Mörderische Verführung

I knew nothing about this film before I saw it, so I was hoping it would be some undiscovered classic. Quite soon, however, I realised that it was pretentious nonsense. It had the air of being made by some studio in order to appeal to teenagers who write rubbish goth poetry in their bedrooms. It makes awful, contrived attempts to be "arty", while forgetting to add any actual meaning. The characterisation is almost non-existent, people don't seem to have any justifications for their actions, and while they may occasionaly give reasons verbally the acting is so poor that the motivation just isn't there. The dialogue, especially in the voice overs, is terrible and amateurishly written. The pace is painfully slow, since I hadn't read a synopsis of the film (and I'm not familiar with the source material, and the same probably goes for the target audience, which shows how misjudged the film is) I spent a long time wondering when this film would get to its point and indeed where it was going. There is no need for it to be so slow, and there is also no point in dividing it up into sections other than to have "cool" titles like "Damaged little f***ers" flashing up on the screen. Dividing it up into sections only serves to highlight the lack of structure and the inconsistency of the plot. The film is narrated from the point of view of a character who only appears sporadically throughout the film, and the film ends by concluding a plot line that is not very prominent except at the very beggining, so is quite pointless, yet acts like it is some kind of high art.

I realise this review probably reads like a jumbled mess but then so does this film. Life is too short for garbage like this.

I'll admit, I was not in the most jovial of moods when I sat down to view Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, so the plot had a far greater impact than it would have had I been in an upbeat mood. But, at the same time I was expecting yet another glossy teen flick where a mess of pretty people prance around on the screen for ninety minutes, after which the credits roll to the tune of a popular radio hit. However, I found quite the opposite. I was genuinely moved by this film. Though it is not the most original movie I've seen, it touched me in a very unique way.

Ultimately, do not judge this movie by it's generic, mainstream movie cover. It is actually a high quality piece of cinema. And fellow teenagers, drop your Cruel Intentions and Bring It Ons and give this a try. It might not be oscar award material, but it is far more engaging than any of the pg-13 tripe they try and pawn off on you at blockbuster. Give it a shot. If you like it, good. If you don't, oh well.

Roseanne(Monica Keena) is a popular and beautiful student that is admired by a lot of people, especially by a lonely outcast Vincent(Vincent Kartheiser) who is obsessed with her and follows her around everywhere, hoping to get noticed . But Roseanne isn't so perfect like everybody thinks, she has a horrible life with her stepfather who one night, after her mother leaves, rapes her. The next day, Roseanne is totally devastated and she decides that she wants to kill him along with her boyfriend Jimmy(James DeBello). This movie started out good, it seemed like it was going to be a dark teenage drama but near the end, it turned into this cheesy bad love story with no plot. That was the problem with this story, it didn't really fit in anywhere. The only character i really liked was Vincent, he was so interesting and he had so much soul, not to mention that he was gorgeous. Anyways, I would give Crime and Punishment in Suburbia 7/10

Crime and Punishment In Suburbia is just slightly above the normal teen character study of murder and guilt. It's bogged down by uneveness, some scenes feeling genuine and intriguing, others feeling as if they were lifted from the latest MTV video.

Crime and Punishment stars Monica Keena as a popular high school student dating jock boyfriend James Debello and yearned for by loner/outcast Vincent Kartheiser. Her parents' marriage (Ellen Barkin and Michael Ironside) is falling apart, and Keena is unwittingly caught in the middle of their violent breakup. After a altercation with her father, she decides to put him out of his misery.

The story is nothing new or groundbreaking, but the film is elevated by some genuinely disturbing scenes, as well as a few provocative performances. Ironside's pathetic father is a powerhouse of bitterness and brooding rage, and DeBello as the naive, dumb football player boyfriend eminates a tragic quality, bringing compassion to his character: this isn't the stereotypical dumb jock, it's just a young man trying to desperately grasp onto a situation he simply can't understand. These two performances bring the most strength to the film, overshadowing the sometimes cardboard performances by vengeful, doe-eyed daughter Keena and loner Kartheiser.

Crime and Punishment is no breath-taking thrill ride, nor is it a slow-paced potboiler. With an sometimes raw, indie feel to it but sometimes muddled script, it's certainly worth a look, if just for two terrific performances, one from veteran Ironside and the other from newcomer DeBello.

6 out of 10

I would be more perplexed by the low rating and the many vituperous reviews if I didn't understand as much as I do about family dysfunction, alcoholism, irresponsible behavior and all that. Some people don't like this much truth in their faces. Oddly, it's not just the perps; it's often the victims, as well.

For me, this is just an artfully rendered case study of the stuff I deal with four days a week. But I see more Victor Hugo (and "Les Miserables") here than I do Dostoyevsky.

Yeah; I agree the execution is uneven. At times to the point of being almost senseless. But that may be part of the charm. Life in the world described here -is- uneven. At times to the point of being almost senseless. (How many adolescent females with alcoholic parents have I known who think life is senseless? A hundred? -Two- hundred?)

Can't say I "enjoyed" this movie. The "Jimmy Stewart" character (from "Rear Window") is just a little too obsessed to work in the world of a young victim / victimizer who seems, at least, to be trying to make sense of it all. The trial scenes may well be meant to have a dreamlike quality, but they just seem disconnected. And the whole trip is plain ugly.

But the fact that the whole trip -is- so ugly is a major reason why this film demands to be seen. Alcohol; frustrated, narcissistic fathers; cougar moms and hottie daughters are a recipe for disaster that's being cooked daily in suburban America. This is reality in modern America. It'd be nice to put a stop to it before our whole culture becomes dysfunctional.

Nice little wake-up call here.