R.I.C.C.O.

I love independent films and try to support indie filmmakers as often as possible, especially when they're from my hometown, Detroit. It was nice to some of our major attractions highlighted in R.I.C.C.O. on the big screen, and not just the blighted areas usually depicted in most Hollywood films representing Detroit. I like the twist in the storyline of R.I.C.C.O., but this film needed seasoned actors to be able to pull off the script. I wanted to feel more suspense while watching the film. A bigger build up as the movie went along. I also appreciated the fact that the cast was somewhat multicultural. Many films today are not as representative of other ethnicities as they should be. R.I.C.C.O. is light years from a being a blockbuster, but shows promise for these indie filmmakers. I'm a self professed indie-nut, and will continue to show support. But, my word of advice for any indie filmmaker...no-budget or low budget, find incredible talent. Indie-nuts or not, want to see a great performances.

You never can tell what you will get when you rent a movie that appears to be a "hood" movie along the lines of "Boys In The Hood" but its not even in that genre. R.I.C.C.O. has a multi racial cast and although some of the acting leaves much to be desired you can find yourself being entertained none the less. The movie starts off slowly if but you can make past the first fifteen to twenty minutes then the rest is smooth sailing right up to the climax at the end. This movie is not on par with studio movies for straight to video movies it compares variably. If you look closely you can see some of the locations that they used in "8 Mile ". I recommend this movie as a good second choice video selection.

The ambitious efforts of an independent filmmaker at the start of his career. This film echos the nuts and bolts production of El Mariachi with greater aspirations to a Pulp Fiction esque narrative, it's funny and straight up Bad Ass in places. Well worth a watch whilst kicking back with some beers.

When I write reviews categorize the movies and studio, independent and low budget indie where the film maker makes a film for ten pr fifteen thousand dollars. Compared to Hollywood this film would fall apart but compared to other films that I've seen at various film festivals and student film festivals. The lighting is good, the acting is okay, the writing is above average and the story is somewhat creative but of course there are a lot of areas where they could have made some improvements but for a student film I would say it was a great effort and I look for these film makers to come out with a second project having learned and gained valuable experience the first time around. I saw this film a while back at the San Francisco Film Festival and the audience reaction was mixed until we learned how much they spent on the film ten thousand and the film was shot in twenty-three days with a amateur cast and crew so to complete a film under those circumstances my hat goes of to those guys. Having said all that I recommend renting the R.I.C.C.O. mainly in the spirit of endorsing independent film making.

The movie was put together pretty well for a low budget film. Some of the scenes and the acting wasn't up to par but was good enough for this level of movie. The writing, editing and directing was a little better than you would expect from these little films. I've been to Detroit frequently and you can see a lot of great shots from the inner city to the surrounding suburbs which to some might be worth watching just for the tour alone. Its like taking a trip to the motor city without having to actually go there. If you are a fan of low budget independent film then this one is for you but if you're looking for special effects and computer generated images than skip this selection. Overall on a low budget movie rating scale I'll give it an eight out of ten.