Love and a Bullet

Despite being created by people you never heard of and going straight to video, this is a fairly good movie. Let me describe it this way, if Guy Richie is the British Quentin Tarantino, then Kantz (the director) is the guy who brought Richie's modifications back home to the USA and added a uniquely African-American spin. Like "Lock, Stock ..." or "Snatch", this film portrays violence which is employed so cavalierly as to be humorous. Like Richie's films, this is about sly gangsters with more than their share of everyday human foibles, and even a serious reflection or two. Like Richie's films, it switches the tone from wild humor to thoughtfulness and back to humor again so rapidly that you never know when it's being serious. Maybe never, judging from the funny "shock" ending.

It's about a cynical, smart hitman who worked his way up from the streets until he became the most trusted killer of a racist white mobster who feigns being an equal opportunity employer. The hitman admits to being one of those complex black guys, but also admits that he's tired of being that, because it causes him to form a mental identification with the woman he is currently stalking, despite knowing that he will eventually have to kill her, and that she's the boss's girlfriend.

NUDITY REPORT

Anthony "Treach" Criss did full-frontal nudity.

There were two anonymous topless female "ho's" - in a salt and pepper combination.

DVD info from Amazon.

widescreen anamorphic 1.85:1 and a full screen version
full-length director's commentary

There is only one review online, and the reviewer went on at great descriptive length and had approximately the same opinion I had of the film - "Surprisingly un-bad. Another self consciously hip hitman-comedy and I guarantee it will annoy the shit out of many of you. But I was surprised to find myself laughing with a lot of the jokes and ultimately enjoying the thing". Since he also wrote an entertaining, humorous review, I'll let you read the rest of what he had to say rather than trying to reword it.

The Critics Vote

one review on line, see above

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. Voting results: IMDb voters score it 5.7/10.

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, C. A satisfactory transformation of Guy Richie filmmaking to an African-American context. Like Richie's films, it is kind of odd because of the tone shifts between silly, serious, and violent, but I was entertained. Especially by the humor.