Waist Deep
(Widescreen DVD-Video)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
With Hip
Hop in either decline or lull, new ways to do dramatic films with more
substance and plot are important and Vondie Curtis-Hall’s Waist Deep (2006) tries for something more and sometimes succeeds
in the story of an ex-con trying to make his life better (Tyrese) and the life
of his son better by taking the rare opportunity of getting a security
job. Unfortunately, his past catches up
with him when he is carjacked with his son and his son is nabbed for ransom.
He tries
to find out what and why, immediately running into young hustler Coco (Megan
Good, the underrated actress from in Brick
and Roll Bounce) who he knows was
distracting him before the ugly incident.
Recruiting her against her will at first, he starts to investigate what
has really happened. Eventually, she
(predictably) starts to get to know him better and they start working
together. Romance follows.
In the
meantime, his buddy Lucky (Lorenz Tate) tries to help him and we wonder if his
buddy will be ironically named. Rapper
The Game is not bad as the bad guy Meat, who is a sick guy, but is no match for
similar recent performances by Denzel Washington (Training Day) and Jack Nicholson (The Departed); though that is good company to be close to if you
are not a professional actor to begin with.
Actor-turned-director
Curtis-Hall has had a rocky ride as a director from the silliness of the Mariah
Carey flop Glitter (2001) to the
still-discussed Tupac Shakur thriller Gridlock’d
(1997) and all kinds of TV work. Though
he references one too many other films and is always just on the edge of
letting loose as a filmmaker, Waist Deep
never takes off quite as high as it could have, though some of the dialogue he
co-wrote with Darin Scott is a hoot.
Tyrese and Good have some chemistry and should reteam in something
totally different that shows off their appeal.
Those interested will want to give this one a look.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image was shot by cinematographer Shane
Hurlbut (The Greatest Game Ever Played,
Something New) and is not bad,
though slightly darkened for an urban effect.
Some shots do not have the best Video Black, but others look good. The camerawork is sometimes good, but other
times over-storyboarded and too tricky for its own good. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad, though
with all the Hip Hop and some good surrounds in the action sequences, DTS would
have been a plus. A decent combination
for this format, but we look forward to comparing it to the HD-DVD version
soon.
Extras
include the Going Deep: Analysis of a
Scene featurette, Drive-By Filmmaking
featurette the driving scenes and chases, deleted scenes & blooper and the Bad Girl Music Video with Black Buddafly
and Fabolous.
- Nicholas Sheffo
