I call them workhorse movies. It all starts with a script, then someone likes the script and works extra hard to get the movie made. Sometimes that's the same person; sometimes that's a few people. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I usually have fairly low expectations going into a workhorse movie. I've seen my fair share, from guys putting together abstract animated shorts to teams building action/adventure international romps. And sometimes, these are just the right vehicles to showcase a writer's style, or a director's edge, or an actor's chops.
Here we have Scratch, a full-length independent film that wants to be bigger than its budget and, for the most part, does pretty well. As a workhorse movie, it's top-notch. It's written and directed by a guy named Maninder Chana and it stars nobody you've heard of but maybe somebody you'll see one day. Sure there are a few plot holes here and there. Sure there are some editing hiccups. Sure some of the acting isn't DeNiro in Raging Bull. At the end of the day, though, none of that stuff really matters; it all really comes down to that ever-elusive, hard-to-define term 'entertainment.' If the audience laughs a little, or cries a little, or really just cares a little, then the film is a success. Scratch delivers. It's darkly funny and even a bit interesting, once you get over the aforementioned downfalls. The leading woman is attractive and holds her own. I really liked Gigi and the Russians; their interplay made the movie for me. The twist was OK. I guess I didn't see it coming, but I also think it was more of a trick than a twist.
Stuff blows up. People curse a lot and die. It looks like high-quality production. The score is on-point. The acting isn't terrible. The writing is good, and great in spots. The directing is clean and cool. It wants to be like Usual Suspects or Reservoir Dogs or even Snatch. But it isn't those. It's as close to those as National Treasure is to Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the end, that's pretty damn good.
