Laugh Killer Laugh

If you are a fan of the comic masterpiece "The Killing Joke", then this is your movie. Give this title a chance and do not look at the neigh sayers that did not get the joke. ;) This film has an outstanding 80's feel to it with the soundtrack and camera edits. The acting from the lead is fantastic/ Oscar worthy with his stone cold personality going from one thing to the next. This also has a beautiful gritty gangster vibe that QT would lend ever so naturally with little to no budget.

For those that know the story of the Joker from the Killing Joke title, you will get the influence that takes place here. Watching Frank Stone morph into something totally different is extremely satisfying and makes you want more! There are some great shootout scenes that are not over the top and make sense, and the lead female actress feels very down to earth and real. There are some corny 80's elements that do nothing but lead into a special charm that this film needed. I would give this a 10 if not for the somewhat slow beginning, but this movie once it unwinds becomes very entertaining.

I say give it a shot.

I had no idea that Kamal Ahmed, one of the Jerky Boys, has been writing and directing low budget films for a number of years. This grindhouse throwback to the gritty NYC 1970s crime flicks, the likes of of Abel Ferrara or Larry Cohen, is fun for fans of that subgenre, though I'm not sure others will get much out of this film. The excellent William Forsythe plays a hit-man who follows a woman to her creative writing class (taught by the big brother from "ET") where he begins writing stories based on his crimes to impress her. It's an interesting set up, that felt very Larry Cohen-esque, but the characters and plot never really grabbed me. The film seems more of an exercise in style, with the players acting out film archetypes rather than fully fleshed out characters. Tom Sizemore even shows up, in true B-picture fashion, for what must have been a one-day shoot talking directly to the camera and not interacting with any other actors. Still, when all of this is packaged in an obvious nostalgia piece, right down to an amazing retro style title sequence and score (by Scott Hampton), this film is enjoyable enough for fans of films like "Ms. .45" or "God Told Me To."

Kamal Ahmed tried to make an ambitious movie but in my eyes he just failed. Despise William Forsythe that tries to make the movie a bit interesting the rest of the cast doesn't bring much to the movie. And also the story is just too slow and sometimes makes not much sense to make it enjoyable to watch. I even fell asleep for the last five minutes and I even didn't bother to rewind to watch those five minutes over. I couldn't care less how it ended. It's one of those movies you watch once, without much interest, and that you will completely forget about in a month. I'm even going to write the title down so that I don't forget I already watched it and that it wasn't good. Don't want to make the same mistake twice.

So why would the Killer laugh then? How is he funny to misquote a character portrayed by Joe Pesci? Some things you may never get an answer too. But does the title really matter? Maybe it's supposed to be self deprecating, considering the mood our main character is in almost all the time.

And we get a really good main actor here with William Forsythe. So the ingredients are good (one Fanboy is ecstatic about this to a point he'd eat up anything he gets served, which is fine, but let's keep our focus on the bigger picture), but the overall result does have some major issues. Mean streets this isn't, mainly because while it is gritty it never captures the quality that movie had. Still if you like decent crime dramas with a low budget, you will have fun with this. Especially because it doesn't choose the route of beautiful (though a bit more quality acting from the other main players would've been helpful)

William Forsythe does more with facial expressions and reactions (and nonchalance) than actors who might have played this role in a ham-fisted way. The 180 degree turn of the role gave him a chance to sink his teeth into it. The writing is excellent which is how he got Mr. Forsythe in my opinion. We are sensing something bad is going to happen and it does. The directing is a bit much with the camera at moments but forgivable for a maiden voyage. The editor may not have been given the shots required for smooth transitions and the music is 70's TV-esqe. The D.P. is also excellent. Three stars. I will look forward to another film by this filmmaker. Congratulations!