Cut to the Chase

Cut to the Chase is a great crime drama. The first thing I told told my wife as we left the premier was that it reminded me of a great Elmore Leonard story. It wasn't trying to be Leonard. There was no copying. Instead it was the same feel. The dialogue, the characters were very much like Leonard. My wife also called it a love letter to Shreveport, the city where it was filmed. I agree. So thanks Blayne Weaver for making a movie that is truly enjoyable.

The story itself is straight forward. Max Chase, long term loser (played by writer/director Blayne Weaver) is in trouble with a crime boss. The setting is Shreveport, Louisiana. The man's sister is a local Assistant DA and has vouched for him to keep him out of prison. He needs his sister to help him pay a gambling debt. Only she has disappeared. Now Max has to find his sister and help her, or avenge her. The story has all of the great crime thriller tropes. We have the loser, the hard working sister, the deadbeat father, the organized crime boss, the southern DA, the thugs, and the bartenders. It is a fun film and I look forward to many more great movies from Blayne Weaver.

This is truly an exciting, action packed noir thriller. The writing is engaging and the actors have the chemistry to pull off the surprising twists and turns of the story. Blayne Weaver writes, directs, and stars in this exciting addition to your action films portfolio. His ability to choose the right cast once again comes through with an amazing, believable adventure. Lance Henriksen is a perfect bad guy as he gives life to the villain of the underworld, The Man. Cut to the Chase is the first action thriller that Weaver has brought to the screen, following Six Month Rule, Weather Girl, Outside Sales, and Manic. You won't be disappointed!

This movie is an edge of the seat type experience. It is formulaic, but the formula has worked forever, and the screenwriter throws enough curve balls, to make it original. Nobody in this film is perfect, as it is in life. I saw a Question and Answer session with 9 of the crew members and they are all dedicated to the craft in a way that leads me to believe that this writer/ director Blayne Weaver is going somewhere good. The cinematography and film editing were exceptional. Tim Smith, stuntman and actor also has a future…..He was wonderful….

People who marked 8-10 are the actors family or similar. They try to show it as the best of the all times movie. It is an extreme exaggeration

Who marked 2 was an enemy. He think there not could be something worst, that it is not an objective appreciation

It is a intrigue movie, not such deep, not vulgar, an average plus. To watch as an relatively easy movie

From the opening scene with Blayne Weaver (Actor/Director/Star) and Lance Henriksen, I was hooked. Both of them acted so well opposite one another and the dialogue was crisp and lighting was beautiful. The camera-work throughout was top notch for an indie film and looked lovely. The editing serviced the fight scenes and action well. Often times indie films do not quite get the camera angles or speed right with action scenes and it looks a little off. Weaver and his team did a great job with this aspect and the pacing of the entire film was very tight. Even the locations were very ripe with their own character. This is not normally a genre of film I am into as much but this one kept me intrigued throughout.

The story is pretty straightforward. Down on his luck Max Chase is out of jail and pulled right into a situation in which his sister is kidnapped and he has to go find her. This will not be an easy thing to do and somehow I do not think his parole officer would forgive the things he goes through in his attempts. Whether it was worth it and pays off, you will have to see.

I was not totally into a later twist but the film worked well enough that it did not overly bother me. All of the other actors did a great job and the two main females in the film (Cahill and Green) kicked ass! Green is currently tearing up the screen in Sleepy Hollow as well. I can picture any of these actors holding their own in bigger films and this film should help continue to propel them forward.

The great thing about this indie film is that it feels like it had a much higher budget than it did. Weaver talked about the film afterwards and with private investors and Kickstarter money, they were able to fund it and it looks 10x better than you would expect with the money they had. I love seeing indie films that just land with you and this is certainly one of them. It also makes me want to seek out other films by the director which is always a good sign. Keep an eye out for this one, I do imagine it will be widely available in the near future.