Gimme the Loot

When their latest work is buffed by a rival crew, two determined graffiti writers embark on an elaborate plan to bomb the ultimate location: the New York Mets' Home Run Apple.

For his feature film debut, director Adam Leon has really hit a home run his first time out of the gate. He was previously a production assistant for Woody Allen and somehow got Jonathan Demme to "present" this film (although what exactly this means is unclear), which will hopefully get it a little extra attention. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.

Being a Midwesterner, I have no experience with graffiti wars, New York City, and general lower class big city culture. That made me worry I would not be able to identify with the characters. On the contrary, I found them very universal -- the goal of tagging a sign was foreign, but the bonds of friendship were not. And that is the real strength of this picture, is watching the two main characters grow as their endless stream of misadventures blow up in their faces.

Even their mentor or idol, Champion, is something of a lost cause and is amusing in his own hopeless way. He claims to be something of a master criminal, but fails miserably when presented with a lock to pick -- and creates enough noise that the police could be alerted at any second!

The romance angle never fully plays out, but this in some ways adds to the picture. Ginnie is quite the quirky character, and I would not be surprised if we saw actress Zoë Lescaze using this performance to launch a bigger acting career. (As of now, it seems she is working at the New York Observer, free of any acting responsibilities.)

In short, I hope people find this one and give it a chance. I think there is plenty to love about it, and I stand behind everyone involved 100%

When most people think of foreign film, they think of films in a language they don't understand, locations they've never been to, actors they've never heard of, and stories unique to a specific culture. We often fail to acknowledge that there are places and cultures within our own borders that can be just as foreign to us as any Asian or European community.

"Gimme the Loot," which is playing at the San Francisco International Film Festival, is just such a film. Set in New York City's Borough of the Bronx (talk about a foreign land!) the film tells the story of Malcolm and Sofia, a "tagging team" that set their sights on the greatest "bombing" target in the history of New York graffiti. All they need is $500 to get access to the sight. And so the adventure begins…

And that is just what this film really is – an urban adventure story. The story of two young people who set out on a trek and what happens to them along the way. If you're put off by the setting, or the language (which seems to have been scripted by David Mamet in the opening scene,) or the "Maguffin" of the graffiti bomb, please don't be. All those things are ancillary in this tale of the challenges in navigating the foreign land of inner city New York and what happens along the way. It's a funny, harsh, sweet, heartbreaking and oddly (though not unexpectedly) optimistic movie. For all the wrongdoing the couple perpetrate in their attempt to achieve their goal, you end up really liking the characters and kind of wishing they succeed.

The two lead actors, Ty Hickson and Tashiana Washington, are terrific in their roles. While their inexperience shows through at times, for the most part they ARE Malcolm and Sophia. The director, Adam Leon, assured the Festival audience that they are both nothing like their characters ("Ty actually wears bow ties all the time.")

Leon also had the advantage of having a former NYC tour guide work as his location scout, so the film transports you into parts of New York that you'd never get to see get to see on your standard city excursion. Shot on location over 21 days, every setting seems just right for this story.

Special note should also be given to the soundtrack, which is absolutely what you would NOT expect for a story with characters of their age and environment. One would expect a plethora of hip hop or rap pulsing throughout the film, but be prepared for something just a little different.

This is writer/director Leon's first feature and he's manages to deliver a film that, while small in budget, is big in heart. Well worth seeking out…

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Although by no means expected, the main heroes of this fab little indie are amongst my all time favourite small time crooks.

We follow the trials of two young misfits whose plans seem to go from bad to worse where instead of giving up they keep coming up with more scams or more plans for further scams. An interesting without a doubt portrayal of certain elements within metropolitan societies where by influence, neglect and lack of alternatives are pushed into this sort of perpetual circle.

Their personalities are so delightful, that the audience will bypass the fact that they are in fact miniature criminals or accomplishes.

Simplicity in filmmaking creates a documentary type experience with substance. It deserves to be seen, talked about, even studied.

--Review originally published at www.theframeloop.com--

Jam-packed with lofty art-house endeavours, CPH PIX Film Festival proves it has a soft-spot for feel good cinema with presentation of Adam Leon's impressive, Kickstarter funded debut, Gimme the Loot.

Presented by The Silence of the Lambs' director Jonathan Demme, the SXSW favourite is a platonic relationship comedy about a pair of aspiring, Bronx-based graffiti artists, Sofia (Tashiana Washingthon) and Malcolm (Ty Hickson). Discovering that a rival gang has trashed their turf, the pair hatch a plan to 'bomb the apple', AKA to tag the New York Mets' Home Run Apple at Citi Field stadium. It's a tough, nonsensical mission – the likes of which have been attempted in real life for the last twenty years, to no avail – but one that our teenage whippersnappers think they have the prowess to conquer. But first they need to raise $500 as a bribe for a guard at the ballpark.

And so sets off a picaresque pursuit for the dollar. Candidly shot across New York's Bronx and Manhattan neighborhoods (presumably without production permits), they hoist in a little help from their small-time gangster buddies for a series of heists and loots. Apparently anything sells in New York, so the savvy Sofia pawns off half empty spray cans, second-hand cell phones and used Nike sneaks while, a few blocks away, the scrappy Malcolm goes rogue with a pot dealers' weed and sells the stash to rich BoHo chick, Ginnie (Zoe Lescaze, looking much like a young Sissy Spacek). Invited in for a little tomfoolery, the inexperienced Malcolm is instantly besotted with her, but it won't stop him from swiping her extensive jewellery collection.

Allegedly taking influence from Raymond Abrashkin's iconic 1953 Coney Island classic Little Fugitive, writer-director Leon tells the featherweight story with tremendous zeal and a curiously observational approach, that is more akin to the French New Wave than the typical American indy. His New York is not of the resplendent Woody Allen persuasion, nor that of Scorsese's foggy urban sprawl. If anything, Leon presents the city like the warts-and-all melting pot that it really is, which is once again reflected in the diverse soundtrack's blend of R&B, experimental rock and original East Coast hip-hop.

While the graffiti surface story stinks of adolescent desperation, it is very much a red herring to the real story of oblivious teenage angst and love. Their first starring roles, newcomers Washington and Hickson have an exuberant chemistry together, which makes their covertly flirtatious banter and naturalistic prattling all the more charming, and the stagnated climax at the very least tolerable.

Gimme the Loot is somewhat of a rarity. Nonjudgemental of his protagonists, Leon's debut is a sweet natured gangster flick which neither glorifies thug life nor condemns it. It's slight, knowingly goofy filmmaking – the likes of which are so rare in modern, message-laden cinema - and proves the young débutant, his impressive cast and cinematographer Jonathan Miller as promising future talents.

--Review originally published at www.theframeloop.com--

Every so often we get a film made by young passionate filmmakers that offers us a fresh perspective on an overlooked aspect of society that speaks to everyone in an entertaining, powerful and mature way. Gimme The Loot is very close to being that film this year. Although it attempts for a realistic view, it's still very textured, capturing these few hot summer days in brilliant voyeuristic wides. While its rich in character, it does suffer on the story side. Although it has a simple setup of goal and problem, their journey to solving the problem feels meandering and unfocused, drifting away from their desires too often. However, the character work is brilliant, especially due to the great performances from Hickson and especially Washington, it does a great job of humanising these vandals. It's just a shame that it doesn't feel like it's paid off what it set up in the end.

7/10