Down and Dangerous

source: Down and Dangerous

All the people reviewing it highly seem to do so because "it is an independent film" or "what they did with such a low budget"... When a movie makes me feel bad for sitting there watching it, I'm going to log in and post a review by golly. It doesn't matter how much I just paid for a ticket or a rental fee, I would still get up and walk out. I stuck with it solely because I kept thinking, "with the reviews it has on IMDb, this must just be a bad part and it can't all be bad..." The closer it got to the end of the show, the more I couldn't wait for it to be over. It's that bad. The chase scenes are not exciting, they give the feeling of driving under the speed limit and practically use turn signals -- "um, is he being chased or looking for a parking spot?". The stereotypical beautiful woman stuck with the evil drug lord is beautiful, thus the extra star for the movie. But she confusingly ends up without being stereotypically treated by her evil drug lord and they appear together time and time again looking like nothing just happened to their relationship. There are famous continuity errors that many people don't notice because the movie is keeping them immersed. When a movie distances me so much as I'm trying to watch it that I find I'm paying more attention to its writing, directing, editing, etc, I'm afraid it has failed as entertainment.

Our protagonist is Paul Boxer (John T. Woods), an innovative smuggler. He is part old school using simple drug tests and a triple beam balance. Everybody else in the film is a bad guy. After a dealer friend is killed, Paul, who free lances, is approached by some rogue elements within the DEA to work for them for a cut. Paul accepts, although things get twisty. There are some more murders. Paul agrees to do a job for Garza (Ernest Curcio ), the head of a cartel, and gets involved with Garza's woman Olivia (Paulie Rojas). Paul doesn't carry a gun. He uses his fist quite well, even after it has been hit with a hammer a few times. My favorite line from the film: "I have never taken down a cartel before. Can we get high first?" Good crime thriller rental. Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex, and nudity

There are thing in life where if you know, you know. Those that 'know'in this case will understand the influences and subtle homages as well as appreciate the originality of 'Down and Dangerous'. For me I see a lot of Michael Mann here but also comparisons with John Woo's early Hong Kong cinema. Brooding characters, a single frame being able to capture so much emotion and resonance. In one scene a drug deal is being discussed, the camera moves to a close up of one of the characters and immediately I see a scene in 'Heat' where Waingrow is brought in to assist Van Sant. This is not a bad thing. Where 'Down and Dangerous' shines is being respectful of it's influences but also passionately original in it's execution and spirit. One late night a few weeks ago I was on my own, laptop perched on the duvet and wondering what on earth I could do to pass a couple of hours of my time. 'Down...' had just come into iTunes and after a quick Google search I was hesistant - a film funded on Kickstarter? But nonetheless the trailer had me intrigued. Just over 1.5 hours later I was buzzing after being totally engrossed in this film. It's not a brilliant low budget kickstarter funded film, it's a brilliant and inspired feature film. The characters are brilliant - the director does a fantastic job of getting all the nuances right. John T Woods has a real charm about him and turns in a memorable performance here - I expect this will lead to a great career. He is very watchable. The atmosphere, the music, the characters - I loved all of it. It reminded me of so many of my favourite films but also was unique. It's a classic!

You can classify D & D safely between Dante 's Peak , The Perfect Storm , The Impossible , The Day After Tomorrow and Twister. So it's a disaster movie ! The action is a disaster . The script is a disaster . And the performances are even a bigger disaster . Don't let yourself be fooled by the trailer, because it looks flashy and slick . There are a few slogans fired at you that sound promising. As there are : "Down and Dangerous looks like the sh*t" , "One bad mother of a movie" and "This is gonna be a bad film ." That's almost correct. I see it more as "Down and Dangerous looks like sh*t" , " One motherf*cking bad movie" and "This is gonna be a very sad movie ." The action is weak and boring . A series of fist fights . Ah yes, because Paul ( John T. Woods ) handles a golden rule, namely, that he never uses any firearms , but rather his fists ( even after it was severely beaten with a heavy hammer ) . Even if he has a gun in his hands , he ostentatiously takes the bullets out and throws himself in a man to man fight with bare hands . The excellent shooting part is performed by Henry ( Ross Marquand ). Apparently, a DEA agent who has received a medal for some heroic deed . Now he clearly didn't get that medal for his shooting talent cause he really sucks at that. I've never seen such bad aiming in my life before . The script is confusing and illogical . The film seems to lead somewhere but I don't have a clue where it tries to lead to. Obviously it's a low-budget film sponsored by family and admirers. The images are sometimes good but the execution is downright lousy. Hopefully this is not a sign of how future "independent" movies are going to look like. The weakest link for me was Paulie Rojas . A wonderful appearance with those Bambi-eyes that look at you in a tempting way. Besides the fact that she has an anorexic appearance, her acting is just awful. Completely amateurish and her dialogues sound as if she's constantly aided by a prompter. The scene where she explains the complete procedure of producing drugs, looks so incredibly unreal. It's like she is just reading it directly from a paper. If I was the guy who was selling the drugs , I had her executed on the spot. The (obviously predictable) love affair that she restarts with Paul has absolutely no meaningful contribution to the film and feels so contrived and numb. There's more emotion in a jar of pudding than these brief romantic moments that are used to fill up the movie. And don't get me started about that terribly heavy Mexican accent . The would-be Mexican drug lord Rafael Garza is also a joke . He runs a family business with incredibly stupid relatives. He tries to keep up the image of being a tough and violent gangster. But when the suitcase with his precious drugs ends up in the pool , he jumps after it as a toddler. A tough gangster would have kicked that girls ass into the water to retrieve the suitcase, I guess. Anyway , a terribly bad movie and painful to watch. Keep a far distance from this one. You have been warned !

