HARD LUCK with Wesley Snipes, Mario Van Peebbles and Cybill Shepherd. Not bad but I think its a little late coming. It feels like it should have been released at least six to seven years ago. It is part of the post-Pulp Fiction style of movies of the last 12 years. It has that Tarantino, DePalma, David Lynch feel to it at times that I think Van Peebles(and Snipes I would imagine)wanted to try and capture. Its a very good attempt. Because its another straight-to-video flick it won't likely make any best of list or even honorable mention but I thought it was worth checking out. One goes in thinking its another straight forward action-thriller and you realize that it is an absurdist black comedy. An African-American take on Joe Orton or Harold Pinter. Not all the writing is at that level but definitely the atmosphere is. Very different kind of role for Ms. Shepherd. I don't want to spoil anything so you'll might be curious enough to see it. She made my eyebrows rise a few times. I felt it could have been better edited with a higher grade cinematographer. It just didn't have enough polish to give it a higher rating. I sensed that Mr. Snipes might have been a little nervous working on this kind of material that didn't position him in an familiar and easy to accept context. Its his way of acknowledging that TIME catches up to all of us. No matter how willful, handsome, charismatic or gifted we may be. Up to now Wesley has played easy to read heroes or villains and this guy was more of an Everyman. Not that he hasn't done regular guys in the past like WATERDANCE, ONE NIGHT STAND and DOWN IN THE DELTA. This character was an echo from his earlier work in NEW JACK CITY and SUGAR HILL but with far more apprehension and less cockiness.
