Sleight

Sleight-480P

Sleight-480P

"Sleight" had SO much potential. The magic sequences were entertaining. The performances were believable, and the characters had time to develop. The tone was set from the beginning to be tense, and the buildup was incredible. The film would keep making you think the girl would be kidnapped throughout the film, but when it finally happens, it cheaps out BIG time. All the subtleties are suddenly exaggerated. Things got silly all at the last moments of the film. The climax was boring. There was no sense of urgency anymore. The tone just INSTANTLY changes. Is this supposed to be epic? Am I supposed to be laughing? I didn't know anymore, and it didn't help that everyone's performances got goofy. The trailers were trying to sell this film as some sort of urban superhero tale, but since it took so long to get to the kidnapping, they had to cram all the heroics in at the last minute, thus wasting all the time they took developing everything including my time. What an absolute disappointment.

source: Sleight

. . . that even young Urban Males who look like well-mannered, clean-cut school boys are Threats to Society. Looks are deceiving, SLEIGHT preaches. Despite being awarded a "free ride" to College, SLEIGHT's anti-hero "Bo" rejects it in favor of a Life of Crime. Though Bo is depicted as selling "Molly" and "Coke," SLEIGHT implies that Urbanites such as Bo would be more than happy to seduce, corrupt, and overdose Pale Suburban Yokels on Mayonnaise Packets, if only the Government would outlaw Mayo. Crime is the Guiding Light for SLEIGHT's protagonists. Bo might LOOK as if he would not harm a fly, but then he brutally whacks off a rival pusher's hand with five blows from a dull meat cleaver. Two minutes later Bo's shown enjoying premarital sex with his college drop-out lover, as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. No matter how many peanut inventions George W. Carver has under his belt, SLEIGHT shows that Urban Think Tanks Today innovate new things solely to aid and abet their Outlaw Activities. If you see SLEIGHT, better exit the theater with a brown paper bag over your head. Otherwise, people might accuse YOU of being Racist for devoting your money in support of such a Racist Program.

This could have been acceptable if it would have been marketed as such. But no, they went and made a trailer that looked like a sci-fi and had the audacity to quote "Chronicle meets Iron Man" in it. Seriously? Take the standard good boy caught in a bad situation with a mobster and waste two thirds of the movie with it. Then end it with a few scenes where he uses an impossible device that he created because he is black, smart and his teacher helped him. That's the whole film. Black people, drugs, poor neighborhoods and abused youngsters fill up the rest. So don't listen to the hype. It's consciously generated to make you believe this is something that it's not. And putting aside the *sleight* I was talking about above, it's just a sub-average movie.

Its not comic "Iron Man" at all, its even not a decent superhero-to-real life film, because second half of movie is a poor absurd, and a plot itself very-very stupid and cheap, and there is no sci-fi - just fantasy and weird fiction, and yes I clearly see where they rip-off this super- ability (anywhere, lol, but plot from... hello mr. Christopher Priest!) and a way they realize it (from Tetsuo Iron man of course - and this funny how they trick all in a trailer, and ONLY because of this I give it a two stars). In all other parts... well its another boring story from da hood, where home-grow HOOdini (ha-ha, okay three stars) sell drugs when he actually can do money from his "magic" and why he do all that he do in second part? Only for a plot! This is stupid. If you want a good indie movie about this "theme" go to "Super" (2010) its hilarious, but some how much realistic than wanna-be-serious "Sleight". "Sleight" really nothing, but waste of your time and this is sad. Like all this 10 of 10 reviews.

I really expected more from this film. I thought we were going to see a smart kid come up with a brilliant magic trick/s to save his little sister. The ending is bad (they don't even clarify it). And you don't get to care for the characters. It's not for kids and its not for adults. Just not worth seeing.

"Sleight" brings the story of Bo. As the movie opens, someone is leaving a voice mail message for Bo, expressing sorrow for the passing of Bo's mom. We then jump "One Year Later". Bo is doing various magic tricks for money. During one of those street performances, he meets Holly. We also get to know Bo's little sister Tina, whom he cares for. But then we find out that Bo is also selling drugs as part of a drug gang headed by Angelo. It's not long before Bo is in way way over his head. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this is the debut feature length movie of writer-director J.D. Dillard. Dillard does a wonderful job mixing two genres (drug drama, magic tricks) in a story that is quite original in its approach. "Anyone can do a trick, but I am a magician", comments Bo to Holly. I have no idea whether the magic we see in the movie is even possible, or whether it's all jut part of the story but not realistic. All I can say is that it looked quite good. The movie is helped enormously by the charming performances of the two leads: Jacob Latimore as Bo, and Seychelle Gabriel as Holly. Surely we will hear more from them! Last but certainly not least, there is a great electronic score from Charles Scott IV, which I intend to check out at some point. "Sleight" opened to positive acclaim at last year's Sundance Film Festival. No idea why it has taken so long for the movie to be released in theaters, but better late than never. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended okay but not great. That said, keeping in mind the movie's production budget was a mere $250,000 (peanuts in Hollywood terms), the movie has grossed many times that amount. If you are in the mood for a different type of "drug crime" movie that comes with a healthy twist of magic, you cannot go wrong with this, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Sleigh" is highly recommended!

Sleight