This entry was posted on Friday, April 13th, 2007 at 8:48 am and is filed under D, Drama, independent. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Talia Lugacy
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Chad Faust, Marcus Patrick,
Rosario Dawson starred and Produced this raw, graphic picture that was written and directed by Talia Lugacy (apparently Dawson and Lugacy either grew up on the same street or Dawson owes Lugacy a favor because everything with Lugacy’s name on it stars Rosario Dawson). I have never met Talia, and probably never will, but from watching this, her first full length feature, I can only look her the same way I look at Stephen King. They both either have a very vivid, but warped imagination, or that have lived a VERY troubled life.
The always impressive, and equally beautiful, Rosaria Dawson stars as Maya, an intelligent but socially reserved college student struggling through a break up that she feels she should be over by now, as well as the other stresses of college life. These stresses include balancing school and social activity, as well as making ends meet and finding someone else to feel good about. At a party, where she is obviously trying not to be picked up, she meets Jared (played convincingly by Chad Faust) who initially comes off as a typical meathead football player, who has a few rehearsed lines, but is without an original thought in his head. After some effort on his part, Maya (contrary to her desires to stay uninvolved) is charmed by Jared’s apparent hidden depth. After a very short time, however, ( their first date actually) Jared shows his true colors and takes from Maya what does not belong to him and what she did not offer, at the same time degrading her with racist and misogynistic verbal attacks. This traumatic event seems to have no effect on Jared, who goes about his life unphased. Maya, however, spirals into a pit of alcoholism and promiscuity where she meets a DJ named Adrian, who’s attitude toward life forever changes her perspective and helps her to hatch a plan of revenge and retribution.
Although the performances in this film are moving, and believable, the story is a little over done and there are some scenes that are so graphic, you will have to turn away. You will be impressed by the overall effect of this movie but I can’t help think that Talia Lugacy could go from a good writer/director to a great one if she did not tell such an angry story and didn’t feel such a need to shock her viewer. This movie plays like a cross between the Accused and The Brave One (yes, I know they are both Jodie Foster movies) If you like dramas about the human response to trauma, this one may be for you, but be forewarned, it is not for the faint of heart.
