Bro' (2012)

Director:

Nick Parada

Writers:

Kim MacKenzie (screenplay)
Nick Parada (screenplay)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Life doesn't always give you a practice track.

Plot:

A college student gets involved in the wild partying lifestyle of the professional freestyle motocross world.

Cast

D.J. Bennett	...	Mark
Jakob Bokulich	...	Guns
Mario Castillo	...	Tony
Will Chavez	...	Johnny
Krystal Davis	...	White Trash Girl
Que de Chambres	...	Bill
Heidi Dupre	...	Heidi (voice)
Michael Feig	...	Drug Addict
Santina Ferrante	...	Girl (voice)
Larry Fessenden	...	Louis
Eddie Gallardo	...	Matt
Bailey Garcia	...	Kid
Mario E. Garcia	...	COP#1
Rebekah Graf	...	Stephanie Meyers
Jessica Hardulak	...	College Student
David Hill	...	Sergeant Zechman
Jordan Lawson	...	College Student
Kim MacKenzie	...	Taylor
Beau Manley	...	Jesse
Max Martinez	...	Max
Alexandra Mason	...	Danielle
Harris James Maynard	...	Hector
Colin Morrison	...	Rudy
Jairo Henson Ochoa	...	Maury
Mario Orozco	...	Chris
Luis Pachecano	...	College Student
Ashley Platz	...	Kelly
Christopher Ramirez	...	Bobby (as Christopher Yuri Ramirez Recinos)
Cristal Salcido	...	College student
Brit Sheridan	...	Amber (as Britni Sheridan)
Noah J. Smith	...	Homeless Drunk
Rachael Sousa	...	College Student
Danny Trejo	...	Gilbert
Mark Vafiades	...	Cop #3
Mike Wade	...	Charlie
Gunner Wright	...	David
Iliana G. Wrinkle	...	Julie

Directed by
Nick Parada

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kim MacKenzie		screenplay
Nick Parada		screenplay

Produced by
Pierre Lorillard	....	line producer
Justin Thomas Ostensen	....	associate producer
Nick Parada	....	producer
Robert A. Parada	....	producer
Christopher Ramirez	....	associate producer (as Christopher Yuri Ramirez Recinos)
Marc Salomon	....	co-producer
Khaled Soliman	....	executive producer
Leah Steiger	....	associate producer
Shaoky Taraman	....	executive producer
Shy Young	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Justin Thomas Ostensen

Film Editing by
Marc Salomon

Production Design by
Madalyn Rokisky-Ring

Art Direction by
Morgan Parker

Costume Design by
Nars Mardikian

Makeup Department
Heather Galipo	....	assistant make-up and hair artist
Saori Nakada	....	assistant make-up and hair artist
Ruben Rivera	....	make-up and hair artist

Production Management
Miriam Holder Jacobs	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dave Casper	....	first assistant director
Julie Johnsen	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Max Barbanell	....	art production assistant
Jakob Bokulich	....	storyboard artist
Jasmine Fresses	....	art production assistant
Kristyn Ingle	....	set dresser
Ian Morrison	....	art production assistant
Morgan Parker	....	property master
Malinda D. Smith	....	art production assistant

Sound Department
Langston Ball	....	boom operator
Leslie Bloom	....	foley artist
Lisle Engle	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Hammond	....	adr mixer
Frederick Howard	....	supervising sound editor
Dennis C. Salcedo	....	sound mixer
Jenessa Salcedo	....	utility sound
Greg Vossberg	....	adr mixer
Taylor Zaragoza	....	additional sound utility

Special Effects by
Jaime Galindo	....	special effects supervisor

Stunts
Clint Esposito	....	stunts
Ian Eyre	....	stunt coordinator
Patrick Obma	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Mario Orozco	....	stunt performer
Todd Potter	....	stunts
Ed Rossi	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Daniel Armella	....	grip production assistant
Len Borruso	....	additional first assistant camera
Steven Crespy	....	grip/electrician
Alex Falk	....	first assistant camera
Marc Levy	....	camera operator
Sal Limon	....	second assistant camera
Colin Miller	....	grip production assistant
Craig A. Miller	....	still photographer
Lawrence Montemayor	....	additional first assistant camera
Ian Morrison	....	grip production assistant
Tom Petrushevick	....	grip/electrician
Neil G. Phillips	....	grip
Victor Siegel	....	grip
Gregg Thompson	....	key grip/gaffer
Brian Udoff	....	additional second assistant camera
Arne Weiland	....	grip

Casting Department
Esther Hanuka	....	extras casting
Tiffany Ariana Morrow	....	extras casting
Andy Rodriguez	....	casting coordinator
Jayme Vanegas	....	casting associate
Sabino Villa Lobos	....	extras casting
Adolfo Zamora	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tamar Estanboulian	....	assistant costume designer
Sara Ghannadi	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Peter Swartz	....	colorist

