Vincent N Roxxy

Just watched it on TV. What a terrible B-movie and time waster.

Came across this movie on Netflix and it gave off a Bonnie and Clyde impression, which as it turns out is not at all the way it went. There's a scene where they discuss how they'd go about robbing a place, but that's as far as the Bonnie and Clyde vibe goes.

The main characters' "meet cute" moment was a typical guy saves girl scenario where the guy is suddenly so inclined to offer the girl sanctuary from whatever it is that ails her. We find out more about her and you kind of realize pretty quickly how the two are going to be connected. Emile Hirsch and Zoe Kravitz are great actors on their own, but together they don't seem to mesh. Their relationship was not really believable and they don't seem to even see each other in their scenes.

I thought maybe I'd missed something, because the plot felt so weak, but no, it really was just kind of a weak plot -- as if the writer/ director were like "ok we'll come back to this part and beef it up and make it better" -- but then they never really went back. The characters didn't really develop or change in any way; they were static and flat. I feel like Emory Cohen's character was supposed to be a comic relief, and while I think he is a great actor (the OA, Brooklyn) here, he was mostly just a token, and his girlfriend was a throwaway. Maybe you're supposed to care about them, maybe a little bit? But you don't.

The real action seems to come up out of nowhere, which I suppose can be true of life because sometimes everything just blows up when you don't expect it...but it doesn't really work well here. Remember when I said the plot was weak and I felt like someone said they'd go back later to beef it up? I think they threw all the beef into the stew that is the finale. These scenes are pretty brutal and violent, and it's like where did this come from?? (Ron Burgundy is coming to mind ...that escalated quickly...)

I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, so watch it if you want. It filled an hour and 40 minutes of my life, and will do the same for you. Don't expect anything great but also don't expect anything colossally terrible. This movie is basically your local grocery store's generic brand version of Drive.

Vincent (Emile Hirsch) rescues Roxxy (Zoë Kravitz) from being attacked. She reveals that she's in trouble after her brother's murder. Vincent is reluctantly helping his brother JC (Emory Cohen) start his own garage. JC's girlfriend Kate (Zoey Deutch) helps Roxxy get a job at the bar. JC is unable to let go of violence and Roxxy's trouble follows her.

This is a violent crime drama. With a couple of intriguing actors, this seems set for an interesting movie. In the end, the writing is not up to the job and the directing has limitations. It needs to get to the conflict sooner. There are too many filler scenes especially in the first act. The dialogue is weak. Hirsch and Kravitz could have been great but they are allowed to be static. The violence is a little shocking at first but it is nowhere enough to save this.

Vincent N Roxxy is a crime thriller from writer-director Gary Shultz and stars Emile Hirsch and Zoe Kravitz in the titular roles with the supporting cast made up of Emory Cohen and (briefly) Kid Cudi. The story sounds a helluva lot better on paper than how Shultz constructs it. Instead of grasping on to the story and themes at hand such as toxic masculinity or uncontrollable rage, Shultz gives a bare bones effort with a script that it is so poorly written, it felt like a first draft.

First off, the film is 106 minutes and feels a half hour too long. The beginning starts strong and bombastic, introducing our titular characters through a car accident in very pulpy fashion. Then the film tries its hand at being a film grounded in realism for the remainder and it fails just as bombastically as it starts. Hirsch plays his role so much like Gosling from Drive that it is hard not to assume Shultz had the film on repeat during the writing process. Vincent is a cold man prone to violent outbursts much like Gosling's character in that film. It worked for Drive, it fails miserably here. Zoe Kravitz is slowly becoming one good actress and for every step forward there is bound to be a step back somewhere and that is where this film comes in. Her performance is lucid and barely there, so much so that you wonder if she was just doing this for a paycheck. No matter how often we can fault the actors, the real culprit here is Gary Shultz.

The screenplay is so under-cooked that it really makes me wonder if this was a first draft and, if so, why the hell was it allowed to be shot? It is an answer I doubt we'll ever know so we can only assume. The script works against itself at every moment it gets. First we're with Vincent and Roxxy as they talk about sticking together despite not knowing one another and then Vincent (who is supposed to be street smart) tells this woman, who was just accosted by some pretty angry gangsters about money she owes, where he is heading and living. It all felt so ridiculous and ill plotted that I almost gave up after seeing that scene come in so early in the film with barely any character development. Furthermore, Shultz then takes Vincent on his own for awhile. He gives him a couple subplots that go nowhere and then sets him up for the finale to finish the main story that was left abandoned after the first 10 minutes. All in all, it's horribly plotted and the ending is one of the worst in recent memory. I'm all for some dark endings but ones that have points and this one didn't. Honestly, this is an ending that is violent for the sake of being violent and is a half- assed attempt at being edgy and dark. It all translates the same: it is rather banal.

Overall, Vincent N Roxxy is one of poorest written films I've seen in recent memory. With Refn's Drive serving as a painfully obvious homage to the film, it is hard to take any of it seriously especially when none of the actors seem like they are into it in the first place. While I do credit Shultz for sticking to his guns, he really should have looked into a rewrite or two before settling on this very murky and muddled vision of something that could have been great.

I made an account just to post a review here to say how good I think this movie is, don't let the bad reviews put you off. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time. Very few movies have actually shocked me like Vincent n Roxxy, and the cast and crew did a stellar job. Emile Hirsch & Zoe Kravitz also have amazing chemistry in this movie too, their characters relationship through out the film was super convincing and felt very natural. Which makes what comes near the movie's end that much more impactful. I also loved the camera work in this movie, has a lot of very cool one take scenes that are shot impressively. Once again, I think the bad reviews are ultimately steering people away from what I think is a refreshing and very solid project that you can tell had a lot of heart and soul put in to it by not only the writers and crew but also the cast. Don't miss out on a thrillingly great viewing experience, which is Vincent n Roxxy. I'm glad to see this movie is on Netflix which will hopefully get it out there some more, and I hope to see more like this in the future.