Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 13-22 (2007) (V)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

R. Kelly
Victor Mignatti

Release Date:

21 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Music

Plot Keywords:

Waitress | Questioning | Choir | Mafia | Police Officer

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

R. Kelly	...	Narrator / Sylvester / Pimp Lucious / Reverend Mosley James Evans
Eric Lane	...	Twan
LeShay N. Tomlinson	...	Cathy (as Leshay Tomlinson)
LaDonna Tittle	...	Rosie (as Ladonna Tittle)
Tracey Bonner	...	Tina
Erika Ringor	...	Roxanne
Will Oldham	...	Platoon
Greg Hollimon	...	Tom
Jermaine Janky Salmond	...	Street
Brian Smith	...	Craig (as Brian "Wildcat" Smith)
Pierre Maurey	...	Church Man
Cat Wilson	...	Gwendolyn
Rolando Boyce	...	Rufus
Malik Middleton	...	Chuck (as Malik S. Middleton)
Michael K. Williams	...	James (as Michael Kenneth Williams)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language throughout.

Runtime:

48 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Fuzzy Bunny Films (I)

Movie Connections:

References Les parapluies de Cherbourg (1964)

they should've kept this great/bad thing to rest with the first dozen

Going into a little bit of a different trajectory here, R Kelly takes his Trapped in the Closet series-cum-music video into less the territory of a surreal string of cuckolded circumstances than that of the dangerous realm of your common gangster story. Well, common for what R Kelly can do with it at least. This isn't to say the second set of chapters isn't at times hysterically funny (unintentionally or intentionally, take your pick), be it with the close-ups shots of the Man With The Gold Teeth, or some more baby-daddy drama at a very "wha" moment. But... there's just something, oddly enough with such a horrible R&B beat going on behind every single repetitive, mockable 'lyric' Kelly gets into, that's a little off at times. I almost found myself actually paying attention to what the f*** these characters were saying, as if (like in the scene at the restaurant) like Kelly means it to be engaging like some convoluted 40s noir.

It is convoluted, I'll give it that. After a while, despite knowing who the characters (mostly) were, I didn't even care anymore. Where as in the first dozen chapters there was some continuity to the madness of another "GOTCHA" coming out of a closet or a cabinet or behind a door, this time there's a lot more that's meant to be going on. But it only works in spurts, which are a good few (i.e. just seeing a 'double' Sylvester in his white suit, as if his God character or something), but far in between. I don't mind if it's cheesy or stupid or meant to be wack-a-doodle nuts. For something like this I DO want it to be that way to get all the camp value for a few buck's worth. But if there's no "good" end result, it doesn't click as well. If the first dozen chapters are a finely tuned train wreck, this second set is more like an Amtrak that skids a little on the rails, but stays firmly on its tracks.