| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
B+ |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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Odd Screenplay Biography
by John (movies profile)
May 12, 2009
This is essentially a biography of a man who overcomes adversity. Yet, it is not your average Hollywood biography. It is not about someone famous to any degree. In a sense it is an everyman story about a guy growing up among gangsters.
Our hero overcomes drug addiction and an addiction to the life of crime. He recovers from both in prison. In many respects, I am reminded of films like Malcolm X, Ray, and Walk the Line when I consider the bare bones of this story, but in the end, this guy doesn't go out and do something that makes him famous. He just becomes a dad for his kids. He becomes a real dad even though he never had one himself. I honor this idea. Why isn't his accomplishment as inspiring as someone who ends up famous?
This movie is not only odd because it doesn't lead up to some great crescendo but also because the screenplay inserts many small vignettes that don't seem to push either the plot or the character development along. Frankly, I found these scenes that occurred in the beginning to be confusing. I wasn't quite sure what was going on or even sure which characters were involved.
I'm not sure that this is the type of film that will stick in my mind, but it is effective, and the down to earth nature of the topic resonated and seemed more real to me than many stories. I could sort of see this film as a work of love telling a very personal story. |
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