Deuce of Spades

Deuce of Spades is a hand crafted piece of art. This is a car movie, but it actually has character development, a plot, high craftsmanship, and a meaningful message which will extend its appeal far beyond the typical car movie crowd.

All the characters in this movie are fully three dimensional characters that evolve and change before the audience's eyes. They do not fall into the stereotypical categories associated with many movie characters, and show true real-life emotion, strength, and weakness. The well thought out plot keeps the audience emotionally involved with all of the characters, while giving both the character and audience room to grow. All while the plot twists create a true need to understand the characters and know the truth about the Deuce.

The quality of Deuce of Spades is also fantastic. The cinematography is very nicely done; using lots of natural light that helps showcase all of the stars of this film, including the cars. The scenery and locations are also well chosen, and add a realistic back drop for story development. All the vehicles were period correct and added realism to the story. I personally like the use of the TRI fives, 1955, 1956, 1957 Chevrolets, as a way to mark the passage of time.

This movie will naturally mean something different to each and every person who sees it, but it does get many messages across relating to the essence and feelings of love, rebellion, pride, passion, fear, and destiny. It is these messages along with the powerful emotions of the characters and decent acting that sets this film apart.

Deuce of Spades is much better than most of the movies put out by Hollywood, and stays with you long after the credits have finished. The meaningful feelings that this movie impresses upon an individual should be done by all Hollywood movies. Simply put; most other movies get their doors blown off by the Deuce of Spades.

I watched Deuce of Spades today with my brother-in-law, a longtime hot-rodder who was a part of hot rod culture in the 1950's (as he still is!) The film brought back a lot of memories for him, and he really enjoyed it - even coming to manly tears at the end. The cars are awesome, and the period details are for the most part dead on. I'm sure he would give Deuce 10 stars without a second thought.

I'm a little more critical, though. Some plot points are easily missed because the shots are too dark to see anything. A lot of the acting is atrociously amateurish. And for the love of God, let a professional editor have at it. Two and a half hours is at least 45 minutes too long!

If you'll read the other reviews, you'll notice that every single one of them gives the movie the maximum rating, gushes on about how great it is, etc. It is extremely clear that these aren't reviews by random people who "just happened" to rent the movie or see it online or whatever, they are obviously people who somehow know the filmmaker, are members of hotrod groups to whom this film has already been marketed, etc. It's obvious that the film's owner/creator/whatever has solicited these comments and reviews under the mistaken impression that they will somehow influence others, which is a mistake. I just watched it online, it was certainly good for a first effort, but Jackie Grainger still has a ways to go when it comes to perfecting her craft. This is a noble first time effort, but it doesn't, contrary to the "sincere and unsolicited reviews", deserve a spot in the "top films of all time" et al. The acting is, in spots, terrible and at more than two hours, it was about 30 minutes longer than I felt it should have been (a common mistake made by first-timers who cut their own work).

Deuce of Spades is a move that begins telling the story of a 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster but ends up with the discovery of a love story between the builder of the roadster and his girl.

This exquisitely photographed film filled with so many fantastic hot rods, jumps back in time to the mid 1950's; the age of innocence, when fast cars, rock and roll, drag racing, and good times were all that mattered to young people.

Author/Director/Producer/Editor Faith Granger, has captured the look and feel of Southern California back in the days when orange groves dotted the landscape and swing dances were all the rage. Period correct in every detail Granger manages to bring back the simple life style of that era with confidence and grace. But it is her keen story telling of the lost love between Johnny Calloway and Betty Thompson that captivates the main thread of the story

The most incredible aspect of this film is that film maker Granger, never went to film school, never made a film before, had never written a script, never edited a movie or scored a film before Deuce of Spades. Faith Granger is an undiscovered talent whose keen eye for detail and smart approach to film making should be making movies for a major studio. I for one look forward to more outstanding work from this most talented film maker.

Lynn B. Tivens Meister Communications

I shall not reiterate the accolades that Faith Granger has deservedly received here in this forum. What one should appreciate, however is that she has Directed, Written, Produced, Edited and Acted in (Chief, Cook and Bottle washer) a movie that Ed Wood would only dream of being able to create and with the passion of H.B. Halicki and his "Gone in 60 Seconds" (who had in 1974 a budget of $150,000 while Faith's budget is estimated at $25,000 in 2009, by the way). This is no "Hollywood Insider" with relations to Coppola. This is a foreign born aspiring musician who immigrated to the USA and has chased "The American Dream". There is probably a movie right there.