Tainted

And matter of fact it was. As High Sierra with Humphrey Bogart. Just as one example among many The plot is an old one, and was very old even then. Much older than any film or play that used it in the past two centuries, with a lineage that was likely familiar going back even to the ancient Greeks. Which should give you an idea of its timelessness. And when done right, that never wears out.

This film did it right. Once again.

So a ten star rating from me.

From the trailer I was worried this would just be gratuitous violence for violence's sake... but it was more! A pleasant surprise!

Great acting and wonderfully dark atmosphere.... You can almost feel the weight of a harsh harsh life of pain, violence and suffering on the main character's life.

The story-line/plot is very cliched but because of the great acting and the well main 'characters', those cliches somehow didn't annoy me (as it normally would have me rolling my eyes and groaning). It seems to me that this film is constantly pushing a message - which I appreciate! (I hate senseless violence and I hate glorifying violent or criminal lifestyles like mob-life or gangs even more!) This film does the opposite, it shows that those lifestyles of crime - drugs, murder etc are horrible, dark and that they TAINT you... for the rest of your life... There is a MORAL to this story which those horrible Hollywood movies usually don't show and for that, I have to write this, so it's not overlooked! Oh.. the moral, as i said above? It's about how low behavior 'taints' you and that it is UGLY. Not a high quality 'great' movie but definitely well above average and worth a look!

The cast here is mostly little known talent, at least to American audiences. The director is new to the genre, and possibly new to the business, for that matter. What counts is the talent displayed by everyone involved. Even the bit actors turn in good work, and the director avoids many of the pitfalls that directors with longer histories routinely fall for through hubris/inattention. In this film it's almost as if the director sees this as his only chance to make something good and he's careful to do so.

The script is low-key and almost bare bones, so there's nothing much in the way of the storytelling. This is not a feel good film by any measure. It does avoid being relentlessly depressing, though the circumstances in which some of the characters find themselves are bleak.

This is novice writer and director Brent Cote's first full length feature film, with only a handful of shorts and a TV movie on his resume.

Although I found the pacing extremely slow, I was still glued to the screen waiting for what will happen next. The normally comfortable 90 min runtime could've used 10-15 min of trimming on some stretched out and/or unnecessary scenes. Although the story is nothing revolutionary, imo, it was told really well and convincingly, with a perfect ending, and in a refreshingly un-Hollywoodish manner.

The score was surprisingly perfect, especially for a low budget B-film, as was the soundtrack. Directing and cinematography were on point and showcased the film very well. Casting was decent, with most of the characters convincing in their roles. You could tell that better cast-directing by a seasoned director would've added the missing ummph in some dialogued scenes.

But we need to cut some slack for the few rookie mistakes Cote made, as new filmmakers have to start somewhere, right? Still, a very enjoyable neo-noir styled low budget B-grade crime thriller. It's a 7.5 rounded up to 8/10 from me. To see more of my 1000+ ratings and 900+ reviews, click on my username.

All in all this is not a bad movie - the acting is fine and so is the cinematography. But this kind of plot has been done ad nauseam and it's nothing new - so essentially it is a waste of time given how much selection there is these days.