Review: Waist Deep (2006)

Waist Deep
reviewed by Sam Osborn of www.samseescinema.com

rating: 2 out of 4

Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
Screenplay: Vondie Curtis-Hall, Darin Scott
Cast: Tyrese Gibson, Meagan Good, The Game
MPAA Classification: R (strong violence and pervasive language)

Waist Deep has been billed as a modern day Bonnie and Clyde set in
"da' hood." But Tyrese Gibson is no Warren Beatty and Meagan Good
is definitely no substitution for Faye Dunaway. The films are nothing
alike, and the only reference made to the 1967 classic is made by the
asinine, poseur in the gas station struggling to get Meagan Good's
autograph. In truth, Waist Deep has more licks of similarity to Wayne
Kramer's Running Scared than Bonnie and Clyde. But Running Scared
knew it was kitschy and vulgar; Waist Deep hasn't a clue. It dives
headlong into a psychotically unbelievable gang tale and forgets its
own obligation to silliness. So not only is Waist Deep woefully solemn,
but it's also woefully hard to sit through.

Tyrese Gibson (he now goes by his first and last name) plays O2, a
father one-month out of jail for gang-related crimes now working a
security job on parole. Now, I don't know about Los Angeles' parole
rules or an employer's policies about ex-convicts, but would you give
a gang banger just out of jail the job as security officer for your
grocery store? Hmmm. But with summer action films, some reality must be
suspended, so we'll let it go. It's just a reason for O2 to get his
hands on a gun, anyhow.

The weapon comes into play when Coco (Meagan Good) sets him up for his
car to be jacked by four hoodlums with pistols. The criminals overlook
Junior, O2's son, in the backseat and start speeding down the crowded
Los Angeles streets. O2 sprints after them, pistol now in hand, and
guns down three of the four men, leaving the fourth to speed away to
Meat's (The Game, who still goes by the one name) Cocaine-cutting
fortress of operations. Meat is the big gang boss for the area, and has
a dirty penchant for machetes. He demands one-hundred thousand dollars
from O2 before the end of the following day, or Junior starts losing
limbs. Without much in the bank, O2 must find a way into the ransom
money. He hunts down Coco to help him out, threatening her with his big
muscles and shiny pistol, and they start robbing banks.

In any film where the characters names are O2, Meat and Coco, and where
the son's name is Junior, we must be ready for formula. Waist Deep is
no exception. But this isn't a pastiche of Bonnie and Clyde, but a
photocopy of every other film where there are nicknames like O2, Meat
and Coco, and where the son's name is Junior. And in terms of sappy
endings-without giving anything away-Waist Deep's is the worst.
But because this is a summer action flick where originality is rarely
paired with quality, we'll the cut the film some more slack. We
don't come for plot anyhow; we come for big muscles and shiny
pistols. And Waist Deep has enough of that to go around.

Director/Co-Writer Vondie Curtis-Hall does well to annunciate each
gunshot and couple it with huge beats of rap. His style is muscular and
often powerful. He'll cut in for a close-up and clear the orchestral
score for an emotional monologue, seeking out a note of rawness before
going to ham-handed sentimentalism. And when Mr. Gibson grips a pistol,
Curtis-Hall makes him breathe testosterone.

But big muscles and shiny pistols can only get a film so far. And O2
and Coco don't have enough charisma put together to charm a finger.
They're characters are flat and it's obvious the two were only cast
for their graciously endowed physicality. The camera gives Ms. Good
more elevator-eyes than the sleazy gang bangers do. So even if we do
make compromises and suspend belief in reality or cut the film slack
with its formula storyline, Waist Deep still comes up short. So what if
we don't make the compromises in intellect the summer release
schedule asks us to and critique the film with our regularly harsh
hand? Well, let's save Waist Deep the embarrassment and not get into
that.

-www.samseescinema.com