Review: American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007) [Reviewed By Clifford]

Directed by: Andrew Waller
Written by: Adam Herz (characters) and Erik Lindsay (writer)
Genre: Comedy
MPAA: Rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, language and excessive drinking.
Released: 26 December 2007
Starring: Eugene Levy, John White, Robbie Amell, Ross Thomas, Steve Talley, Bradford Anderson, Jake Siegel, Meghan Heffern, Julia Schneider, Nic Nac, Ashleigh Hubbard, Alexandria Galante, Sarah Power, Christopher McDonald,

Plot: Erik and Cooze start college and pledge the Beta House fraternity, presided over by none other than Dwight Stifler. But chaos ensues when a fraternity of geeks threatens to stop the debauchery and the Betas have to make a stand for their right to party.

Review: 3/10

My Thoughts: American Pie, a film that is know today as a mix between a modern-day Animal house and Porky's, in a strange why very much right, than came along it’s sequel American Pie 2 which manages to outdo what the first one did, but with it’s second sequel American Wedding being noting but a great big disappointment, you’d think they’d stop, but than they turn around and give us a third sequel American Pie Presents: Band Camp which was a slight improvement from the last one but still disappointing to watch, and before we can even say “huh” we get yep that right a fourth sequel American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile which at this point was just downright horrible, an insult to the American Pie name, so it didn’t surprise me when American Pie Presents: Beta Housewas made, I mean after all the filmmakers stopped caring about their loyal fan based after part three was made and only seemed to care about turning another buck while the name was still known, now some of you are wondering why in the hell would I be crazy enough to watch something I already knew was a going to be horrible? Well that answer is simple really, even though I didn’t like The Naked Mile I still felt I owed it to everyone to at least finish the series and review this sad case of a film, and what do I get? An even bigger disappointment than the last film, not to mention the film rips off on almost every classic comedy film from animal house with making Beta House having two leaders, one being a conservative gentlemen and the other being a wild party animal, it even rips off the first American Pie film, not to mention so many others that would take me all damn day to go into. It’s sad really because it shows that the writers as well as the filmmakers are unable to come up with any original stuff, it’s just the same old material recycled over and over again to a point where you can’t take it any more, and yet again for a film that has none of the original cast they manage to loose more of the cast from the last film, this only says one thing, with or without you we’re making this movie which is sad because it means the makers of these films don’t care about the actors or the series itself, all they care about is pumping out cheep movies with no story and a shit loud of T&A with the American Pie title slapped on it so they can make a quick buck out of it.

Another thing I found to be most disappointing was the fact that the American Pie series has become just like the National Lampoon films, random films with the title American Pie attached to it, of course they try to keep it somewhat connected to the first films by continuously mentioning it in various forms, and the fact that Eugene Levy is reprising his role as Mr. Levenstein or as most of us who’s been keeping track of the Pie films as “Jim's Dad” in it, oh why I ask is he still in the films? The rest of the orginle cast was long gone two films ago so why is he still here? It just doesn’t make sense, the other connection is the Stifler family, it seems that after the second film Seann William Scott's character “Steve Stifler” became the star of the film in “American Wedding” even though the plot wasn’t focused on him, but when he did not want to return for a fourth film plus the rest of the remaining cast had already moved on in their careers, they decided to bring in Tad Hilgenbrink to play “Matt Stifler” the younger brother to Steve Stifler in Band Camp, and after the film bombed big time what do they do next? Oh they bring in another hole new cast of actors in The Naked Mile, but this time they introduce John White as “Erik Sifler” one of Steve Stifler’s cousins with Steve Talley having a small role in it playing Steve‘s other cousin “Dwight Stifler” which take over as the lead in Beta House with what’s left of the returning cast from The Naked Mile being nothing more but secondary characters, trust me when I say it is greatly disappointing.

The story is about after the events that conspired from The Naked Mile, Erik Stifler (White) and best buddy Mike Coozeman (Siegel) have graduated from High school and on their way to attend collage at University of Michigan with plans to pledge at Beta House fraternity, who the fraternity President just so happens to be none other than Dwight Stifler (Talley) cousin to Erik, and the last truly wild Stifler in the Stifler family tree, who puts them on a wild and adventure of pranks hardcore drinking games and girls girls girls, but while they are pledging to become frat brothers, Dwight is dealing with problems of his own as he must bring his Beta House brothers together so they can face off against a fraternity of Geeks (GEK House) who threatens the very core of Beta House.

