Crime, Revenge, and the Terror of Members Only Jackets
The subtitle of "The Passage" is "Justify Your Failures." You may want to add, "Avenging the death of your girlfriend ain't all it's cracked up to be."
Dan Casey-VanHout has directed a quick-paced, gritty suspense drama with unexpected technical sophistication and some surprising plot twists. The film is enhanced by the strong performances of stars Greg Dow and Robert Emmett Young.
Reformed small time crook Dow is barely surviving in a fog of grief, mourning his lover's violent death from a café robbery gone wrong. Slightly bigger time criminal Young appears at Dow's apartment with a dark but irresistible offer: if Dow helps Young in a big money take-down from a guy known in the Detroit Underworld as Big Man, Young will help him identify his girlfriend's killer.
Young has all the charm of a prison lifer, and looks the part, with long biker hair down to the shoulders of his black "Members Only" jacket and a dead, penetrating gaze. But the bait of vengeance he dangles is just too tasty for Dow to turn away.
From there the situation only worsens. The take-down quickly degenerates into a bloodbath, with Young displaying alarmingly casual killer tendencies. The score leaves four dead, including one of Big Man's daughters. Dow is in so far over his head he can't breathe.
Young's straight up evil persona doesn't preclude any future treachery; as Dow and Young's other criminal partners (Brian Altman, Danny Ray Cook) soon learn.
The supporting cast gives some sharp, realistic performances. Cook and Altman are respectively fiery and restrained. In a brief but memorable role, rap star Hush appears as a wizened small time arms dealer who tries to warn Altman of Young's deadly intentions. The film is rounded out by a cast that draws from a surprisingly deep pool of Detroit's Indie movie talent, among them Alexis Nemeth, Sean Altman, Chris Moeller, Dave Cunningham, and Alex Safi.
But the top star is the look of the film. The digital effects and hand held camera shots give the appearance of a much more expensive product. The stunts, coordinated by Cook, play with eye-popping authenticity.
In 81 minutes the film takes the viewer for a rapid ride through some dark, unpredictable terrain. If you like your action with surprise and turmoil, you won't be disappointed.
