Straight Outta Tompkins

I watched this completely unaware that the lead was also the writer/director/producer, having learned that info after definitely increased my appreciation for the film. It wasn't a perfect film, but it's obvious that there is a lot of potential in Zephyr Benson. His script wasn't perfect and his acting isn't exactly Oscar worthy, but it was the way the subject matter was captured that was really inspiring. He presented a common story of just how many of us can so quickly go from a life of immense potential and unlimited choices to a life of deep regret that's seemingly beyond redemption. All of which is usually resulting from a few small missteps at a very critical time in life, which here is in the later high school/mid to late teenage years.

While this doesn't come across as a masterpiece, this debut does definitely warrant some extra appreciation due to the fact that it was all created by such a young filmmaker on what I'm sure was a very constraining budget. It more than succeeded in entertaining and does have a clear underlying message woven within making it worth a look.

Straight Outta Tompkins is truly a historic film by a young talented filmmaker in the model of Scorese and DeNiro. This is a must see. Rarely does a film come along and puts the audience on notice… Zephyr Benson sparkles on the screen as a writer, director and lead actor. A true cautionary tale that reminds us all about choices we must make in the journey of life. The Cast is spectacular, Aaron Costa- Ganis as Cruz, Cliff Bemis as the Headmaster, Jon Mccormick as Sam all give life changing performances. Filmed on a microscopic budget, the film production values rival those of multimillion dollar films. Sometimes lighting strikes and all the stars line up, this is that film. A MUST SEE!

I thought this movie was great and extremely well produced especially considering it was written, directed and starred in my a kid who isn't old enough to yet be out of college. One needs to also take in consideration of how good this film is when it was produced with a very low budget in Hollywood terms. I also thought it had a great urban sound track. We should all go and support the young up and coming artists of today. This film should be shown annually to all high school students across America in hopes to keep them from this terrible fate.I think they would better identify with this culturally than they do to the current DARE programs that were/are in place.

Yo. I dug this movie. But you either get it or you don't. If you don't know city kids, or drugs, you might not get the underlining story. I feel like I really understood what the writer was trying to say. It's a story you won't usually find on the big screen. I used to sell dope, and could relate to the story and see genes spiral to the bottom. I seen it too many times. family and friends. it ain't perfect, but the flaws make it even better. There are small moments that turn this movie from a normal drug movie, into a special little flick. If you know drugs, if you know that lifestyle, go see this film. You'll laugh at a few inside jokes. overall it was on POINT. props, son.

This kid went to NYU too so I watched his movie last night and felt compelled to review it after seeing that it got a SEVENTY EIGHT PERCENT ON ROTTEN TOMATOES.

Good news first yo.

It definitely has some positive aspects. The camera was definitely expensive and the film includes some great shots of New York, especially during the opening montage, where the camera work was expertly done. In fact, if you took out the cheesy voice-over part, I'd say that the opening montage was the only part of this movie that I might call world-class. Great cinematography and production, especially given the budget, which was quite skimpy for a move filmed inside NYC. The hip hop soundtrack was fun though maybe a little bit poser-ish in context. Also, it is pretty hard to be bored during a drug/crime movie. At least it was entertaining.

Now to the bad.

The story was boiler plate, it seemed lifted from an archive of templates, generic. Who hasn't heard the heroin addiction thing a million times? Also, the whole premise of the movie, the family situation, the baseball scholarship, et cetera, seemed a little out of left field (yukyukyuk), meaning that it didn't make a whole lot of sense and made the movie feel forced and unconvincing. In general the plot was sort of a swing and a miss. There wasn't much of a genuine feeling at any point during the movie, it felt fake and it said nothing new.

The periodic voice-over parts were Straight Outta Tompkins's fatal mistake. They actually made the movie pretty painful to watch at certain points. In the beginning Gene (the narrator) talks about how nobody but real New Yorkers know the real New York and ironically points out how he's more dangerous than the corner boys even though he's a privileged white boy. Yawn. The voice-over Gene also painstakingly narrates even simple aspects of the story which are totally unnecessary to explain. To put it shortly and free of spoilers, the voice-over is completely idiot proof which, to me, signifies an actor who is not talented (or perhaps practiced) enough to let his acting tell its own story. Sounds a bit harsh, but it's true. The production was good but the acting and writing were second or maybe even third rate to be completely honest.

All-in-all I give this movie a C-minus, which in filmmaking is kind of worse than an F. At least an F has personality. Also, on a side note, it appears that the star/director/writer may have literally had his hand held by his parents throughout the entire production process, which is in ironic contrast to the plot of the movie where the main character is totally left to his own devices. Whoopi Goldberg pops in without credit for like two scenes. I wonder if she's a family friend... Anyway, this more entertaining than watching the Food Network or the news or something like that, so if you're supremely bored and want to experiment with something cringe-worthy, throw it on! It's pretty entertaining for a variety of reasons, not all of which are mean spirited.