Caught Up

Gems sometimes crop up in the most surprising places. "Caught Up" provides the pleasures of a well-structured plot, especially the payoff one gets when something brought up earlier means something important (even clever) later, e.g. the identity of the hitman. Combine these tasty plot twists with good acting and good dialogue, and you've got a movie worth staying up to watch on cable

Director Scott's debut leads us through a well paced maze of mystery. He keeps our interest by injecting unpredictable twists and turns throughout. A brave effort that goes against the formulaic grain of the majority of Hollywood releases.

I liked the movie, despite the critic's abhorrence toward the movie. I can see Bokeem Woodbine's acting potential stretched even further. Yet, Cynda Williams role in the movie may be the culprit for the critic's actions. I didn't like her all that much, and her acting was a bit off. Though, I believe that her purpose in the movie was to fulfill its "Sex-sells" promise. But, basically all she is was just a pretty face. This movie was pretty much all Bokeem Woodbine, as Daryl Allen's journey towards getting his life back together, without getting "Caught Up" of course.

A very typical set up - ex-con with a kid, wants to make a new start. The main character's complete lack of bravado makes him an amiable enough lead, but it's not enough to save the film from clunky dialogue, and some clunkier acting. However, there are some cinematically nice moments, and it's worth the rental price just to see Jeffrey Combs' hysterical, and very... memorable... cameo.

A poorly written urban crime drama that would have worked better as a sketch in HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, CAUGHT UP stars Bokeem Woodbine as an ex-con trying to go straight. Shortly after his release from prison, he meets Trish (Cynda Williams, whose mediocre performance is in sharp contrast to her impressive work in ONE FALSE MOVE), who's, of all things, a psychic being pursued by an evil Rastafarian from whom she stole a huge diamond. Instead of staying the hell away from this apparently high-maintenance love interest (she's beautiful, you see) and trying to reconnect with his former squeeze, he agrees to help her. Every stereotype and cliché is used, as well as howlingly bad dialogue ("Nobody was waiting for me but a dude named destiny") and the perfunctory hip-hop cameos. This film seems to have been made solely to promote its accompanying soundtrack, but with hardly any rap music included in the movie, what exactly was the point of all this?