As for the acting, well I’m gonna be honest with you here, all the actors tried real hard and give it their all, but their all is not enough, not by a longsome, Steve Talley I would have to say gave the worst performance out the entire cast of the film, trying to be funny but yet every joke he throws out there only falls flat with a sad yet silly punch line, and his sense of direction on how he should handle his character, and it seems the director must have seen it to or not he would not have flooded the movie with so much half naked girls or in some case fully naked girls in most of the film and especially whenever Steve was on camera, now I’m not saying anything wrong with a little nudity, far from it, I appreciate the female form as much as the next as red blooded male, but there is such a thing as an appropriate amount of nudity and this film goes way passed that amount, so much to a point that it becomes clear that the story is so dull, idiotic and full of holes that they tried to fill it with hot attractive nude women as much as possible, Jake Siegel reprises his role as cooze but his performance was horrible, for one thing he acts out of character from when he was in The Naked Mile, it seems like watching the same person playing two different characters in the same film, the other thing is the fact his characters acts like the best friend to John White’s character “Erik” but yet in you watch The Naked Mile you’ll see that it was Ross Thomas’s characters “Ryan” that was best buds with him, but I guess because he did not return for this sad case of film that they altered Erik and cooze friendship to make them best friends, Christopher McDonald who was only in about ten minutes of the last film as “Mr. Stifler” seems to only be in this one for about 3 maby 4 minutes at the very most, which is sad because his run time seems to have the only real moments that would have you somewhat laugh, Eugene Levy is a magnificent actor that is always a pleasure to see on film, but it seems his career choices hasn’t been really that wise lately as he is the only actor in the American Pie series to act in all six films and there is no doubt if they make a seventh film he’ll probably be in it too which is sad when you think about it because it just means that the talent from someone as talented as him is wasted in these films, as for the rest of the cast it made up of nameless actors that are so easily forgettable that it just not worth the time to mentioning them.

Final Say: Every time there’s a new American Pie film I buy it with the hopes that this one will finally be the one where they get their act together and make something worth watching, but instead I’m fall for another trap of disappointment, and even though I say this now I most likely will fall for it again if another one comes out, I don’t know you could say I’m always hoping for the good in things and in people to such a point that I’m naïve, I give this movie a 3/10 but only for trying, other than that I would have given it a 2/10. I don’t recommend it to own I don’t recommend it to even rent, however if you still want to see it than watch it at your own risk.

Copyright 2008 TCWreviews.com
All Rights Reserved

Review: Into The Wild (2007) [Reviewed By Kelsey Zukowski]

Into the Wild
Review By: Kelsey Zukowski
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Jena Malone, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Brian H. Dierker, Kristen Stewart, Hal Holbrook
Directed By: Sean Penn
Written By: Sean Penn, Jon Krakauer
Released: 2007
Grade: A

Into the Wild is based on the non-fictional book by Jon Krakauer, depicting the adventures of Christopher McCandless. The book as well as the film adaptation, wonderfully directed by Sean Penn, show the countryside and the world outside of our society. We see the rugged atmosphere of the wild. Majority of the time, brutality isn’t an element of this. The sense of peacefulness is shown more than anything by Chris who completely flips his lifestyle upside down.

Chris McCandles (Hirsch) has just graduated college and he has excelled with nearly all A’s. He says that he thinks his grades are good enough to get in to Harvard Law School. His parents, Billie (Harden) and Walt (Hurt), couldn’t be more proud of him. They offer to give him how ever much money he needs for school and they want to buy him a new car. To Chris, there is nothing wrong with his current car and it just seems like it would be another access material object. Mr. and Mrs. McCandles puts up a good image, but there have been plenty of problems in their relationship. When things have gotten rough in the family, Chris and his sister, Carine (Malone) have been there for each other.

