Cut Throat City

Four best friends from the Lower Ninth Ward in post-Katrina New Orleans are struggling to survive. They try to rob a casino under the direction of local gangster Cousin Bass. It goes wrong and they become fugitives from both Bass and the law.

The characters are talking about Tarantino. RZA is obviously taking some homage with him. It's nowhere near that level but non of that is a cinematic sin. The first half is actually pretty good. I like the four buddies and I like crime drama. I like T.I. I like this movie until Terrence Howard and Ethan Hawke show up. Those characters are unnecessary and the movie is too long anyways. After the first half, it only needs a few more scenes before a big shoot-out to finish off a good crime B-movie. It wastes a couple A-level talents and the movie is compromised by them.

Nobody with an actual New Orleans accent in the movie huh? And casting TI? Come on man, I'm pretty sure Juvenile was unemployed around this time. Lil Wayne or something.

The editing department must've became casualties of covid. There is nice body and setup for the finale, but when the last leg of the movie comes- things basically turn into a quagmire. I am perplexed and dissatisfied. With movies/stories it's the final impression that's the lasting impression.

It's easy to see that this film was made by a rapper who thinks he's a director.. This film had a terrible script and the overacting was just so obvious..The main character just couldn't act to save his life and I couldn't understand a word he was saying most of the time so subtitles would have been handy. The main villain just didn't fit the part and he just looked awful.. At the end there's this malcom x type mystery black crime boss as the film takes a plunge into spiritual overtones and philosophical sayings which was bordering on cringe. I felt like I was watching some weird masonic ritual gone wrong on YouTube. Ethan Hawk playing the crooked politician even came across like he was overacting and the film just made no sense at all to me. Straight to dvd for me with this film.. Don't waste your money.

"Cut Throat City" (2020 release; 128 min.) brings the story of James and 3 of his friends. As the movie opens, they are reading a graphic novel that James has written and illustrated. It is James' wedding day, while we are told that Hurricane Katrina is rapidly approaching New Orleans. After Katrina ravages the city, James has a job interview that alas yields no job. Desperate for money, James and his friends turn to a local ringleader. He offers them an opportunity to mob a local casino, and they accept... At this point we are 10 min. into the film, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this film is the latest directed by the de facto Wu Tang Clan leader RZA (actually, the film credits reads "The RZA"). Here he takes on what in the abstract could make for a great movie: 4 guys attempt a casino heist, things don't quite work out as planned, and how they deal with the fall-out. Alas, this film is doomed by several factors: first and foremost, the film is nearly unwatchable resulting from the never-ending stream of extreme close-ups and head-ache inducing hand-held camera work. Check out the footage from within the van as the guys drive to/from the heist. It's one massive blur. Equally responsible for the film's downfall is the weak script. There is hardly any character development, and as a result, at no time did I have any emotional investment in any of the characters. That is a fatal flaw, sorry. The cast does the best it can with the material it is dealt with. Keep an eye out for Ehtan Hawke, appearing in a handful of scenes as the city council man who pressures the NOPD to apprehend the guys, the sooner the better.

"Cut Throat City" was scheduled to premiere at this year's SXSW festival. Then a little thing called COVID-19 stopped the world in its tracks and the festival was canceled (rightfully so, of course). The movie finally opened this weekend in theaters, as they try to brings back people while fully adhering to all COVID-19 compliance rules. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at the Cinemark here in Cincinnati was attended dismally: 3 people (including myself) in a huge theater. It will take stronger films than "Cut Throat City" to convince the public at large that it is safe to come back to the theater. Of course I'd readily suggest you check out "Cut Throat City", be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.