Waist Deep

I took this movie home the other day not really expecting to see much of a movie but I was like what the hell, I'll give it a try and was pleased.

This movie didn't have the most original plot. It was just a father trying to get his kidnapped son back. Tyrese Gibson played the father who would very much rather forget his past and jail time so he set a good example for his kid. I thought Gibson did a very good job as he teamed up with the very attractive actress Meagan Good. Also in the movie was Larenz Tate. Tate did not impress me. It seemed like he just re-enacted his role in Crash.

Your not going to see a masterpiece after watching this film. Your not going to get blown away by the acting even though it was above average. They're some hard-nosed scenes such as when I guy gets his armed chopped off for not paying back the money. But the movie seemed to have heart and I believe it was directed very well. Such scene is when Gibson's character is running than switches to first person as the director, Vondie Curtis-Hall, has the camera shaking constantly to give it a more dramatic feel.

The relationship between Good and Gibson's character grew way to fast but still was par. There are some moments that are far fetched but the movie was still very entertaining and intense and I believe it gets a 7.5 rating (rounded to a 8).

Acting 7, editing 6, directing 8, plot 6.

WAIST DEEP follows a tried and true formula: Ex-con's son is kidnapped by his ex-partner in crime, a ransom is demanded, the ex-con works diligently to put together the ransom while doing his best to undermine his old partner, and there's a final showdown between them. The kid is cute, the ex-con is an impressive slab of beef, the former partner is suitably menacing and fugly beyond belief, and of course there's a pretty female to help things along. The formula works most of the time, but the movie is so predictable that in the end I asked myself why I bothered to rent it. There is a heckuva car chase near the end that sort of makes up for a dull middle. The movie, which could have just as easily starred Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson in his prime, clearly was aimed at an urban audience even though it was heavily marketed as a mainstream flick. That's why I rented it. It could have been a lot worse, I suppose.

An ex-con (Tyrese Gibson) trying to go straight is pulled back into the life after his young son (Henry Hunter Hall) is kidnapped by an urban gang led by a sadistic machete-wielding boss (The Game). Throw in red-hot small-time hustler Meagan Good and borderline alcoholic Larenz Tate (as Gibson's inept cousin) and we have a typical modern-day crime picture that has lots more bullets than brains. Gibson and Good make an alluring couple, but neither have much talent in the end. The Game is down-right creepy and Tate seems like he is just going through the motions after successful roles in "Ray" and "Crash". "Waist Deep" stays at an adequate spot for a good portion of its running time, but then finally sinks with an unwanted and ridiculous final act. Will definitely be mentioned with the lesser productions of the year. 2 stars out of 5.

Waist Deep is another in the never ending black gangster films depicting a group of people the simply don't exist anywhere. O2, the misunderstood ex-con trying to get his life back on track, gets car-jacked while his son is sleeping the back seat of the car. His son winds up in the hands of a gangster that owns the streets, dismembering and killing with impunity. O2 and his posse rob banks and rich people trying to get enough money to buy his son back. Lots of action and blood in a well made film with inadequate dialog. If you like lots of gangster speak and culture, you'll like this film. Otherwise, it's a lot like all the other gangster films out there – pick one.

Saw this last night at the L.A. Film festival. Only went because it was FREE, but was pleasantly surprised at the pacing. There were implausible moments and a cheesy drawn out cell phone conversation..in the middle of a police chase, with a hackneyed "Shawshank Redemption"/ "Thelma & Louise" ending, but Tyrese Gibson and Megan Goode draw you in and make you want to see where this thing goes. They look great and had chemistry.

(Megan, it's time for you to do more films like "Brick". I think you have the range to break out in some different roles outside off 'hood flicks)

Kimora Lee Simmons is hilarious in her cameo. She may need to do a movie herself! Just check out the way she curls her lip when she gets an unwanted man in her house. I will have to add her performance to my collection of "Great Actor Scenes that stand out by themselves"

There are clichés galore, and one scene I found insulting to elderly black women. (Megan's character calls a grandmotherly-looking black woman the "B-word". It was funny in an earlier scene where Megan Goode's character is called one off screen for holding up traffic, but it doesn't work when used on an old woman in a bank. Kasi, you shoulda told Vondie to drop that line!)

Lastly, I always laugh when I see so-called "gangsters" making money hand over foot with their hustling,but they never move to nicer areas? You have thousands of dollars stashed in safety deposit boxes and $250,000 worth of jewelry, and you still live in a jacked up house in the worst parts of L.A.? Dumb.

Hunter Hall who plays the kidnapped son is a cute little boy, but his acting was stilted and unnatural in several scenes to the point of being distracting. But he sure does look like his momma! (Kasi, you need to be in more movies! We miss you!)

This movie is strictly popcorn fun. As Mr. Vondi Curtis Hall stated before showing his film last night, "This is a movie, not necessarily a film" in the artsy-fartsy sense. Most critics have been complaining that it's hodge-podge of various genres, but it works for what it tries to do: tell the journey of a single-parent father trying to save his son at all costs. How often do you get to see that? **(And the brother survives? Shee-itt!)

Lessons learned from this flick? You can shoot and kill a handful of bad people, rob empty houses in the Hollywood Hills because a half naked girl can fool police, and you can drive to Mexico and live happily ever after in a Malibu-styled beach house without a passport, just a bag full of money. Let me get my glock!