Some summer movies are tepid and boring. Others are all over the place and illogical. But "Waist Deep" is the rare movie that manages to be both of these things.
Director Vondie Curtis Hall ("Glitter") takes us through the streets of L.A. for a typical summer action flick. O (Tyrese Gibson, in a rare non-John Singleton helmed movie) is fresh off parole, working as a security officer, and has just picked his son up from school when he's suddenly carjacked. The thieves drive off with his son in tow. Aided by Coco (Meagan Good), a streetwise hustler he just met, he discovers that it was no random carjacking. Local crime boss Big Meat (rapper The Game) is holding O's son for ransom, believing that O has a secret stash of money.
Things predictably move on from there. O and Coco find new and creative ways of collecting the ransom money while learning more about each other, while Big Meat (What kind of self-respecting villain calls himself that, anyway?) looks "menacingly" into the camera with a face like a stroke victims and eats candy bars.
It's hard to say where this movie goes wrong, though you could start with the casting. The talented Meagan Good is wasted as eye candy (though in the filmmaker's defense, she does make for amazing eye candy) for most of the movie. It also doesn't help when your leading man basically only knows how to do two things: Stare while looking bewildered and yell. Larenz Tate (as O's cousin Lucky) is a shell of his former self. Gone is the actor whose vicious and charismatic turn in "Menace II Society" put him on the map. And The Game sets the already low bar for rappers-turned-actors even lower with his performance.
But while it's easy to pick on the cast, Hall (who also co-wrote the film) didn't exactly give them grade A material to work with. While he tries to work honest emotion and genuine affection into the story, it still falls into the trappings of a typical summer action movie. Bullets fly, bodies drop, cars crash and speakers thump. Hall also relies on a stale directorial style, implying lots of quick cuts, silent flashbacks and shaky close-ups to achieve . . . something. Nausea, maybe?
That said, this movie is not without its good points. During the few moments Good is allowed to shine, she makes the most of it, such as when she has to distract an entire bank with a psychotic customer-from-hell routine that sees her channeling her inner Spirit Of Truth. The bulk of the story also takes place against a backdrop of concerned citizens rallying to "save the streets," allowing Hall to poke some much-needed fun at how even the best intentioned people can wind up creating more problems than they solve.
But it's not enough, and "Waist Deep" ultimately suffers from too many corny and predictable lines, wasted opportunities, and mind-baffling moments that defy all logic. Save your eight bucks and wait for the DVD as this movie has great potential when viewed with a case of beer and a steady supply of sarcastic comments at hand.
Director Vondie Curtis Hall ("Glitter") takes us through the streets of L.A. for a typical summer action flick. O (Tyrese Gibson, in a rare non-John Singleton helmed movie) is fresh off parole, working as a security officer, and has just picked his son up from school when he's suddenly carjacked. The thieves drive off with his son in tow. Aided by Coco (Meagan Good), a streetwise hustler he just met, he discovers that it was no random carjacking. Local crime boss Big Meat (rapper The Game) is holding O's son for ransom, believing that O has a secret stash of money.
Things predictably move on from there. O and Coco find new and creative ways of collecting the ransom money while learning more about each other, while Big Meat (What kind of self-respecting villain calls himself that, anyway?) looks "menacingly" into the camera with a face like a stroke victims and eats candy bars.
It's hard to say where this movie goes wrong, though you could start with the casting. The talented Meagan Good is wasted as eye candy (though in the filmmaker's defense, she does make for amazing eye candy) for most of the movie. It also doesn't help when your leading man basically only knows how to do two things: Stare while looking bewildered and yell. Larenz Tate (as O's cousin Lucky) is a shell of his former self. Gone is the actor whose vicious and charismatic turn in "Menace II Society" put him on the map. And The Game sets the already low bar for rappers-turned-actors even lower with his performance.
But while it's easy to pick on the cast, Hall (who also co-wrote the film) didn't exactly give them grade A material to work with. While he tries to work honest emotion and genuine affection into the story, it still falls into the trappings of a typical summer action movie. Bullets fly, bodies drop, cars crash and speakers thump. Hall also relies on a stale directorial style, implying lots of quick cuts, silent flashbacks and shaky close-ups to achieve . . . something. Nausea, maybe?
That said, this movie is not without its good points. During the few moments Good is allowed to shine, she makes the most of it, such as when she has to distract an entire bank with a psychotic customer-from-hell routine that sees her channeling her inner Spirit Of Truth. The bulk of the story also takes place against a backdrop of concerned citizens rallying to "save the streets," allowing Hall to poke some much-needed fun at how even the best intentioned people can wind up creating more problems than they solve.
But it's not enough, and "Waist Deep" ultimately suffers from too many corny and predictable lines, wasted opportunities, and mind-baffling moments that defy all logic. Save your eight bucks and wait for the DVD as this movie has great potential when viewed with a case of beer and a steady supply of sarcastic comments at hand.
