Les rues du vice

I recently watched Jailbait (1993) on Tubi. The storyline follows two sisters who get caught up in a sex trafficking ring. When a murder occurs, one of the sisters goes on the run, chased by both the police and the ring's muscle. A detective steps in to try and save the day.

Directed by Rafal Zielinski (State Park), the film stars C. Thomas Howell (The Outsiders), Renée Humphrey (Mallrats), Krista Errickson (Deadly Lessons), and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad).

There's nothing special about this movie. The plot is straightforward and predictable, lacking the grit it really needed. C. Thomas Howell overacts as the lead, coming off as if he's trying too hard, and the villain's performance is equally average. There's some nudity, but not to the extent you'd expect from this type of film. Overall, there's not much to see here.

In conclusion, Jailbait could have been a gritty underground cop drama, but it misses the mark. I'd rate it a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.

I must say a bad and clichéd film like this, manages to be very entertaining for a few reasons. 1- being cleavage, 2- being unintentionally funny- 3- C Thomas Howell who's descended into these B films, through no fault of his own. It's like he has to grin and take it. Not really caring about this film, through his on par performance, he plays cool super loner cop/once a street beggar for all of us to see. Streetwise as this films better known in Oz, doesn't have a bad story to it. A working girl has become a fugitive, after one of her tricks at a seedy motel, gets it in a sensitive region of his anatomy, a shock value scene in the investigation. She was seen leaving prior to the shooting, as she was tipped off by a slug of a character, dressed Hawaiian style, who likes to dog for the police. He mirrors sleazeball characters out of other vice films. Her younger sister, well played by Humphrey, acts tough on the outside, but who's scared on the inside, has just arrived at L.A, of course not knowing her beauty, is a pimp magnet. Her and Howell soon collide (yes they pash A little later) try to track her down (visions of Angel 3, I know) which has Howell visiting old haunts, a big player pimp, who uses his girls in sex tapes. This movie's an all so addictive watch. It's a prime example of how bad can be good. If a Howell fan, this demands your strict attention.

A B movie, but a pretty enjoyable one. Chock full of downtown L.A. cliches (hookers, thugs, junkies) and gratuitous nudity, but overall a better story and better acting than most movies of the sort. Renee Humphrey (also see "Mallrats" for her fun role as Trish) is very good, and C. Thomas Howell is much better than most reviews have said. Ah, remember those days when he starred in REAL movies? "The Outsiders", "Soul Man"? He seems to be slumming it here as much as his character. The two leads have enormous chemistry and the relationship presented here is surprisingly tender for this kind of film. As far as the supporting cast goes, the actor playing Roman is sufficiently creepy. In short: The film kept my interest even though I rolled my eyes a few times.

This film is about a 17 year old named Kyle Bradley,(Renee Humphrey) who goes to the big city to find her half sister Merci who is a singer and she has the police after her for getting involved in a murder.

Kyle being a very young girl runs into all kinds of creeps who want to rape her and turn her in on the sex slave market. However, Kyle meets up with Sergeant Lee Teffler, (C Thomas Howell) who befriends her and gives her a place to live at his own pad.

Sgt. Lee finds out he is also looking for Merci and the plot thickens and Lee gets himself involved with a bunch of hoods who are cold blooded and love to kill and torture.

Sgt. Lee begins to fall in love with 17 year old Kyle and her age stops him from wanting to make love to her which causes many problems between the two of them. Entertaining film. Enjoy.

Police, like doctors, are not supposed to let their personal feelings get involved with the people they serve. But sometimes there are human feelings so strong that they get in the way of professional rules and regulations. "Jailbait" revolves around the conflict that Detective Lee Teffler (C. Thomas Howell) experiences as he becomes the Knight In Shining Armor to a Midwestern girl (Renee Humphrey) who comes to Hollywood looking for her sister (Krista Errickson)--an aspiring singer who has become a hooker as well as a suspect in a murder case that Detective Teffler is investigating.

Another suspect in the murder case is Teffler's boyhood friend (David Labiosa) --they used to raise hell on the streets together-- who has taken a different path from the one chosen by Teffler. Rather than becoming a policeman like Teffler, his boyhood friend has become a cold, creepy, ruthless and sadistic criminal who specializes in white slavery.

The performances in "Jailbait" are surprisingly good for a "straight to video" type movie. Although not necessarily achieving Super Stardom, this is a group of actors worth watching for their talent, and for the heart that they put into their performances.

TRIVIA FANS may be interested to know that: 1) Krista Errickson went on to a distinguished career as a journalist and film maker.

2) Leslie Harter went on to get married to (and have 2 children with) "Back To The Future" director Bob Zemeckis.