The Girl from the Naked Eye

When it comes to independent film screeners, no film impressed us more in recent memory than David Ren's The Girl From the Naked Eye. The film stars newcomer Jason Yee as Jake, a driver for an escort service who takes on the role as heavy when his gambling debts spiral out of control.

In the sordid world of prostitution, Jake find a diamond in the rough – a young 16-year old runaway named Sandy (Samantha Streets) who is working as a prostitute for Simon (Ron Yuan), a high ranking thug in a world of unlawful activities. But as we learn in the opening chapter, Sandy is murdered and Jake will make it his ambition to find out who was responsible and make them pay with his own form of justice.

Jake's investigation will work outside of the police inquiry and each promising lead will take him through the underbelly of a criminal enterprise where countless ruffians are just chompin' at the bit at a chance to take their best shot against the inquisitive Jake.

The Girl From the Naked Eye is told with both flashbacks and a narrative style that is quite impressive from relatively novice writers Jason Yee and Larry Madill. The narrative in particular doesn't add fluff nor does it try and infuse humor into a character that is serious to the core in his pursuit. The flashbacks were also expertly placed and allow for us to understand better Jakes attachment to Sandy while allowing the present day story to unfold in detail.

Most impressive in the production are the fight sequences which are truly top rate. Jake primarily uses his fists to parade through countless brutes in his search for the truth. And the sequences are handled with the precision of a craftsman. A particular scene of Jake fighting a handful of guards in the hallway of a building complex reminded us of OldBoy and was clearly the highlight of the film.

The film was purposefully shot in the darkened crevasses of the city and the film will hardly be one that the anti-smoking lobbyists will endorse. There weren't many bright colors, if any, in the film and I respected the look and atmosphere that was orchestrated by director David Ren.

The story was good, but not perfect. There were a few dead ends and a few troubled spots where I might have had pieces of a scene left on the cutting room floor but for the majority of the very brisk 85-minute running time, the plot moves forward and the audience is largely entertained. And although the biggest baddest villain in the film (played by Gary Stretch) is admirable, he is not as mean and relentless as you might expect out of such a genre film.

The cast in The Girl From the Naked Eye (oh, we should add here that the Naked Eye was the name of a seedy strip club to where most of the characters have connections) all do outstanding work in large and bit roles and Dominique Swain and Sasha Grey both have blink-and-you'll-miss-em scenes that do nothing more than add their name to various search engines pointing to the film.

The sum of its parts results in a film that was directed with a clear vision, choreographed with surgical precision and scripted in a down-to-earth format allowing for a high return on the entertainment dollar.

I was less then halfway through before I realized that if some, more experienced, people were employed to create this film, it'd probably be a blockbuster. If everyone making it has the experience, then maybe hire some better people. This film smells like Canada, I think it must have been made with 'Canadian dollars'.

The acting was good, the story had a few holes in it, so as long as you don't pay too much attention, then you may not notice. Like when Sandy talks about it being her "first night on the job"

The editing was good, but the scene where he's running down the stairs. Good lighting though.

If you like fighting, and boobs this movie was made for you!

Must admit the movie had moments that surprised me. The relationship between Jake and Sandy had moments that were quite heart warming. I thought the Sandy actress did a great job. Kinda reminds me a lil of the relationship in Leon: the Professional between Natalie Portman and Jean Reno's characters. There were some scenes that was actually quite funny where i found myself chuckling out loud. Jason Yee did a pretty good job playing a bad/good guy. The cigarette smoking was kinda a thing in the movie with his character for some reason. Some of the flow reminded me of sin city in the atmosphere they were trying to create. Also surprising was how humanized the characters were. The Simon character was very down to earth and didn't fit the typical bad guy portrayal. The movie felt like they put a lot of heart into it and did the best they could with what they had. Sure the fight scenes were't typical Hollywood style hyper edits and loud added explosive hitting sounds but for the movie it fight pretty well. More like early Steven Seagal fights. Like to see him more in movies.

I must start by saying that you should not watch this film with the same expectations of a large Hollywood production because it simply isn't.

With that in mind however, I found it very easy to appreciate how this film follows the graphic novel/detective film translation. Moreover, it borrows a lot from Sin City in its colour scheme, lighting and general feel. The fight choreography is gritty and satisfactory. They integrate the standard line of thugs in with trained "guards" and a certified martial artist in Lateef Crowder (Max).

The biggest surprise is how much depth they add to the surrounding characters beyond the protagonist. Simon and Sandy bring forth a lot of different emotional reactions and really help raise the entire acting level of the film. There are few lines in this movie that should crack a smile as well.

Overall it's a slightly different take on your standard detective narrative and worth a viewing if you have time to kill or enjoy the genre.

Although there is a lot of tough cigarette smoking, the film isn't as bad as the IMDB ranking said it would be. I quite enjoyed it. The ending could have been better, but hey, I suppose the directors hoped it might be a cult film, so I forgive them. All in all I had a nice evening thanks to 'The Girl from the Naked Eye'.