Out of Season

It is out of season and the temporary employee Pierre (Jordan Frieda) of an amusement park seaside has all his savings stolen by the crook Simeon Guant (David Murray), a friend of his girlfriend Kelly Phillips (Dominique Swain). Kelly is daughter of the owner of the park, Michael Philipps (Jim Carter), who is married with Eileen Phillips (Gina Gershon). Eileen cheats her husband with Simeon, and they plot to kill Michael simulating a burglary and get his life insurance. Pierre, without any money, associates to the owner of a bar, the former thief Harry Barlow (Dennis Hopper), who teaches him how to burglar. The reunion of these six characters has no happy ending.

"Out of Season" is an unsuccessful attempt of neo-noir movie. The amoral characters are all losers, cheating, betraying, blackmailing, stealing, corrupting etc. and it is impossible to feel sympathy for any character of this dark and unpleasant story. Gina Gershon plays the fatal woman and is very sexy as usual. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Temporada de Crime" ("Season of Crime")

I really like Dennis Hopper from Easy Rider on......yuck! Total waste of time! It was definitely a "B" movie. I could not find anything redeeming in it. By the way, this is the first time I have ever taken the time to comment on a movie, but this one really did me in. Had to go to a Dennis Hopper site to see what he was doing these days, and he's doing a lot---maybe that's the reason--should have turned this one down! Can't say much about the other actors in film. Just finished watching it, and already it's a blur. I would think Dennis Hopper at this point in his life, could pick and choose the really good parts. Had to do 5 other things while watching just waiting for the ending....glad I didn't pay money for this.

Pierre wants to be a thief- Dennis Hopper takes him under his wing with the backdrop of an out of season amusement park as their home base. There are a few moments that are OK but for the most part the acting is flat and the story very dull. This is a movie that is severely lacking in a lot of elements and it will leave you wanting the time you spent watching it back. Dennis Hopper plays a better role than usual, but that's only because his usual level of acting lately is so poor. So when he plays an average role it seems like a big deal these days. Bottom line, miss this movie it is dumb and flat. The most appealing thing in this film is the villain, who I wound up rooting for because I was sick of the dumb characters.

Screenwriter and director Jevon O'Neill has brought us a modern morality film for the age, worthy of its medieval stage predecessors. Themes of lust, money, sadism, scheming and religion fuel this gravity ride of a finely detailed plot to its inevitable conclusion.The film begins its full circle with drifter Pierre looking out to sea toward the light. Indeed, the use of light, darkness and grayness can be seen as a further metaphor throughout, and is exquisitely crafted. Harry soon develops into Pierre's clichéd mentor, but without giving too much away it can be said that Dennis Hopper's performance as the film progresses redeems more than just the development of Harry as a character. Likewise, fairground owner Michael (Jim Carter) begins with a curiously unconvincing mid-Atlantic accent, which mellows as the plot unfolds. His scheming daughter and sadistic wife are well casted as Gina Gershon and Dominique Swain. Simeon's complex motives are the key to understanding the plot, and David Murray's drawing of the character detail is a screen masterpiece. Out of Season is unlikely to achieve mainstream success, but could conceivably become a cult classic in the footsteps of, say, The Wicker Man.

"You can take your chances on the other rides, this is the nearest to being alive."- Richard Thompson

"Out of Season" is not an unambitious or uninteresting movie. It tries to present six different characters, and two parallel plot lines that eventually cross each other's paths. But this is another one of those movies where the director tries to impose his "style" (tilted camera angles, slow-motion, strange close-ups, etc.) on almost every shot - this is obtrusive and distracting. And he really overreaches when he tries to turn this story of human greed into some kind of "religious" tragedy. Ultimately, it's an unpleasant and (in Dennis Hopper's case) degrading film. Most of the actors do what they have to do to collect their paycheck, nothing more. The standout is David Murray, who plays a convincingly hateful scumbag. Dominique Swain has one or two sexy moments (no nudity though). (**)