With school finished, Chris decides that it is time to go out of his comfort zone and really explore the world. So many things in society disgust him, that he figures that the best thing to do is to get away from it, at least for awhile. He first ventures off into Arizona, but ends up going all over the country and even eventually in to Mexico. He lives in deserts and the wilderness, meeting many interesting and kind people. Earlier on, he becomes very close with a hippie couple that he meets, Jan (Keener) and Rainey (Dierker). They offer him companionship and direction. Their meeting seems to be fateful as after he parts Chris meets up with them again in his travels. This time, there is almost a mini town of down to earth people embodied in the peaceful surroundings of nature. Here Chris meets Tracy (Stewart) a young, singer who plays the guitar. They become very close to one another. However, they had to go their separate ways. Chris enjoyed every place where he stays and all of the people he meets stay with him. He is constantly on the move though. Chris’ main goal is to get to Alaska, where he is sure the biggest and boldest adventure of all will take place.

The acting by this large and tremendous cast really helped the understanding of the film. Emile Hirsch gives a completely breath taking performance is clearly the most impressive of his career. He brings out the passion that Chris had as well as his free spirit and determination. This is difficult since most likely all of us living in society have no idea what this would be like to deny and live without any material items. Chris even burned the money that he did have and gave the rest of his college fund money to charities. He didn’t even have any identification on him. Night after night, he sleeps on the dirt and he does so by choice. This can be completely mind rattling yet Hirsch almost makes this seem sensible. Jena Malone does a wonderful job in this as well as Chris’ caring sister and perhaps the only person from his societal life that truly understood him. Although she misses him, worries about him, and at times feels slightly abandoned since he doesn’t even keep in contact with her, she still doesn’t impose any judgments on him. Carine knows that this is what he really wants, his isolation from the life he once had. Jena Malone narrates this story very eloquently and gives us insight to Chris. This also represents how strong of a bond they had. She saw in to his mind and knew his tendencies so well that even when it had been over a year since Chris disappeared, she still had a sense of his purpose and was curious to know the specifics of all of the adventures she was sure he was having.

Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt portrayed the self-indulged and hypocritical parents of Chris very convincingly. Even before he had disappeared, you could tell that they were snobbish and reputation was everything to them. This proves to be true with the job, their relationship, and even with their son. Their marriage is all about looking good and acting as if they are a respectable couple. In reality, they don’t treat each other with any respect. As time goes on, Chris discovers that they didn’t meet, fall in love, and get married as they described. Walt was already married and had a child with his first wife, Billie was merely the woman he was having an affair with, which tainted the McCandless family. I am sure that they did miss their son and just wanted to know what was going on with him. Still, part of the desperation was that it was unacceptable to lose grips of a son and for someone who could have had great success in the work world after college. Giving this life up and giving up his connection with his parents was a failure of theirs. This is something that they would never admit to though.

Catherine Keener, Brian H. Dierker, and Kristen Stewart all worked very well off of Emile Hirsch. During the time when he was with him, it was like he wasn’t completely broken off from everyone; they were his family now. There was also an apperance here with Vince Vaughn as Chris’ employer as a farm worker. He isn’t just a farmer though, he exerts a great amount of energy that he uses to encourage Chris when he sees that his Alaska trip is so important to him. Hal Holbrook played Franz another friend Chris makes. He is probably is the most different from Chris compared to everyone else that he meets along the way. Still, the relationship forms and strengthens because they bring out the best in each other and Franz ends up serving as a much better father than his real father ever was.

Into the Wild is a truly beautiful film that grabs you by surprise. It tells you that some of the simple things in life can be the most rewarding. This doesn’t even mean that the film is saying that there is no good society and they we should all live in the wilderness. In fact, it isn’t all sunny skies in that atmosphere for Chris either. Some of the risks he has to take end up being very dangerous not to mention some of the loneliness that he ends up facing when people aren‘t around. It is more about just reminding us that there are different paths to take besides the standards that are set up. Living freely and with an independent mind is how the true treasures in life are revealed.