Music Department
Sean Fernald	....	music consultant
Ernesto Medina	....	music supervisor
Bruce Rabinowitz	....	music clearance supervisor
Chucky Styles	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Fabian Montes	....	transportation
Derek Yard	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Adilla Amelia	....	assistant production coordinator
Mark Baker	....	technical advisor
Miguel Bocanegra	....	script supervisor
Erika Canchola	....	production attorney
Jesus Cardoso	....	production assistant
Scott Ferrara	....	commentary
Aaron Gomez	....	production assistant
Ian Kolling	....	production assistant
Mackenzie Kolling	....	production assistant
Kojo Lewis	....	location manager
Charles Mariotti	....	publicist
Elsa Ramo	....	distribution legal services
Courtney Schade	....	post-production sound coordiator
Johnathan Scott	....	media assistant
Ruben A. Trujillo	....	promotional services
Chingya Wang	....	production assistant

Thanks
Edward Bunker	....	in memory of
Brian Deegan	....	special thanks
Ryan Hagy	....	special thanks
Raul Jocson	....	special thanks
Maricruz Saucedo	....	special thanks
Aaron Speiser	....	special thanks
Dale Stelly	....	special thanks
Eric Swelstad	....	special thanks
Ann Yanez	....	special thanks
Kevin Zinger	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Streetwise Entertainment

Distributors

• DLN Films (2013) (UK) (all media)
• Grindstone Entertainment Group (2012) (USA) (all media)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2012) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Avilon Audio  group adr
• Charles Mariotti / Cam Ink  theatrical publicist
• Lotus Post  sound post-production (trailer)
• PES Payroll  talent payroll services
• Post Haste Sound  post-production sound services
• Post Haste Sound  sound post-production
• Ramo Law PC  distribution legal services
• TFK Studios  sound post-production

MPAA:

Rated R for drug use and language throughout, sexuality/nudity and some violence

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

Streetwise Entertainment

Tattoos, tattoos and more tattoos

A college boy gets involved with his girlfriend's tough, bike-riding brother and his drug business.

The sentence above may look like a summary of the plot, but actually it's the biggest compliment one can make for this work of absolute incompetency: to treat it as if it has a plot.

Let's start with the characters. They are all one-dimensional cardboard characters you've seen in a million movies, but I can't really consider that a fault. Many movies have been suffering from that for the last 15 years. But this film takes the concept of cliché to a whole new level.

First of all, we are constantly subjected to tattoos. I don't mean tattooed people, but tattoos themselves. In many scenes we don't see the faces of the actors, just their tattoos. As if the director is trying to make a point, "if someone has drawn pictures on your skin, you're tough." We also see many scantily clad girls, who are supposed to be hot, but I very much doubt that any of them can actually spell the word "hot." Everybody is doing cocaine or other drugs, starting and ending every sentence with "dude", wearing sunglasses, riding motocross bikes, and then doing more drugs. In one scene, a character shouts at his sister for not sleeping with his friend. "Hey sis, quit being a b**ch and show this guy a good time." Wow, how wildly unconventional. This is the main theme of the movie, since the plot I explained above never actually develops. There's drug-dealing, and that's it.

Don't let the bike poster fool you. The movie has motocross scenes only for about a minute or two. Any sports program intro montage has longer biking scenes, and probably more interesting. All you'll see here is a couple of basic, no-trick jumps that 15-year olds do easily nowadays.

Danny Trejo, who's always a wonderful presence in any movie he's in, only appears for a couple of minutes. There's a love story between the lead actor and his girlfriend which never starts or gets anywhere.

Then there's the acting. Where to start... I hate those people who use the expression "worst actor ever" so frequently on IMDb, as if they've seen all actors and made comparisons. But really, try to catch on video sites just a few seconds of the tough biker bro' character and see his acting. I don't want to say anything bad myself, just see it and judge for yourself. I've never seen actors more uncomfortable, nervously waiting for their cue, looking at their toes, or maybe trying to hide their faces for appearing in this film. They look like high school kids in a play who suddenly notice their parents grinning in the audience.

This is probably the most "die" of indie films, if you know what I mean. It has more clichés than your average "dependent" film. The so-called virgin girl looks like she's slept with more men than Cher and cannot even hold a straight face when she says she's ready for her first time. The tattooed biker boys look like the background nodders in an MTV hip-hop clip, probably cursing their fate for not being born black. There's the token devout religious mother, the token "Everybody has given up on you, but I won't" speech, the token laughter at the coughing of a first-time weed smoker, the token foot close-ups like any Tarantino wannabe, even the token "I'm sorry for everything, ma" letter that reads itself aloud. Let's not forget the soundtrack, with songs using the f-word every two seconds, because cursing makes you tough.

The whole movie is all about this bad boy image, but one that only 12-year old gangsta-wannabe confused kids would appreciate. Everything about it is so inept, so extremely simple, so childish. It's almost like a parody.

As I did in my review of another bad movie, I did a word count of the f..word and "dude" for this film. The result is appalling.

"Dude" is said 118 times in 80 minutes, roughly once every 40 seconds.

The f word is said 273 times in 80 minutes, roughly once every 17 seconds. That may be a record.

Indie, indeed. If this is the direction indie films are going, considering profanity and drugs without any plot "a crazy, wildly unconventional film outside the boundaries of Hollywood" I'd rather stick to Hollywood. Or Bollywood, Jollywood, whatever. Anything, I mean literally anything is better than this. For once, I agree with the ratings (8 votes, all of them 1, by the time I wrote this review).