Full Circle

Possibly the best New York movie in years, Solvan Niam's "Full Circle" is an original gangster film in the vein of "Goodfellas" and "Amongst Friends".

The feature, which had its Los Angeles debut at NewFilmmakers LA, captured the absurdity of trying to fulfill unreasonable expectations, and the unshakable libido of the New Yorker. It also features a balls-to-the-walls soundtrack by the filmmaker, otherwise known as Slick the Misfit.

I had the pleasure of hearing the filmmaker speak about his work, and it reminded me of Rob Weiss when he directed "Amongst Friends", a Sundance darling and now a cult classic. The thing about New York movies is that at their best they are one part tightrope walk/one part celebration of life. "Full Circle" performs that dance with an authentic flair.

This film was suspenseful and hilarious at the same time! Even though there's no big name actors in it all the acting was superb. Coming from New York I really enjoyed the city grit it was able to capture. I saw it at the Urban World Film Festival at AMC theaters and even though I had to sit on the stairs since there were no seats available I really enjoyed it. Funniest thing about it is I went to see it with my mother who is in her 50's and she freaking loved it as well which surprised me. (Maybe it's because she was actually able to sit in a theater chair!). The main actor was great and the Q&A sessions after the film was extremely touching. It made we want to make films even though I'm far from a filmmaker! I'm telling all my friends and family about this film and so is my mother! Congratulations on winning the best feature award!

Sitting at 8.0, I said sure, I'll give it a spin.

"Full Circle" is a low-budget, urban gangsta flick. Think "El Mariachi" in New York, but not quite as good(mainly due to Rodriguez' deft touch with the action sequences).

I'm putting this on my "B-movie-marathon list".

The film's strongest asset is it's humor. There are some great lines in here. Clever, abundant humor. By far the best thing about this flick.

The film has some stylish touches that help overcome it's production challenges - from some musical touches, to character back-stories, to it's hard-edged city-scope - "Full Circle" is well worth a look.

The acting is sometimes suspect(the lead was good), but overall the film does an amiable job considering what I'm sure were limited resources. What little effects that are here are also suspect. Not good.

I know that at the time of posting that this will be the lowest review. I was going to go with 7/10 which is a good rating and fair, because of the humor, and for staying true to what it wanted to be, but I just can't. It's good for what it is, and again very funny at times, but it's not a 7/10, not for me anyway.

I still recommend it. It definitely has an urban-edge that we don't see enough of in movies. It won't hold at 8.0 for long, but even if it settles around 6.7-7.1(which I suspect it will within a few months), that's quite an accomplishment for a film of this stature.

63/100

I agree with some of the other reviewers that this is definitely going to be a cult-classic.

This was one of the best films I've seen all year hands down. A CULT CLASSIC! And I'm not talking about just independent movies I'm talking about ALL movies Hollywood ones included. It was able to go from serious to funny in sixty seconds so I was at the edge of my seat and laughing my ass off at the same time! I cant wait to see what else this filmmaker is going to put out next. I was surprised to find out the director was a rapper too. I checked out some of his other music and its pretty damn good. The music in the film was really great. I bought the soundtrack the same night and have been listening to it since! A couple songs even made my playlist. That villain Lomatic has got to be one of the best bad guys I've seen in movies in a long time. He had me cracking up and oh man that guy who played Hippy was too funny as well. I could go on and on but don't want to give away any spoilers. THIS IS A MOVIE YOU MUST SEE!

I had a chance to screen this film in Miami at the American Black Film Fest this past June. It was hilariously entertaining that struck the right cords with the audience. I was not familiar with any of the actors work prior to this film. All of which did a great job. Rob Morgan as the villain Lomatic, stole the show paired with Solvan Naim's humor stole the show. Even more remarkable was how well the film was written & directed by first time film maker and leading actor, just in his early 20s. I look forward to seeing future projects from this young man he's very talented. I screen a watch a lot of films from independent low bud to major studio works, so for what this film was and having insight on the background of this film from the film maker's Q&A. I was impressed and thought it was great.