Lowlife

This film had a Mexican film flavor to it - low cost production, everyday people, gang mentality, a little over-the-top killing. Dialogue, especially by the Nazi tatted ex-con, was believably hilariously raw. Character El Monstruo was great, although not a particularly challenging role. A negative was a not coherently edited, jumping around too much, storyline.

LOWLIFE was hyped up quite a bit for supposed similarities to PULP FICTION. It's similar on the surface only, and while it's not nearly as good as the earlier film, it's still a lot of fun.

For a low budget film, the acting and production value are very good. There are two or three very fun scenes. There's some corny stuff in here too, but nothing too bad. Feels like the filmmakers had a pretty good idea of what they were doing. Recommend.

Life is tough for a down on his luck Mexican wrestling masked hero. Crime fighting doesn't really pay, so El Monstruo is relegated to thug duty. The conflicted good guy is a complex character, eager to carry on his family tradition (daddy was a famous luchador), but with a baby on the way, he stoops to henchman duties for local crime boss Teddy to pay the bills, usually with uncontrollably violent results.

That's plenty for plot, but this film throws in a heaping helping of parallel story lines for a rather convoluted viewing experience. Major events are replayed through different characters, and alternate angles, resulting in some much needed clarity, as everything comes together nicely, and not so nicely in the end.

The very seedy side of L.A. is the backdrop here, where illegals are funnelled towards horrific futures as prostitutes, or donors for a lucrative organ harvesting operation, or both. Grisly, old school gore movies are referenced as is some of Tarantino's spicier moments, but "Lowlife" works best on it's own originality: tackling very big global topics with local struggles.

"Lowlife" struggles from the usual low budget issues, mainly uneven performances - Teddy is too wooden - but the clever, spiderweb tale, wild sequences, and quirky characters make up for it: here's a newly released convict with a full face Swastika tattoo, who is refreshingly likeable. No, really.

The actors here give some incredible performances - the director really got the utmost from them. The story is cleverly intertwined and I found myself really rooting for El Monstruo.

Be warned the opening scenes are harsh and set the tone but it does settle down to a consistent violence after the first acts.

Specifically, Nicki Micheaux's acting. After I saw "Lowlife" I had to look her up, see what she had done before. For a Tarantino-esque crime thriller her acting was right on point, dare I say even Oscar worthy?

I like films where you see things that you've never seen before. In this case, there were quite a few, from the failed luchador who keeps his mask on all the time to the kid with the swastika on his face who, as it turned out, wasn't even racist at all. You can file this one under "must see." It'll be worth it.