Review: Beowulf (2007) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Written by: Neil Gaiman (screenplay) and Roger Avary (screenplay)
Genre: Action / Adventure / Drama / Fantasy
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity.
Released: 16 November 2007
Starring: Ray Winstone, Robin Wright Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Crispin Glover, Brendan Gleeson, Sonje Fortag, Sharisse Baker-Bernard, Charlotte Salt, Julene Renee, Greg Ellis, Rik Young, Sebastian Roché, Leslie Harter Zemeckis, John Malkovich, Woody Schultz.

Plot: The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, who begins killing out of revenge.

Review: 7/10

My Thoughts: There is an old poem called “Beowulf” which tells of a story about a hero named Beowulf a hero of the Geats, who battles Grendel a monster that is descended of a greater monster (His mother) of the time before man. After killing this monster by ripping it’s arm off and bring back it’s head and becomes a king, but later he an unknown dragon which leaves him badly wounded after the battle and dies, now with such an epic poem such as this, there is no way in hell can it be made into a live action movie, but than I thought of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and 300 how it came out in the end, well I can tell you it is no LOTR, nor is it in any way nearly as great as 300, which is one of only a few films I’ve ever given a 10/10 in my life, however, saying that doesn’t mean it is a bad movie ether, I liked the idea they where able to make the film in a mostly CGI environment because by doing so they manage to capture the essence of the story within the poem and also manages to even add a little twist of their own to the story which cam out quite nicely, don’t think they could have done so if the had made this film completely on location, also seeing that all of the actors was had a new CGI technology added to them was both a blessing and a cures, a blessing because now it means actors and actresses all around in the near future wont have to put their bodies through such physical torture like so many of them do today, it will also be a cures because it will eventually be the end of traditional style acting, making any actor or actress look the way or act the way you want them to without any real work on their part, meaning this new technology just made the way for a hole lot of talentless actors into the business, which is going to be a sad day indeed.

Now unlike the many other Beowulf films before it this one has a new twist to it, instead of Grendel being just an oversized violent monster that rampages through the lands killing anyone in his path we are given this misshapen abomination, a creature you can’t help but feel sympathy for, after all it’s not his fault he is the way he is, he just is, and also unlike other previous attempts at making this story happened our hero Beowulf as this boy scout hero, but more rather like a rough cut hero who does what he does for the glory of it all, and in a much different sense when he does defeat Grendel it sets into motion a chain reaction of events that leads to his rise to power and ultimately his undoing, the message that this film shots across to it’s viewers is about choices and how choosing unwisely will your own undoing later in life, however there was one bit of this movie I found to be a little unsatisfying, and that is the film’s timeline, after our young Beowulf defeats Grendel, and he makes his deal with Grendel's Mother, the film suddenly takes a massive leap in years later with no explanation which I felt was a little out of place giving you the impression that a part of the story is missing somehow, and that before the film is over we are gonna get an explanation on this lost of story , but we never do which makes me feel that the story was rushed to the point way to fast, however the film was still impressive none the less and with a most satisfying ending that is greatly grey and bitter sweet but it still manages to do it’s job as this is based of a poem and it’s ending is quite poetic, just know that there wont be a Beowulf 2.

The story is about during the celebration of King Hrothgar (Hopkins) victory over his enemies a monstrous beast called Grendel (Glover) crashes the celebration bringing most unimaginable horror to the party killing most of everyone there, now the king orders the best warriors of his land to put an end to Grendel but none of which is victorious, all hope is lost until Beowulf (Winstone) one of the most courageous heroes of the known world arrives to the kingdom with his bad of heroes, up to the task to bring an end to Grendel and his mother, has he fights and defeats the mighty Grendel and becomes known as the hero who saved a kingdom, Grendel’s mother (Jolie) however seeks revenge and replacement of the lost of her son, and when Beowulf goes to finish off Grendel’s mother who falls into a web of deadly seduction which will ultimately be his undoing.

