Gravesend

This is good work. I heard that Salvatore Stabile didn't have a lot of money to put the project together. Also, I heard that the actors worked for free. That is true dedication to a project. I salute the cast for working with the director. A friend of mine gave me a copy of the soundtrack. This is what it all boils down to. There are no expensive special effects or high price actors. This is what America needs, A good cast that asks what they can do for the movie, instead of what a movie can do for them.

Oh the Agony! The suffering I went through to watch this.. First off, way too much stupidity. I mean if I killed someone, I doubt I'm going waste time arguing and then spend all night driving around town with the dead body in my trunk. Jeez.. what were these people thinking. I think throughout the film we are supposed to care for these characters.. but the only thing I cared about was seeing the credits rolling.. and it seemed like forever before they finally did. I realize the filmmaker was only 19.. but jeez can't he come up with anything better than colorful four-letter adjectives. Also, some advice for his next film - invest in a tripod.

A poor rating for a cutting edge, innovative, creative crime drama, brilliantly painting a portrait of the nature of friendship and community? Isn't this the IMDb? Aren't we supposed to like, nay LOVE, movies? This film is Mean Streets for the Tarantino generation, with more balls than a dozen Hollywood movies. Stabile deserves to be up there with those other indie directors of the 90's. but maybe he has probably held fast to his beliefs and was not prepared to fall in the sewer of self-indulgent, bloated garbage that has passed for the 90's indie crowd's subsequent output. This movie should be seen by all aspiring directors of what can be done on a shoestring budget if you possess intelligence.

4 guys, in a rather boring routine of fighting and smoking pot all of a sudden find themselves in an every man for himself type deal. When Zane accidentally shoots the the brother of Ray, they try to figure out what to do next....... tell the police or hide the body. I think you know which one they choose. The rest of the movie is, whats next? The characters do exactly what allot of people would do in their situation. They are arguing, beating each other up cruising around in mickey's car in a total panic. The movie itself is a psychological trip. There are times in the movie where you almost can't stand it anymore it's all hard to swallow. I loved it.

Gravesend takes place in a beaten down Brooklyn neighborhood near Coney Island. Immediately, it is clear that the young writer/director of this film takes all his energy and inspiration for his characters out of the streets for this film, and does so convincingly. Much of this films' buzz centered around the fact that the director was young and made the film at a very low-budget, adding to this films rough urban flavor. Many critics deplored the film because of its' repeatative non-stop pointless fights among the friends, however I believe they were an essential part of the film. We learn to dislike most of the characters, often glad that their lives aren't ours, and at times the dialog can be suprisingly humorous given the cynical nature of this film. Tony Tucci alone is reason enough to see this movie, playing a violent, rough, worthless twenty-something who is neither a good friend, good person, and more or less continually fails at what he does throughout the coarse of the night. With a better written plot and storyline, this film could have done what Mean Streets did for Martin Scorecese for this young director, but unfortunately falls short. However, to anyone interested in film and film making, highly recommended.