The Lawless
2007; directed by Phillip Guzman

If you're the sort that ventures into the bargain bin at your local video store, you know that shot-on-video action movies are almost literally a dime a dozen. So it takes a lot for one of those releases to stand out from the pack of cinematic chum. Phillip Guzman's low-budget crime thriller The Lawless does exactly that via an interesting story and having style to burn.

The story in concern here revolves around a pair of undercover policemen, Victor (Denton Everett) and Frank (Jason Hoss), who have been infiltrating the empire of a drug dealer named Costello (Luis Caldeira). The cops are set to bust Costello, but he's found out they're rats, and sets a plan for revenge in motion. In order to save their wives, Victor and Frank must pull off a series of hits for Costello. Making things tougher, Costello sets out a series of rules, where the cops must rely on their wits, rather than their guns, to complete the mission.

The Lawless's plot does give it a few points for raising the film above the usual "undercover cop in too deep" pablum. There's also a couple of nice plot points that come off as actual twists, rather than lame gimmicks to try and make the movie seem cool or deep. It was really nice seeing a crime movie that actually took some time and paid attention to the story, instead of regurgitating the same slop hundreds of pictures have already put out.

Phillip Guzman, who reportedly made The Lawless for around $7000, also manages to give the film a wonderful visual flair. Sure, there is a sort of cheapness to the proceeedings that even Hitchcock probably couldn't overcome givene the limitations of DV "film" making. Actually, the grainy presentation gives The Lawless a gritty feeling somewhat reminiscent of Ringo Lam's early Hong Kong work that ends up giving a lot of weight to the story.

Guzman does overdo the camera tricks at points -- namely in a scene where we see the action through the characters' POV that goes on for far too long. But overall, Guzman shows a great knowledge of hand-held cinematography that many big-name directors like Michael Mann and Stephen Soderbergh could do well to take note of.

If there is a real fault to be found with The Lawless, it's with the acting. Actually, a surprising amount of the actors do a really good job, especially Luis Caldeira, who creates an awesomely smarmy villain character. Even a lot of the bit part actors are solid. But Denton Everett is seriously horrible. The guy makes the actors in Univision telenovelas looks like Oxford-trained Shakespearean actors by comparision. After watching Mr. Everett trying to emote by talking really loud, one has to wonder how much more The Lawless might have been if it had concentrated more on Jason Hoss' icy essaying of Frank's inner conflict.

Despite Denton Everett's fumbling performance and the natural pitfalls of ultra low-budget film-making, The Lawless manages to be an enthralling and exciting take on the crowded "cops vs. robbers" genre. Okay, if you're a film snob who expects every production to be Citizen Kane, then you're not gonna dig what's going on here. But if you're willing to put away the nitpick stick for the sake of a good night's entertainment, The Lawless is a release that's right up your alley.

RATING: 7