1974), and "The Summer of Kikujiro" (1999).

Although by no means expected, the main heroes of this fab little indie are amongst my all time favourite small time crooks.

We follow the trials of two young misfits whose plans seem to go from bad to worse where instead of giving up they keep coming up with more scams or more plans for further scams. An interesting without a doubt portrayal of certain elements within metropolitan societies where by influence, neglect and lack of alternatives are pushed into this sort of perpetual circle.

Their personalities are so delightful, that the audience will bypass the fact that they are in fact miniature criminals or accomplishes.

Simplicity in filmmaking creates a documentary type experience with substance. It deserves to be seen, talked about, even studied.

When their latest work is buffed by a rival crew, two determined graffiti writers embark on an elaborate plan to bomb the ultimate location: the New York Mets' Home Run Apple.

For his feature film debut, director Adam Leon has really hit a home run his first time out of the gate. He was previously a production assistant for Woody Allen and somehow got Jonathan Demme to "present" this film (although what exactly this means is unclear), which will hopefully get it a little extra attention. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.

Being a Midwesterner, I have no experience with graffiti wars, New York City, and general lower class big city culture. That made me worry I would not be able to identify with the characters. On the contrary, I found them very universal -- the goal of tagging a sign was foreign, but the bonds of friendship were not. And that is the real strength of this picture, is watching the two main characters grow as their endless stream of misadventures blow up in their faces.

Even their mentor or idol, Champion, is something of a lost cause and is amusing in his own hopeless way. He claims to be something of a master criminal, but fails miserably when presented with a lock to pick -- and creates enough noise that the police could be alerted at any second!

The romance angle never fully plays out, but this in some ways adds to the picture. Ginnie is quite the quirky character, and I would not be surprised if we saw actress Zoë Lescaze using this performance to launch a bigger acting career. (As of now, it seems she is working at the New York Observer, free of any acting responsibilities.)

In short, I hope people find this one and give it a chance. I think there is plenty to love about it, and I stand behind everyone involved 100%

Graffiti artists Malcolm and Sophia labor all night on a new mural, only to see it completely tagged and defaced the next day by rival gangs. Their newest "exhibition" entails sneaking into Mets ballpark and tag the home run sign. Oh, yeah, and they need $500. Needing proves far different from getting. Bleak comedy trails the rather amoral pair as they steal cans of spray paint, only to get robbed and hustled themselves. Great sense of place, especially for those who think New York is Sex And The City, or other such candy floss. Gimme The Loot is a refreshing dose of reality. Quite a fun show. Note: Might want to get subtitles. Bits of the dialogue hard to follow sometimes.

--Review originally published at www.theframeloop.com--

Jam-packed with lofty art-house endeavours, CPH PIX Film Festival proves it has a soft-spot for feel good cinema with presentation of Adam Leon's impressive, Kickstarter funded debut, Gimme the Loot.

Presented by The Silence of the Lambs' director Jonathan Demme, the SXSW favourite is a platonic relationship comedy about a pair of aspiring, Bronx-based graffiti artists, Sofia (Tashiana Washingthon) and Malcolm (Ty Hickson). Discovering that a rival gang has trashed their turf, the pair hatch a plan to 'bomb the apple', AKA to tag the New York Mets' Home Run Apple at Citi Field stadium. It's a tough, nonsensical mission – the likes of which have been attempted in real life for the last twenty years, to no avail – but one that our teenage whippersnappers think they have the prowess to conquer. But first they need to raise $500 as a bribe for a guard at the ballpark.

And so sets off a picaresque pursuit for the dollar. Candidly shot across New York's Bronx and Manhattan neighborhoods (presumably without production permits), they hoist in a little help from their small-time gangster buddies for a series of heists and loots. Apparently anything sells in New York, so the savvy Sofia pawns off half empty spray cans, second-hand cell phones and used Nike sneaks while, a few blocks away, the scrappy Malcolm goes rogue with a pot dealers' weed and sells the stash to rich BoHo chick, Ginnie (Zoe Lescaze, looking much like a young Sissy Spacek). Invited in for a little tomfoolery, the inexperienced Malcolm is instantly besotted with her, but it won't stop him from swiping her extensive jewellery collection.

Allegedly taking influence from Raymond Abrashkin's iconic 1953 Coney Island classic Little Fugitive, writer-director Leon tells the featherweight story with tremendous zeal and a curiously observational approach, that is more akin to the French New Wave than the typical American indy. His New York is not of the resplendent Woody Allen persuasion, nor that of Scorsese's foggy urban sprawl. If anything, Leon presents the city like the warts-and-all melting pot that it really is, which is once again reflected in the diverse soundtrack's blend of R&B, experimental rock and original East Coast hip-hop.

While the graffiti surface story stinks of adolescent desperation, it is very much a red herring to the real story of oblivious teenage angst and love. Their first starring roles, newcomers Washington and Hickson have an exuberant chemistry together, which makes their covertly flirtatious banter and naturalistic prattling all the more charming, and the stagnated climax at the very least tolerable.

Gimme the Loot is somewhat of a rarity. Nonjudgemental of his protagonists, Leon's debut is a sweet natured gangster flick which neither glorifies thug life nor condemns it. It's slight, knowingly goofy filmmaking – the likes of which are so rare in modern, message-laden cinema - and proves the young débutant, his impressive cast and cinematographer Jonathan Miller as promising future talents.

--Review originally published at www.theframeloop.com--