Gravesend

A poor rating for a cutting edge, innovative, creative crime drama, brilliantly painting a portrait of the nature of friendship and community? Isn't this the IMDb? Aren't we supposed to like, nay LOVE, movies? This film is Mean Streets for the Tarantino generation, with more balls than a dozen Hollywood movies. Stabile deserves to be up there with those other indie directors of the 90's. but maybe he has probably held fast to his beliefs and was not prepared to fall in the sewer of self-indulgent, bloated garbage that has passed for the 90's indie crowd's subsequent output. This movie should be seen by all aspiring directors of what can be done on a shoestring budget if you possess intelligence.

Oh the Agony! The suffering I went through to watch this.. First off, way too much stupidity. I mean if I killed someone, I doubt I'm going waste time arguing and then spend all night driving around town with the dead body in my trunk. Jeez.. what were these people thinking. I think throughout the film we are supposed to care for these characters.. but the only thing I cared about was seeing the credits rolling.. and it seemed like forever before they finally did. I realize the filmmaker was only 19.. but jeez can't he come up with anything better than colorful four-letter adjectives. Also, some advice for his next film - invest in a tripod.

I can't believe the low rating this movie has received so far. It's a great description of life in an east coast city. The events evolve like a great tragedy... It's like a mix between Shakespeare and Cassavetes. The acting is top notch... no need to qualify it with "for unknowns"... The shot of the freeway bridge at the end reminds me a little of the end of "Over the Edge", another great modern tragedy. This is definitely not a suburban film, though, which may be why some people can't seem to connect.

4 guys, in a rather boring routine of fighting and smoking pot all of a sudden find themselves in an every man for himself type deal. When Zane accidentally shoots the the brother of Ray, they try to figure out what to do next....... tell the police or hide the body. I think you know which one they choose. The rest of the movie is, whats next? The characters do exactly what allot of people would do in their situation. They are arguing, beating each other up cruising around in mickey's car in a total panic. The movie itself is a psychological trip. There are times in the movie where you almost can't stand it anymore it's all hard to swallow. I loved it.

Being a 16 year old "kid" and an aspiring filmmaker, I felt the need to add a comment about this movie. Despite most people who would say this movie is a waste of time, poorly acted, directed, filmed and it either dragging on, being too slow etc. I've always been able to appreciate the work behind making a movie, no matter how bad it is. That is why I rate Salvatore Stabile highly on his first film. The fact that he was 19-23 (not sure which exactly) years old and the supposed budget of $5000 (Although I highly doubt it) is really inspiring. Shot in doco-style camera work with 16mm film it really has a grittyness to it which really adds character to a movie like this. It's so un-hollywood, maybe I just have thing for amateur, low budget films but a film like this is truly something to proud of for Salvatore Stabile. I can understand that it may not be everybody's cup of tea but it is a great film, and deserves to be appreciated. God on you Sal, keep up the good work.