asgbeat

First allow me to share that I rented this DVD on a catch-up night of movies I missed at the cine-plex along with the new spin on "Star Trek" and the acclaimed animated film "Up." Crazy, right? But I did find an unintended common thread - the dire consequences that result from a lack of emotional connection.

When I popped this in, all I knew is that it was Soderberg's latest indie offering and that it starred a current giant of the porn world, Sasha Grey. Note: The adult film star's assumed stage name offers an uncanny reflection into how her character in this film has a glamorous surface (Sasha) yet how ordinary she is beneath that shiny surface (Grey). It's just like eateries that offer lightly or non-seasoned dishes to their patrons yet sprinkle the table with a dazzling array of condiments they encourage customers to spice up the food themselves. Sasha's character "Chelsea" (another sophisticated name) is maddeningly poker-faced, thus allowing her clients and inquisitors to project what they want her to be onto her intentionally plain surface - a mask.

The DVD special features included an "alternate cut" of the movie, so I decided to watch that version instead of the regular one so I wouldn't potentially miss anything. That said, anyone expecting steamy sex should not bother with this picture - it's not that kind of party. In fact, you really wouldn't want to see her have sex with any of these middle-aged, worry-wart capitalists. If you want to see Sasha in action, hop over to a porn site, type her name in the search engine and have yourself a happier ending.

Which is not to say that Sasha isn't interesting to watch in this mainstream picture. Her "performance," like everything else that is good about this movie, is one of subtlety that pays off for attentive, non-judgmental viewers who can hang with non-linear story lines. This is not a hit you over the head piece with a specific point of view to push. Rather it presents what many would assume to be a flashier life as more common - with the protagonist longing for the same basic needs as anyone else in a less lucrative occupation.

This is also not a plot driven movie but more a slice-of-life piece about a sex worker that is less about sex than it is people seeking to better themselves through or at the expense of other people...or both. Sobering but not surprising, it's an art house reminder about the fragility of humankind set in the recent and still all-too-real era of the world economy's diminishing returns.

So for all of your potential immoral expectations, what emerges out of all the naturally lit and/or obscured videography and guarded spoken revelations is a very moral piece about the value of love - or at least empathy and affection - over gold.

Kudos as well to the offbeat musical soundtrack literally presented by street commentators - an urban Greek chorus in the form of a brilliant hand drummer and a sensitive male/female singing duo.

Of all the movies released in the latter half of 2008, I was anxiously awaiting the release of Lakeview Terrace - simply on its premise about a Black cop with a bone to pick against an interracial couple that moves in next door. Because it was Samuel L. Jackson as a Black LAPD cop, I expected a heaping helping of menace. In Kerry Washington as the Black wife, I expected a sexy spitfire familiar with walking the tightrope between her Black culture and that of the White people her privileged upbringing allowed her to mingle among and fall in love. And with Patrick Wilson as the White husband, I expected an on-the-track-to-success guy who feels he's hit the jackpot in scoring such an intelligent and desirable woman yet is ill-prepared to handle the baggage that comes with being her man. And with veteran Ron Glass as the wife's father, I was just ecstatic to see my man "Harris" from "Barney Miller" with a gig in the present that would hopefully continue his long legacy of dignity.

I expected some drama and situational comedy, and a smoldering thriller lurking in the wings. But I did not expect an overly simplified, over-the-top third act that took a perfectly uncomfortable, very adult scenario and escalated it into a dumbed-down, childish cartoon. I was so disappointed that, ironically, I couldn't wait for it to be released on DVD so that I could dissect it and delineate ways it could have been better.

Here is what I've come up with: (to be continued...)