La loi des armes

is the one word I think sums up this movie. Not much happens. A lot of the story takes place in the back of a van. A get-a-away driver for a thug gets caught up in a mess. He holds another gangster hostage in the back of a van, while the rival gangster's associates wait in cars along the street trying to solve the situation without a big scene. 2 shop owners also play a small role because the van is parked in front of their store. Also, 2 painters who are covering up the windows on a neighboring building play a role. But, you don't find out why their job is key to the story till the end.

FINAL VERDICT: Boring, slow. Even though it is only 90 minutes long, it still seemed a lot longer because there isn't much action. I don't recommend this.

This captivating little film obviously benefits by the great performances of the three male leads - Bridges, Abrahams and Wyle.

A mob boss' driver (Abrahams) accidentally gets mixed up in much more than he bargained and prepared for when a rival mob boss (Bridges) is kidnapped by his associate (Peter Greene) and bundled into the back of his van.

A very stagy film, with a very TV feel to it, its basically all shot in one location throughout but still manages to hold the viewers attention.

Only one negative, and its a big one - the ending. Just as the story seems as though its changing direction and gathering pace it ends abruptly, which spoils the film and leaves the viewer feeling cheated having to make do with the conclusion of the story and its characters hastily captioned on screen. Such a shame because an extra 15 mins of action instead of 15 seconds of words could have made this film a real find.

This show is the "truck" (van) version of the later show called "Phone Booth". A good portion of the film is filmed inside the truck. Casual driver gets involved and is the middle person in between 2 big time mob gangs. Either way, it's the devil or the deep blue sea for him. He would be lucky to walk away with his life. And most of the action is how they act out the "black spy versus white spy" (from MAD magazine) kind of moves. You'd be dying to find out how the entire event is resolved, and this is what makes it interesting to hang on. But watch it to the end! A bit of panties action by the operator of the deli to her husband. If you are hoping for more than just seeing a pair of lacy panties, you'd be disappointed. Story line is fine but can get confusing with all the mob names thrown around all over.

I recently caught this movie on cable. While the production values definitely had a lower budget, indie feel I thought the movie was quite good. I love small scale action drama movies and this was an excellent example...up until the end. The movie ends very abruptly and with a completely unnecessary cliffhanger that is resolved literally seconds later. To me it felt like an ending that was deliberately placed there by one of these possibilities:

1. The production ran out of money. They wanted to shoot a better ending but simply couldn't due to budget.

2. The studio pressured the director to make a cut, and so to spite them she literally took a meat cleaver to the film.

When the realities of film making tend to stick their noses so blatantly into a movie it tends to ruin the rest of it for me.

I give it a six out of ten, but I will definitely keep eye open for this director in the future.

The main problem I have with "Scenes of the Crime" is that none of the characters are likable. They are all either gangsters or on the take. The film is extremely claustrophobic, taking place mostly inside a van or in a deli. The movie is also confusing, with lots of unseen characters being mentioned, and speaking of characters, none are really well developed. The presence of Bob Gunton, and R. Lee Ermey is a plus, while Jeff Bridges, playing against type, is a hard sell as a mob boss. The whole thing, although supposedly based on fact, is difficult to swallow, because it never feels genuine. Although the acting isn't bad, the entertainment value is questionable. - MERK