Delivered

And that's only because I liked the poster design. The movie itself was incredibly confusing to watch. Okay, so you've acted in a few films, let's say, and you later in your career say to yourself, I want to make an actual movie AND act in it too! So you get your "act" together and actually make the film... And guess what? It's a doozy. Total lemon pie with no sugar. I felt it had no creative taste to it at all. Why make this film, why? Ugh... Where are the real indie films with real talent these days? Pass on this as fast as you can or you'll regret spending an hour of your life wasted for no reason. Just go for a walk or spend time with your kids, family. Or order in some Chinese food and have it "delivered". ;)

DELIVERED delivers the goods sum it all up.

This gem is a real heartfelt Indie crime thriller that did not let the modest budget get in the way of a great story. You can tell this movie was well planned and perfectly executed.

Michael Madison flawless direction takes you from one scene of the tightly written screenplay by Brandon Manbeck seamlessly to the next scene pulling crisp and dead on performances by an amazing cast. There were some scenes that made you think twice but they were well planted for a purpose to be revealed later.

I found this movie to be as enjoyable as many of my favorite films growing up and I have no problem recommending it to anyone.

Shane (Michael Madison) is a wounded veteran comes home to find his parent's home has been foreclosed and his widowed mother (Alana Stewart) close to being evicted.

Modest and unassuming with the endearing charm of a lost puppy Shane learns and grows quickly. Starts off wearing his father's hand me downs for job interviews and you can see and feel this character growing and gaining confidence as the story progresses. Promising to get his mother's home back he reluctantly takes a job as an armed courier for a shady private delivery service. Everything is going great until one delivery does not go as planned and there are some dire consequences.

We understand Shane's coolness as he does not go to pieces when thing go awry but one can't help feeling that under that calm exterior is a Jack Nicholson or Joe Pesci ready to explode any minute.

Shane's mother portrayed by Alana Stewart was reminiscent of Melissa Leo's Oscar winning role in THE FIGHTER. This tough, determined, and proud widow will not let the misfortunes life threw at her keep her down. She did her best to keep her son from knowing what she was going through. She went to work as a janitor keeping her head high by wearing her uniform with dignity and her make-up impeccable.

Jeanette Steiner is charming and surprisingly multi-dimensional as Cindy the woman in peril.

Toshi Toda's deliciously over the top performance as the gangster Katsuro was phenomenal as well as Tadamori Yagi as his coke head son.

Chic Daniels, Kenny Lombino, Brian McGuire, Yoshi Ando, Jesse Weinberg, Koji Wada round out the first-rate supporting cast.

Cinematographer Ricky Fosheim did a terrific capturing the spirit through excellent images, Production Designer Jennifer Nelson along with Wardrobe and Make-up by Tiffany Anguiano and Nancy Fregoso kept it real. I generally find movies where the leading actor is also the director as sappy, egotistical, and self-indulgent with the "Look at me, I am a big star now" kind of thing. Michael Madison would have none of that here. His laser like focus on the characters and story was clear from the beginning.

So many elements of DELIVERED reminded me of the fun drive-in movies of American International Pictures and Hammer Films with a little Robert Mitchum in YAKUZA (sans giri), Peter Falk in the 1962 THE PRICE OF THE TOMATOES, and Jim Brown in the SPLIT thrown in for good measure. While it would be easy to reference DRIVE, VANISHING POINT, or TRUE ROMANCE, even TO LIVE ND DIE IN LA, I think that the feel is closer to the 1955 THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS with John Ireland.

Here you have a well-crafted true to the bone Indie with an excellent story.

Linda Nelson and Michael Madison team made a small budget independent film with a heart of a lion.

Might be hard to find but it is well worth the search.

This is a true independent film. The cast is well chosen and very good. All the actors gave 100%. The story line leads you down the road very well with a surprise ending. Well shot with the RED camera. I was very surprised how good the stills and video from the RED camera looked. The editing was done on a PC system with Nvidia and Adobe CS5. The future of independent films is there. Affordable NLE editing that provides a very high quality product.

The film crew did a fantastic job under extreme heat conditions. I am sure the students learned a lot.

The trailer is fantastic and the movie lives up to it. Good job! I can't wait to see the next Nelson-Madison Films project.

So, this movie was quite a surprise. I picked it up because it was a crime movie where a desert and a muscle car featured heavily -- so how bad could it be? Unfortunately, I wasn't sure about it in the first 10 minutes. What was surely meant to be an emotional and harrowing experience, both Shane's time in Iraq and his homecoming, felt kind of hollow and forced, and I was worried.

But it gradually gained steam. The acting kept getting better, the characters better realized. I think the best acting really starts when Shane runs into an old friend from a bar, whose teasing and jibing just rings hollow to someone who's really been in the thick of it. (Brian McGuire as Mooneyham is just brilliant -- it's as though he sets all the rest of the movie free, just to be as exciting as it wants to be, when it finally gets around to it.)

In the end it was all I wanted it to be -- wryly funny, a little heart- pounding, sometimes sweet and sometimes wicked. Michael Madison (who also directed) reminded me a bit of Chris Evans, with his all-American good looks and easy-going style. Jeanette May Steiner is terrific as the free-spirited Cindy, a young woman to whose aid Shane comes when she gets in trouble outside a truck stop and with whom he forms an instant connection.

So, give it a chance. It's a diamond in the rough and just needs an investment of a few minutes. By the time I finished it I found that I really liked it.

Where do I start? First, the beginning act has the most in your face character exposition I think I have ever seen in any film. 2 minutes to show his war experience. 2 minutes to show his trouble returning to civilian life. 2 minutes to show his anger issues. 2 minutes to set up the so-called plot. Horribly edited and choppy. Moving into the action it is all so predictable. And why does this come off as something from the 70s? Cheesy dialogue, even cheesier background music, clichéd cinematography, lame acting. I think it's in the 3rd act now and I'm gonna bail, I can't take any more of this tripe. (as I write this, the background music just switched to a twang twang twang twang plucking of oriental music, LMAO!)