Los inquilinos

As a man who enjoys the raw power and honesty of a Snoop Dogg performance, this movie was perfect for me. My friends and I rented the movie solely because Snoop Dogg was on the cover, and Snoop did not disappoint. The movie is filled with Snoop intensive scenes where he is afforded the opportunity to display his dominant personality.

Despite Snoop Dogg's immaculate performance, other actors within the movie, as well as the story itself contained some unattractive qualities. Regarding the lead actor, Dylan McDermott's portrayal of Harry Lesser was too dramatic and unrealistic. I cannot find that kind of depression and seriousness in my real life experiences. The depressive nature of his character may in fact be the fault of the author and not the actor. At many times, the characters of The Tenants would act irrationally and contrary to real life behavior.

Overall, the story and the actions taken by the characters were not as believable as I would have liked them to be. Nevertheless, I have yet to see a bad Snoop Dogg performance in any of his films. I stand by my initial instincts to rent the movie because he was on the cover.

Being that I am not a fan of Snoop Dogg, as an actor, that made me even more anxious to check out this flick. I remember he was interviewed on "Jay Leno," and said that he turned down a role in the big-budget Adam Sandler comedy "The Longest Yard" to be in this film. So obviously, Snoop was on a serious mission to prove that he has acting chops. I'm not going to overpraise Snoop for his performance in "The Tenants." There are certainly better rapper/actors, like Mos Def, who could've done more with his role. But the point is Snoop did a "good" job. He can't seem to shake off some of his trademark body movements and vocal inflections, but that's something even Jack Nicholson has a problem doing. The point is I found him convincing in the role, and the tension between him and Dylan McDermott's character captivating. McDermott, by the way, gives the best performance in the film, though his subtle acting will most likely be overshadowed by Snoop's not-so-subtle acting. Being a big reader and aspiring writer myself, I couldn't help but find the characters and plot somewhat fascinating. It did aggravate me how Snoop's character would constantly ask McDermott to read his work, and berate him for criticizing it. But you know what? I'm sure a lot of writers are like that. His character was supposed to be flawed, as was McDermott's, in his own way. My only mild criticism of the film would be its ending. For some reason, it just felt too rushed for me, though the resolution certainly made sense and was motivated by the characters, rather than plot.

THE TENANTS began as a 1971 short novel by the now deceased Bernard Malamud - writer/philosopher - examining the conflicts between Jews and African Americans in the incendiary atmosphere of Brooklyn at the time the book was written. As a novel the story was gut wrenchingly real: as transcribed into a screenplay by novices David Diamond and Danny Green (who also directs) it is more of a cerebral dissertation that gradually erupts into action in the final moments.

Harry Lesser (Dylan McDermott) is a Jewish novelist with one book under his belt but currently attempting to finish his 'newest' book ten years into the writing. Convinced that he must complete the novel in the same environment where it was started. he is the sole tenant in a condemned Brooklyn tenement owned by Levinspiel (Seymour Cassel) who constantly tries to 'buy out' Harry's lease so that the filthy dilapidated building can be demolished. Into this atmosphere enters another Black militant quasi-anti-Semitic writer Willie Spearmint (Snoop Dogg) whom Harry befriends, hides, and offers help to the nascent novelist's attempt to write about the death of all white people. Harry's attempts to help Willie lead to conflict, not the least of which is Harry's meeting Willie's girlfriend, the white Jewish Irene Bell (Rose Byrne) at a less than friendly gathering of Willie's militant black brothers and sisters. Willie and Irene are on the skids and Harry gradually falls in love with Irene and they plan to leave New York as soon as Harry finishes his novel. When Willie hears of the assignation and is further critiqued by Harry, Willie explodes and begins the downward descent of not only a delicate friendship but also a competition between writers. The ending 'reveals the slippery nature of the human condition, and the human capacity for violence and undoing'.

The actors do their best with a script that is a bit awkward but despite scripted lines that border on preaching they create believable characters. The cinematography enhances the story, keeping the mood dank and dense and primarily confined to the condemned building. The musical score appropriately makes use of the solo jazz trumpet and blues piano to underline the tension and isolation of each of these groundless characters. Though it takes some patience to make it through the cerebral ramblings, the film in the end is worth watching. At least it attempts to recreate Malamud's bizarre look at life in the big city. Grady Harp

Tenants Two writers struggle to complete their books in an all but empty apartment house. They at first help each other and then slowly the tension between them begins to build.

This is based upon a Bernard Malamud novel and unfortunately everyone speaks as though they are in that novel. Very little of the dialog is natural, its purple and brimming with shades of meaning. Its as if a college English major with a head full of pretensions wrote the script. It's awful and I found myself instantly immune to anything the film had to say, which is a shame since the film is populated with great performances from top to bottom. Snoop Dog on down are fine form, unfortunately none of them can over come the falseness of the words and the premise.

I can't really recommend this movie. While not really bad, its very preachy and pretentious to the point of making you want to walk away. I lost interest less then a third of the way in and had to struggle to get to the end. If you're interested I'd try it on cable, but I wouldn't lay out good money to see it.

When I first heard of this movie, and of course the fact that Snoop Dogg had a role in it, I didn't think much of it. But it made me curious; Snoop and a serious role...

I hope it wasn't the intention to make us curious because Snoop Dogg was in it, I hope it was just a try for a serious play. And serious it was.

Without spoiling a thing; I had a hard time imagining Snoop as the 'novellist', Willie. I know Snoop as Snoop Dogg, the famous and maybe a bit extraordinary, but very genius, rapper/MC.

Leaving Snoop Doggs intentions in the middle; the story was crap. I could not relate to it, I could not identify with it and it made Afro-American people look like a bunch of racists, which was NOT a good thing. I know where the story was about, I know the intentions, but to me, these intentions did not come out right... Only the end was really worth watching!

I think all of you should see it, not because of it's brilliance, but because of it's rareness. It's not your ordinary Drama, it feels real.