clearly put, this movie divided people. people who got it (new york times, roger ebert, la weekly, village voice, among others) saw it for what it is: an objective portrait of a unredeemable sociopath told in the first person from the sociopath's pov; the more close minded falsely state that the movie glorifies violence and bad behavior and is misogynist, stereotypical, etc.
is it the greatest movie in the world, no. but answer me this: when was the last time you saw a movie released by a major studio (20th Century Fox, who mercilessly dumped the movie after selling it as a straight shoot-em-up and not knowing how to properly market it) that dealt with morally ambiguous characters, didn't spell out its moral and didn't pull any punches when it came to depicting the dark side of its characters' deeds? this isn't an art film, per se (though it did premiere at sundance), but it is an artful genre picture that can't be easily pigeonholed. a gritty, down and dirty indy movie that, if it didn't have the baggage of DMX haters out there, or had been in another language or with white leads, would have been hailed as "unsparing and uncomprimising." the question is, how do you like your violence depicted? with a smirk and wink, ala tarantino, or with a dose of reality that takes into account the full consequences?
also, (...) I direct your attention to the original novel upon which it was based (not to mention the entire ouevre of novelist Donald Goines, available a click away here on Amazon), which is positively bleak and even MORE violent and dark than the movie.
rent this, it's a good movie. better yet, buy it. it deserved better than it got from its distributor and hopefully will have a life on video. and for all the haters out there, DMX CAN act. he's damn good in this movie. see for yourself. (plus, wouldn't you want to buy it for his commentary alone? that voice.....).
(...) that's it. seacrest out.
Excellent acting and a good story.
I was impressed by the quality of the acting, even in small secondary characters, such as Ella (played by beautiful young actress, Drew Sidora). All performances were convincing, gritty and professional.
If Drew Sidora manages her career the right way, we may see a lot more of her acting talents in the future. She reminds me of Drea De Matteo (of "The Sopranos" fame)perhaps for the way she was made up.
The story is interesting, adding new twists to old schemes. It is somehow a little bit difuse, but that is because it mixes with two other plots.
The movie is worth buying and I am glad I did. I will see it many more times.
Couldnt make it past half the film
I like DMX but this movie just plain blows. Did someone use an old camcorder to film it? The lighing, sound and everything totally sucked. It's not even a full hour and a half long. I think I made it about 40 minutes and shut it off.
A lot has changed in the biker-movie genre since Hell's Angels on Wheels, and Torque may be the new benchmark of feverish chopper action. Martin Henderson plays Cary, a speed king and relatively civilized outlaw with a knack for annoying everyone, including drug smugglers, the FBI, an ex-girlfriend, and, worst of all, biker gang leader Trey (Ice Cube), who thinks Cary killed his brother. On the run from everyone, Cary survives by playing all sides against one another. But the story is less important than the frantic, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek action surrounding it. The Fast and the Furious producer Neal H. Moritz is responsible for this crazy, violent, yet appealingly sardonic cowboys-on-wheels piece. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Ice Cube - Martin Henderson - Monet Mazur Director(s): Joseph Kahn DVD Release Date: Released the 18 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Partly inspired by 1948's The Big Clock and its nominal 1987 remake No Way Out, the Denzel Washington thriller Out of Time is quite enjoyable if you ignore its implausible plotting. Like those earlier films, this reunion of Washington and his Devil in a Blue Dress director Carl Franklin is about a man--in this case the police chief (Washington) of sleepy Banyan Key, Florida--who falls into a trap set by others, sinks into legal quicksand of his own making, and must race the clock to extricate himself from a series of incriminating setbacks. The Florida setting adds welcome character to the potboiler plot, and Washington's screen-cred makes it easy to overlook the absurdities of rookie writer David Collard's screenplay. Eva Mendes is sharp and sensible as... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Denzel Washington - Eva Mendes - Sanaa Lathan Director(s): Carl Franklin DVD Release Date: Released the 06 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The brainy, paranoid science fiction of writer Philip K. Dick has inspired one visionary classic (Blade Runner) and two above-average action movies (Total Recall and Minority Report). Paycheck aspires to follow in their footsteps: An engineer (Ben Affleck, Chasing Amy) routinely agrees to have his memory erased after every job so that he doesn't know what he's done. But after the biggest job of his life, he discovers that not only has he refused a $90 million paycheck, he's sent himself an envelope full of things he doesn't recognize--and he doesn't remember doing any of this. As he unravels the plot, he discovers he's also fallen in love (with Uma Thurman, Kill Bill) and invented a dangerous device for his former boss (Aaron Eckhart, Erin... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Ben Affleck - Aaron Eckhart - Uma Thurman - Michael C. Hall Director(s): John Woo DVD Release Date: Released the 18 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Writer-director David Mamet (House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner) applies his gift for con games to the world of politics with Spartan. A super-duper Secret Service agent (Val Kilmer, Wonderland) is assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of the President of the United States; was she kidnapped because of who she is, or as part of white slavery ring? Is she dead or alive? To find out the answers, Kilmer puts on disguises, engages in elaborate ruses, and kills ruthlessly--only to discover that he himself may be the one being fooled. Mamet pushes his macho/cryptic dialogue into laughably bad territory and some plot twists seriously test one's suspension of disbelief, but that's part of the game; like any con artist, Mamet knows how to hook you and reel you in,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Derek Luke - Val Kilmer Director(s): David Mamet DVD Release Date: Released the 15 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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