A pleasant surprise that had some unexpected developments and interesting characters.
... View MoreAn entertaining, but somewhat convoluted plot line. Shift's from a young girl escaping a boring small town, learning that her sister is a dominatrix in the large city and then attempts to become a film noir when one customer of the dominatrix turns out to be wanted for a money heist from his partners. It's like a confused Coen brother's imitation.The plot keeps shifting and twisting form one location to another – there are three different houses where hostages or activities take place. The family situation did add some comedic value; the women are sisters and two of the thugs are brothers. The leader of the group seemed to be a father to someone but I couldn't figure that one out.
... View MoreAfter reading the reviews on this film I sat down with the frame of mind that this was going to be a really good watch. Much to my surprise I was HORRIBLY wrong. For a start the acting was only mediocre at best so maybe these other reviews are on a different film. The plot was ridiculous and far fetched and also very predictable. I didn't see this in a cinema but if I did I would think twice about asking for my money back. I am very open minded about movies as I watch a lot of them every single week but this definitely was not a good movie. If you want my advice stay away or you will be p****d off that that you have just wasted almost 2 hours of your life.Hope this helps.
... View MoreTricia Helfer sparkles nicely in this "Bizarro World" comedy directed by Robert Cuffley. In some ways it hearkens back to the mid-1930s and to some of the great screwball comedies of that era, except with a much harder and daring edge to it. She's an old friend of the bungling ingénue from a hick town ( Lee Lee Sobieski ), who has made a niche for herself in the big bad city by becoming a pro dominatrix.For those who don't know, being a dominatrix is a lifestyle choice with psychological and sexual overtones, but rarely involving actual sex. It is about psycho-sexual mind games and role-playing, with its own rules and subculture. In all of that, Helfer's characterization and charm seems to be admirably suited for the choice of Celine.Sobieski takes a brilliant turn as the goofy young friend who simply cannot keep out of her own way. There is in all of this comedic action a dark undercurrent of criminal behavior, as Sobieski's character -- ironically named Alberta -- blunders her way into and out of real trouble where there's real violence done to the real people in her life. She's like a lightning rod in that regard.The genius of the film lies in how the director and these two superb actresses move the story forward, almost effortlessly, as every time Alberta stumbles into a predicament whatever she does next fails to resolve the problem. It only brings a worse and yet even funnier predicament.The DVD presentation is terrific and there's just enough of Sobieski's beautiful body shown ( for the right reasons ), to warrant this film having a most sensible R rating. There's just too much sexual role playing in the plot for young teens, and it is not something in the way of entertainment for pre-teen youngsters, at all, period.Aside from that caveat, this is one goofy, wacky, well-done comedy.The criminal behavior involved in the plot is diluted somewhat by the hapless nature of the three criminal characters. They are bad hombres for sure but just so darned incompetent that they don't really frighten anyone, all that much ... adults, that is. They are not misunderstood, it should be noted, these characters -- but they are comically incoherent and impulsive.So this film ought to and does get seven stars out of ten, with two additional boxes of popcorn tossed in for good measure.
... View More