Let me start off by saying that I'm an independent film maker myself. I commend anyone with enough heart to make a movie, but now let's get down to business. 1st off, the trailer was amazing, so much so that it made me download and watch it. But once I started watching, I couldn't get pass the emotionless acting from the star of the film. Every time he opened his mouth, he made me more and more realize I was watching a low budget indie film. But I doesn't stop there. Onto the supporting cast!! The female love interest was awful!!!!! with that silly broken English/Spanish accent..was it necessary? and then the cheesy Mexican drug lord character...come on! But listen, I'm not really here to bash a good attempt. I'm just here to give an honest review. So if you're here to see a good indie film, look again. At best you'll enjoy a few good moments. So i'll give them an A+ for effort and a D for execution.

Oh yes,Im about to waste even more time in giving it as it is! Please watch it and understand how utterly pointless 5/6ths of this film was.Eh,no please don't waste precious time on this like me.The opening credits were very professional,then we are led to believe that this hero,despot,renegade,whatever you wish,hates guns and would rather 'bare knuckle up' even when a gun is in his hands! The acting award goes to the boarder guard eating his sandwich. The chase in the car,,I fell off the settee laughing,firstly gets away from an inevitable death by bullets,then abandons car, no apparent reason, runs off through a carnival,ensuring its not so fast as to lose the bent Dea agent.Through some corridors then onto a roof,oh yes you guessed it,time for fists not guns again,because people get hurt no doubt! OK, Dea agent with gun gets overpowered...again...trips up off low level roof ,again not enough to really hurt him and our 'hero' goes of to rescue his girl! Enough words on this rubbish,I watched it so you don't have too,please take my advice and run away!

I am not a movie critic, however i do watch a lot of film, and felt the need to review on this movie. There are many things you can review or critic about a film, but many only matter if you have a budget. This film was done with almost no budget as a movie goes, and they managed to out perform so many big budget films on so many levels. Production quality, set design, music atmosphere, and storyline just to name a few. I felt like I was watching a card counter at the blackjack table, I knew they were setting me up the whole time, but i never quite saw it happen. Bravo, I am excited to see what you can do next, and i hope a big budget doesn't go to your head and you make many more great films.

For an independent that probably was made for next to nothing the best description of Down and Dangerous is 'wow'. I won't build it up by trashing contemporary films, those made with traditional budgets and known actors, that isn't necessary. But, I will compare Director Zak Forsman's excellent effort to work by a young Michael Mann (Thief) or that of a mature Taylor Hackford (Parker). All things considered, it is certainly in that class of fine cinema. Almost all of the performances are first rate, strong and believable. In particular, John Woods and Ross Marquand are fantastic in all ways, both bringing multiple dimensions to their roles from the first moment either appears on the screen. Forsman's script is rich yet compact with little time wasted on moments that don't advance the story. He adds many small twists that not only are intriguing but also reveal key elements of each character as they are introduced in the body of the story. I think most viewers will be drawn to his movie from the very beginning and sustain strong interest throughout as the story moves fluidly and makes them interested in learning more. There are several scenes, and moments in scenes that will simply grab you. If you like movies like I do then when you encounter what I am talking about not only will you know but you will find the movie has moved you a bit the way only a good movie can. In addition, the score in the aforementioned scenes will feel almost perfect to you. I intend to hunt down the soundtrack, and you will probably find yourself thinking the same. So often Indy films are strong in a few areas, weak in others, and we make excuses because of budgets or unknown players or first time directors. None of that is necessary with Down and Dangerous. While I noticed two or three scenes that could have been done better and one of the lead performances (Rojas) that I would have recast such negatives aren't worth more than passing mention. I rated the movie 7 on IMDb and I am a very picky man, with 7 a high mark for me. This is truly the sort of movie that leaves you with the feeling you have really discovered something good, something you need to share with others. Thus, this review.

I viewed Down and Dangerous because it had IMDb rating of 7.3 at the time. I couldn't watch it for more than 15 minutes but that was more than enough to see it's just bad. It has nothing to do with, as another reviewer put it, inability to "root for someone poisoning people". I don't have a problem rooting for Walter White, nor will the audience have such a problem once Mr. Nice and Marching Powder are released as movies. Who says movies have to be "moral" or teaching us a lesson? More than anything movies should be interesting and fun and DAND just doesn't deliver. Everything about it is third rate, the script, the cast, the acting, it's actually painful to watch. I'd rather watch 90 minutes of CCTV footage from my parking lot than this.