Engrenage mortel

I do enjoy a crime thriller and this, even though it went straight to DVD, isn't a bad one. Some great performances, plenty of violence and a pretty strong plot all add up to an entertaining watch (if you like that kind of thing). I'll tell you more of my thoughts after the following summary (summary haters please wait in the car with Joshua; he'll take you for a ride if you ask him nicely).

Joshua is the number one guy to Vincent, a medium sized drug lord and crime boss on the East coast of the United States. He hears, through a third party, that a dealer by the name of Frankie Tahoe is out to kill Vincent. Of course Vincent won't stand for that and they go and take care of Frankie. Now, unfortunately Frankie works for the biggest boss on the East coast, Nino, and he's upset at losing one of his best dealers. They meet and, well, let's say they didn't part as best buddies. After Nino takes his revenge on Vincent the gloves come off and it gets very violent indeed. Of course there is a lot more to tell but I'm not going to spoil it for you.

This is a very dark and a very violent film with some great performances. I thought Cuba Gooding Jr. was excellent as the brooding Joshua who has a dark secret he has been carrying since childhood; in fact it's the best performance I've seen from him in quite a while. Miguel Ferrer plays the part of the, sometimes psychotic, crime boss Vincent perfectly and Harvey Keitel is also excellent, as ever, as Nino.

It's a pretty well made film which, although the budget was obviously pretty small still manages to excite and enthral. It has a very well written script but it is one of those that you have to watch, you can't have it on in the background and expect to follow it. So, if you like a good crime drama and you're not bothered too much by some rather graphic violence, then this one's definitely recommended… otherwise, I would give it a miss.

My score: 6.5/10

Call me a product of the ADD age, but it's not very often these days that I'll actually sit through an entire movie without at least fast forwarding through some parts (you know, like the de rigeur musical montage in romantic comedies). And when I saw Cuba Gooding's name in the opening credits, I seriously considered putting an end to the movie and to my misery right there and then (I still have nightmares about his and Christian Slater's disastrous last effort at movie-making). And yet, as the movie developed, I found myself drawn into the plot and the characters. Mind you, this film is not a treatise on either. The plot and characters are rather simple, and we only get brief glimpses into the origins of the relationship between Cuba's character and that of his boss, but it's all we need. The rest is like a good old fashioned shootout at the OK corral. All in all, I'd say this movie was every bit as good as The Departed, minus the star cast and director.

Thoroughly agree with Wizard 8; a tidy and unpretentious little gangster flick with solid performance from all the players. Miguel Ferrer does indeed hold the screen as a hard man living by a set of questionable principles, but Cuba Gooding is no slouch as the right hand man approaching a personal crossroads in life. The legendary Harvey Keitel just has to turn up on this one. The plot is fairly simple, the dialogue punchy, and it just moves right along. Not for the kids please – too violent - but it certainly deserves an adult look. It doesn't pretend to be Godfather Part 2 - what you see is what you get. Good flick.

If you have kept an eye on Cuba Gooding Jr.'s career over the past few years, you probably know he's been churning out awful direct-to-DVD movies after being branded box office poison. Having seen several of these movies, I initially had no plans to see "Wrong Turn At Tahoe". I only decided to give it a whirl after reading a positive review of it at another web site.

I was surprised by what I watched - this is a pretty decent drama. First, the production values are very strong for what was reportedly just an $8 million budget. It looks slick, while at the same time having a moody look that's appropriate for the nastiness that happens. As for Gooding, he is for once believable in his role, successfully showing a hard edge for his character. However, it is Miguel Ferrer who steals the show as Gooding's boss - he really commands the screen when the center of attention is on him.

The dialogue is good, colorful yet not in a show-off manner. The characters are believable in their actions. And the movie travels at a relaxed pace (though not TOO relaxed). Some younger viewers might find it too slow, but I thought the movie kept interest despite its slow pace.

The movie is not perfect. The decision to show part of the end at the beginning somewhat spoils things. The hand-to-hand combat at the climax seems out of an action movie, not a serious drama. And the "twist" at the last minute is somewhat silly; I could not believe the revelation would have stayed hidden for so long. There are a couple of other flaws I could mention, but overall this is an engaging movie that could have played in theaters.

I'm not a big fan of Cuba's but he was believable in his role. Miguel Ferrer certainly commanded attention and, in my opinion, was a better overall performance, but Cuba pulled off his character well -a loyal, hardened, right-hand man to Miguel "Vincent".

While it is more of a typical gangster style flick, it does offer something a little different; which is what I think makes this movie work.

I would recommend this movie on a rainy day or if someone asked about it, but I wouldn't call someone to tell them to go pick it up... Possibly good enough for the big screen, but certainly not a let down for DVD.