2006
Directed By Dito Montiel
SYNOPSIS
A writer (Robert Downey Jr.) returns to Queens for the first time since he left as a teenager when his father falls ill. The reasons why he left are recounted in a series of flashbacks featuring his younger self (Shia LeBeouf) and his dirtbag friends and suffering girlfriend.
MY THOUGHTS
Young people growing up in a tough neighborhood. It's been done countless times since the silent era. This film is one of the many, and offers nothing new.
All the characters are quick to anger and violence and no one is happy or has anything resembling a sense of humor. This gives them a real two dimensional appearance which detracts from the fine performances.
Robert Downey Jr. is very understated in his role. He's not the manic character he's played in several recent films like A Scanner Darkly or Iron Man. He matches LeBeouf's strong performance well. The other actors are solid, but the script hampers them from being great.
The cinematography offers a very gritty, grainy view of New York, appropriate for the subject matter.
Oddly, the film's flashbacks were set in the mid 1980's... yet the music played were all clearly from the 1970's which didn't fit. Cat Stevens and disco were rarely heard back in the 1980s. The fashions seemed 70's-ish as well, which left me even more confused.
Overall, not a bad film, but far from the great one it could have been with a better script.
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