Gravesend

Review of "Gravesend"

Quite gripping tale of 4 young men from the ghetto without a chance in life who find themselves in an uncontrollable situation after a careless prank goes totally wrong. From this moment on they are doomed, yet they desperately try and retrieve the situation the only way they know how - the criminal way, and this is when things spiral out of all proportion.

The raw talents and amateurism of this filmmaker really suit the mood of the whole film and its well worth checking out if you like similar themed movies.

A poor rating for a cutting edge, innovative, creative crime drama, brilliantly painting a portrait of the nature of friendship and community? Isn't this the IMDb? Aren't we supposed to like, nay LOVE, movies? This film is Mean Streets for the Tarantino generation, with more balls than a dozen Hollywood movies. Stabile deserves to be up there with those other indie directors of the 90's. but maybe he has probably held fast to his beliefs and was not prepared to fall in the sewer of self-indulgent, bloated garbage that has passed for the 90's indie crowd's subsequent output. This movie should be seen by all aspiring directors of what can be done on a shoestring budget if you possess intelligence.

I love films like this. Pacy, lean and funny. It will no doubt draw fire for being a bit Scorcese-esque, and admittedly, the character Zane owes a lot to De Niro in Mean Streets, but in fact the film actually resembles L'Haine a lot more. The difficult customer scene is very funny, and the whole thing was neatly finished. Great stuff.

4 guys, in a rather boring routine of fighting and smoking pot all of a sudden find themselves in an every man for himself type deal. When Zane accidentally shoots the the brother of Ray, they try to figure out what to do next....... tell the police or hide the body. I think you know which one they choose. The rest of the movie is, whats next? The characters do exactly what allot of people would do in their situation. They are arguing, beating each other up cruising around in mickey's car in a total panic. The movie itself is a psychological trip. There are times in the movie where you almost can't stand it anymore it's all hard to swallow. I loved it.

I can't believe the low rating this movie has received so far. It's a great description of life in an east coast city. The events evolve like a great tragedy... It's like a mix between Shakespeare and Cassavetes. The acting is top notch... no need to qualify it with "for unknowns"... The shot of the freeway bridge at the end reminds me a little of the end of "Over the Edge", another great modern tragedy. This is definitely not a suburban film, though, which may be why some people can't seem to connect.