I've been ragging a lot on Cuba Gooding Jr. The past few reviews, so I'll go easy and speak about a good one instead. Wrong Turn At Tahoe has a script that should have been given the royal treatment; it's wise, brutal, thought provoking and very violent, with many sets of morals clashing against each other in true crime genre style. It didn't get a huge budget or a lot of marketing, but what it did get was a remarkably good cast of actors who really give the written word it's justice, telling a age old story dangerous people who inhabit the crime ridden frays of both society and cinema. Cuba plays Joshua, a low level mafia enforcer who works for Vincent (Miguel Ferrer), a ruthless mid level mobster who runs his operations with an OCD iron fist. He also rescued Joshua from a crack house when he was a young'in, forging a father son bond that runs deeper than terms of employment. When a weaselly informant tells them that local drug runner Frankie Tahoe (Noel Gugliemi, reliably scary) has it in for them, Vincent brashly retaliates first by viciously killing him. That's where the matter starts to get deep. Frankie was an employee of Nino (Harvey Keitel) that most powerful crime boss on the west coast and not a man to cross. Nino Wants hefty payment for the loss of Frankie, who was a good operative. Vincent, being the proud and belligerent son of a bitch that he is, bluntly refuses. So begins a bloody, near Shakespearean gang war in which both sides rack up heavy losses and the phrase 'crime doesn't pay' collects it's due. All parties were inevitably headed to a bitter end whether or not the Tahoe incident occurred, and I think the writer simply used that inciting incident as an example of many ways in which a life like that will always end up at a dead end. The writing is superb, especially for Gooding, Keitel and Ferrer, a vicious triangle indeed, all at the top of their game and then some. Johnny Messner is great as Gooding's cohort who can't keep his mouth shut, and watch for Mike Starr, Leonor Varela, Paul Sampson and Louis Mandylor too. Dark deeds, unexpected betrayal, self destructive ego, combustible machismo and ironic twists of fate are explored here in a script the remains as one of my favourite of that year. Really excellent stuff.

Small time gangster takes on Big time gangster the story has been down countless times before, but when its done well as here, makes for a good watch. Small budget and reflected in a fairly low profile cast, CG-Jr and Ferrer along with Keitel all make sound convincing performances. The violence is brutal and the characters harsh but convincing, certainly seen worse big budget examples of the genre getting their shot on the big screen. Don't expect anything ground breaking plot-wise but fans of the gangster flick wont be disappointed with the gritty realism, slick action sequences and unobtrusive soundtrack.

This was a definite surprise. A Redbox dollar rental, it was worth full price at Blockbuster. Cuba Gooding? Best thing I've seen him in for couple of years now, since Men of Honor? But he ought to pickup more 'bad guy 'roles...he's very believable...hard and gritty. However Miguel Ferrar: you stole the show bro! You are so underused in Hollywood, brother, get your agent to get you onto your own 'Cop/Dick/ME/whatever' TV show, you are very, very good! This film not for kiddies or chix but a good time and really, for the budget I heard this was made for? Very, very good overall production, filming, staging, etc. Enjoy!

The only reason I watched the movie were the comments in this site- "the return of Cuba?", "What? A direct-to-DVD movie with Cuba Gooding Jr. that's actually GOOD?" and so on. Someone actually said that this movie is not "The Godfather". It's an abuse to "The Godfather" to use the two movie names in the same sentence. I want to save you from making the same mistake as I did (watching the movie), that is why I'm writing this comment. The plot of the movie is straight forward, it starts and there are no surprises to the end (just shooting and killing). It's not even a good action movie. During the movie the actors make some decisions that are not at all consistent and logical. The movie is really waste of time, so if you decide to watch it remember- I have warned you!!! Oh, and I almost forgot. The dialogs are like a few high school kids have gathered in the school yard and try imitating De Niro or Pacino.4/10 (and that's the best you can give)