Gimme The Loot (2012)
****
Dir: Adam Leon
Duration: 79 minutes
(2012) (US)
Escapades a-plenty in this refreshing shaggy dog tale and debut from Adam Leon.
Could the mainstream studios wake up for a moment? Cinema-going audiences are slightly tired of being bludgeoned into submission with big budgets, big pyrotechnics and big boredom. Gimme the Loot is a feature that provides a prescient lesson; how to make a film that zips along with not only a merry briskness but in an endearing and amiable fashion. Finally, and most importantly, it does not outstay its welcome.
Loveable rogues, Malcolm and Sophia, are keen graffiti artists who love nothing more than spending their time going ‘bombing’, a term for the application of their hobby. They have a common ambition between them, to spray paint the New York Mets Home Run Apple with their names.
Sounds like a simple set-up? Well, that is because it is, and there is no problem with that.
The camera follows them over a two day period, as they dilly and dally their way through the conflicts and contradictions of life in the Bronx. Echoing a similarly shot lilt as that of Larry Clark’s, Kids (1995), but without the dark and insufferable exaggeration of a youth in crisis, this is an infinitely more charming story.
However, it is not a deep film. It is a pleasantly enjoyable one though. There is a uninhibited joy in following the two scamps as they try to trick a number of victims in order to secure some sort of financial backing for their graffiti passion. There is an interesting meeting of cultures and class at a couple of points, but is slightly let down by the acting of the support actress, Zoe Lescaze (sorry to name and shame, but it really must be said).
Adam Leon has conjured a film that pauses purposefully, but also passes quickly. The chemistry between the two leads is palpable and promises an enticing will-they-won’t-they suggestion as the film scoots by to its over-too-soon culmination. This is not a masterpiece, but it is a pleasing calling card for a new talent who has, in this instance, embraced the positives of the indie film making spirit.
The trailer for Gimme The Loot can be found here:
Author - Greg Wetherall
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