Like the previous poster, I was lured in by the high score and the lone (as of 2/2012) external critic's review, a rave recommendation whose author I now realize was either bribed by the filmmakers or mentally impaired.
It's not a truly terrible movie, but if you're a fan of this genre, trust me, there's nothing and I mean nothing here that you haven't seen better elsewhere. And if you're not a big fan, there's nothing much here for you at all.
I tried my damnedest to suspend disbelief enough to buy the cornfed doughboy star as a hardcore ex-con bad-ass, but neither of us could make the woeful miscasting work for a second. The lonesome solo guitar score borrows heavily from Amores Perros and a dozen other indies, the myriad dispensable peripheral characters are quirky knockoffs of the Boondock Saints knockoffs of Reservoir Dogs, and the picture has been run through some sort of artsy-fartsy digital filter to give the whole movie a drab urine-bathed look.
In all fairness, it's obvious this movie was made by well-intentioned and possibly talented young folks with big dreams but small money. And if they keep working at it, these guys might go on to make some fine movies in a few years. For now, tho, they simply lack the judgment and vision to rise above their lo-rez limitations.
I don't regret watching Donkey, but I also never intend to watch it again nor to urge my friends to see it. Unless you're related to somebody on the crew or on a mission to watch every single low-budget crime movie ever made, you're probably better off finding some other way to fill your time.
peace
--Big Gus
It's not a truly terrible movie, but if you're a fan of this genre, trust me, there's nothing and I mean nothing here that you haven't seen better elsewhere. And if you're not a big fan, there's nothing much here for you at all.
I tried my damnedest to suspend disbelief enough to buy the cornfed doughboy star as a hardcore ex-con bad-ass, but neither of us could make the woeful miscasting work for a second. The lonesome solo guitar score borrows heavily from Amores Perros and a dozen other indies, the myriad dispensable peripheral characters are quirky knockoffs of the Boondock Saints knockoffs of Reservoir Dogs, and the picture has been run through some sort of artsy-fartsy digital filter to give the whole movie a drab urine-bathed look.
In all fairness, it's obvious this movie was made by well-intentioned and possibly talented young folks with big dreams but small money. And if they keep working at it, these guys might go on to make some fine movies in a few years. For now, tho, they simply lack the judgment and vision to rise above their lo-rez limitations.
I don't regret watching Donkey, but I also never intend to watch it again nor to urge my friends to see it. Unless you're related to somebody on the crew or on a mission to watch every single low-budget crime movie ever made, you're probably better off finding some other way to fill your time.
peace
--Big Gus