Movie Review Black Los Angeles

BlackNLA Movie Reviews

*****THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*****

by Edwardo Jackson

BIASES:30 (yikes!) year old black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

ANNAPOLIS (PG-13)

MOVIE BIASES: Gen-Y "Top Gun"? I just hope they blow something up.

MAJOR PLAYERS: James Franco (Tristan & Isolde), Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers), Jordana Brewster (Fast and the Furious), and director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow)

Amateur boxer and fulltime shipbuilder Jake Huard (Franco) gets a lifetime dream fulfilled when he's a last minute entry to the prestigious Naval Academy in Annapolis, just across the river. At a school where 50,000 apply and only 1200 get in, Jake is just another lowly freshman plebe, where his chances of quitting are as high as the blood pressure of his disapproving, hard-driving Midshipman Lt. Cole
(Gibson). Thrown together in a room with "butterball" Twins (Vicellous Reon Shannon), the lightly comedic Estrada (Wilmer Calderon), and rules zealot Loo (Roger Fan), rebellious loner Jake must learn the value of teamwork and authority while training for the prestigious Navy Brigades boxing championship.

So nothing blows up (I'm a little disappointed here). Instead, despite its high-flying trailer and commercials (which feature fighter planes we NEVER get to see – can you say "Top Gun" bait and switch?), "Annapolis" turns out to be a predictable, if not mildly interesting coming-of-age/sports drama. Although he impressed with indie verve in his debut feature "Better Luck Tomorrow," Justin Lin is stuck with a
severe case of the blahs in this middling, castoff fare. Plagued by a conventional script (save the severity of the Naval honor code and one-for-all mentality), "Annapolis" is an exercise in mediocrity, like Friday night network TV or reading so-called "street fiction." I could say I expected more from Mr. Lin's first studio effort, but I know how the studio system is designed to homogenize even the freshest of
talents. Hang in there, Justin.

Speaking of milk, once again we have James Franco thrust upon us – and I still don't know why. Like methane gas, Franco is colorless, odorless, yet somehow kills (in the audition room, evidently). There's just something charisma-free about Franco's performances, "Annapolis" being no different. Sure, he's got the golden boy, Gillette-sharp cheekboned look, but none of the vitality of the star Hollywood keeps trying to make him out to be. Playing another quietly resentful kid (note to Franco's management: Get him to play a drag queen or someone with some doggone ENERGY) – almost a cottage industry unto Franco after "City by the Sea," "Tristan & Isolde," "Spider-man 2," et. al. – Franco's the Banana Republic of young leading men. His blandly attractive counterpart/love interest, Jordana Brewster, might as well be J. Crew herself. Only Vicellous Reon Shannon (who's gotta be over
thirty yet still playing teenagers, bless his heart) as the corpulent, "North Beach Diet"-ing Twins, and a game, if not slightly out of his depth Tyrese Gibson inject a bit of a pulse in this affair. Boxing instructor Chi McBride looks like he's marking time until his next TV
series.

Overwrought, forgettable soundtrack aside, "Annapolis" is a professional, uninspiring effort that typifies Hollywood in January. The town is empty (having invaded Park City, Utah for Sundance) and studios are burning off their shelved movies that are neither big enough for summer nor important enough for winter's Oscar season. Lemme tell you, it's taken me well over an hour to write this little
bit of nothing because I'm so unmoved by the piece in general. While Jake may not be a quitter, when it comes to this review, I certainly a-

@@ REELS
(TWO REELS)
Extra medium

Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com!

Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com




			BlackNLA Movie Reviews ***THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*** by Edwardo Jackson BIASES:30 (yikes!) year old black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare ANNAPOLIS (PG-13) MOVIE BIASES: Gen-Y "Top Gun"? I just hope they blow something up. MAJOR PLAYERS: James Franco (Tristan & Isolde), Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers), Jordana Brewster (Fast and the Furious), and director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow) Amateur boxer and fulltime shipbuilder Jake Huard (Franco) gets a lifetime dream fulfilled when he's a last minute entry to the prestigious Naval Academy in Annapolis, just across the river. At a school where 50,000 apply and only 1200 get in, Jake is just another lowly freshman plebe, where his chances of quitting are as high as the blood pressure of his disapproving, hard-driving Midshipman Lt. Cole (Gibson). Thrown together in a room with "butterball" Twins (Vicellous Reon Shannon), the lightly comedic Estrada (Wilmer Calderon), and rules zealot Loo (Roger Fan), rebellious loner Jake must learn the value of teamwork and authority while training for the prestigious Navy Brigades boxing championship. So nothing blows up (I'm a little disappointed here). Instead, despite its high-flying trailer and commercials (which feature fighter planes we NEVER get to see – can you say "Top Gun" bait and switch?), "Annapolis" turns out to be a predictable, if not mildly interesting coming-of-age/sports drama. Although he impressed with indie verve in his debut feature "Better Luck Tomorrow," Justin Lin is stuck with a severe case of the blahs in this middling, castoff fare. Plagued by a conventional script (save the severity of the Naval honor code and one-for-all mentality), "Annapolis" is an exercise in mediocrity, like Friday night network TV or reading so-called "street fiction." I could say I expected more from Mr. Lin's first studio effort, but I know how the studio system is designed to homogenize even the freshest of talents. Hang in there, Justin. Speaking of milk, once again we have James Franco thrust upon us – and I still don't know why. Like methane gas, Franco is colorless, odorless, yet somehow kills (in the audition room, evidently). There's just something charisma-free about Franco's performances, "Annapolis" being no different. Sure, he's got the golden boy, Gillette-sharp cheekboned look, but none of the vitality of the star Hollywood keeps trying to make him out to be. Playing another quietly resentful kid (note to Franco's management: Get him to play a drag queen or someone with some doggone ENERGY) – almost a cottage industry unto Franco after "City by the Sea," "Tristan & Isolde," "Spider-man 2," et. al. – Franco's the Banana Republic of young leading men. His blandly attractive counterpart/love interest, Jordana Brewster, might as well be J. Crew herself. Only Vicellous Reon Shannon (who's gotta be over thirty yet still playing teenagers, bless his heart) as the corpulent, "North Beach Diet"-ing Twins, and a game, if not slightly out of his depth Tyrese Gibson inject a bit of a pulse in this affair. Boxing instructor Chi McBride looks like he's marking time until his next TV series. Overwrought, forgettable soundtrack aside, "Annapolis" is a professional, uninspiring effort that typifies Hollywood in January. The town is empty (having invaded Park City, Utah for Sundance) and studios are burning off their shelved movies that are neither big enough for summer nor important enough for winter's Oscar season. Lemme tell you, it's taken me well over an hour to write this little bit of nothing because I'm so unmoved by the piece in general. While Jake may not be a quitter, when it comes to this review, I certainly a- @@ REELS (TWO REELS) Extra medium Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com! Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com Â© 2004, Edwardo Jackson