Devious Beings

I picked this DVD up at Wal-Mart for 2 bucks, hoping it would kill 2 hours of Saturday afternoon boredom. I knew nothing about it and had no preconceived notion as to what it was about, the actors involved, or the material about to be shown. I was rather surprised and impressed by the movie.

Andre B. Blake (Jackson) carries the weight of nearly the entire movie on his shoulders and does so very competently (with Patrick Van Horn (Arrow)chiming in a strong performance of his own...a little spastic comedy relief), the direction and camera work was well done with a limited soundtrack befitting the situations. The script was extremely well written with pop-culture references, humour, and irony. It was of a caliber that should have gotten more attention (a more "Hollywood" cast could have made this movie what it strived to be). The one MAJOR downfall or distraction was the boom that seem to be in the shot more than out (the boom operator should perhaps find another line of work).

The DVD synopsis puts it in a league with "Go" and "Pulp Fiction", now I wouldn't place it at this level, but there was enough twisting action to keep me interested for an hour and thirty seven minutes. Worth checking out, if even a little curious.

Chris Mazzei's Devious Beings turns on itself like a Moebius strip-the story arc is actually a series of orbits. Think of each character as an electron circling a dense nucleus in which self- preservation vibrates the whole. All the performances are strong and discrete-Mazzei somehow manages to navigate his actors through a complex, violent landscape that's dark all day long. It's not absolutely perfect, but he takes two or three movies worth of typical Hollywood clichés and stacks them with both style and skill. Andre B. Blake is the conflicted protagonist who plays and gets paid, but Robert Gossett is the main reason to check out this movie. His performance as the villain Damone is diabolical.

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All in all wasn't that bad of a movie once you can get past the boom that somehow seems to be in every scene. You would think you would catch that in editing. It basically tries a little pulp fiction approach. Also along the lines of every other drug type movie now a days.Friends get themselves in trouble with a deal gone wrong and have to fix it, meanwhile which a couple are being blackmailed by a crooked cop. Typically you knew what was gonna happen throughout most of the movie with only a few shocks. Jackson (Patrick Van Horn) basically is the whole movie. With a cameo by Maria Celedonio(Maria) one of my favorite unknown actresses(Freeyway 2, The substitute)which mad the film a little more bearable. All in all if you feel like wasting a couple hours of your life then pick this movie up.

Devious Beings is a great title for a movie and what originally attracted me to watch this Independent film. The film seemed to keep you guessing what might happen next and you really dont know until the end, which I personally liked. I thought the writing and especially the acting was a plus for this film. I would hope that more Independent Filmakers will strive to bring all varieties of films for years to come like this one by Red Bear Films. If your looking for a new interesting film with a great storieline Devious Beings is what I recommend.