As for the acting I can tell you now, it’s pretty much all CGI so it’s not like the actors had to do much, but I will however saw their performance was not left unnoticed, Ray Winstone was fantastic his voice matched dead on for the character as well did his likeness which was also great, Anthony Hopkins was fantastic and his talent was not wasted in this as he did a magnificent job as King Hrothgar, Crispin Glover was probably the most impressive one out of em all, and after seeing him play Grendel I can honestly say I can’t imagine anyone else playing that part, Angelina Jolie was wonderful, she made Grendel’s mother beautiful as well terrifying, sinister with a hint seduction, Robin Wright Penn was great she gave her character great deep which aaI liked a lot, it showed how unhappy she was being King Hrothgar’s queen and even more unhappy when she became King Beowulf’s queen because he had become the man she wasn’t hoping he become, John Malkovich magnificent he did his character a great deal of justice showing that he was greatly jealous and envious of Beowulf, and Brendan Gleeson did a outstanding good job playing as Beowulf’s loyal second in command Wiglaf who was by his side right to the very end. any other actor that I didn’t mention her doesn’t mean they didn’t do great it just means I forgot. But they all did great performances that was most satisfying indeed.

Final Say: Beowulf was very enjoyable although I was somewhat a little disappointed towards the middle point in the film I still was satisfied with it’s ending which was more than enough to be given an 7/10 from me. I recommend it.

Copyright 2008 TCWreviews.com
All Rights Reserved

Review: We Own The Night (2007) [Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: James Gray
Written by: James Gray
Genre: Crime / Drama / Thriller
MPAA: Rated R for strong violence, drug material, language, some sexual content and brief nudity.
Released: 12 October 2007
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Alex Veadov, Dominic Colon, Danny Hoch, Oleg Taktarov, Moni Moshonov, Antoni Corone, Craig Walker, Tony Musante, Joe D'Onofrio, Yelena Solovey, Maggie Kiley.

Plot: A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men.

Review: 8/10

My Thoughts: What is most important in life, love, friends, business, or family? Between two brother, one a decorated police officer, and the other a nightclub manager mixed in a web of drugs and the mob, but beyond their differences lies loyalty, and through loyalty they will save each other from their own problems. Director James Gray is a man who doesn’t direct just any screenplay, no he only directs want he wrote and seeing as he has only directed two other films in the last 13 years (Little Odessa, The Yards) and seeing as his two other movies are fairly decent films with a good storyline and good cast with great acting I thought you know, this just might be good, well what I got was nothing short of fantastic, it is as thrilling as it is sexy, now I’ll admit I was not 100% interested, as you read earlier I thought James Gray films where good not fantastic, so I went into this without high expectation nor low ether, you could say it was somewhat moderate, but what We Own the Night did was exceed my expectations and had me droned into it’s retro ecstasy that is the 80’s with it’s fine cocktail mix of cop-drama and sibling-rivalry, but the rivalry is ultimately subdued by the most important thing among brothers, and that is their loyalty to family and what steps will they be willing to take foe family, the story it’s self concentrates mainly on Joaquin Phoenix’s character, Bobby, who lives on the wrong side of the law and is mixed with drug dealers and the local syndicate and mages a hot night club but he must deal with the fact he comes from a family with a long line of cops, and while everyone in his family is cracking down on crime he’s living it up as part of the problem, while his brother is so dedicated to being an honest police officer that they rarely ever talk to each other without fists swinging at each other, there sure is this feeling of high tension whenever the two is together, but of course no matter how much they despise each other family and loyalty comes first.

Now the thing that I liked about this scenario between the brothers in the overall plot was it highly resembles a lot of how real life siblings are to each other, there is always this sense of rebellion and rivalry that is between most brothers , I know this personally because I having an older brother, and me and him always disagree with each other (mostly politics) and on occasion we may knock fists, but no matter how much we might be mad at each other at the time, you f##k with one of use, and you’ll get the both of use coming down hard on your ass quicker than you can say holy shit, [Laughs] also I liked how the story itself plays out showing that Bobby is stuck between helping his brother, Joseph (Mark Wahlberg) and his father, Albert (Robert Duvall) while trying to keep his own family and his back history of cops in the family a secret to his friends and associates because it‘s bad for business for a night club if it‘s manger is related to cops. Also I like how the two of them are very different but at the same time very much the same, for example; Bobby is laid back kind of guy who mages a hot New York night club at night with his best friends and girlfriend working alongside him, and pretty much hang around the wrong crowed, while his brother, Joseph is a hard working honest cop that doesn’t take shit for no one and wont stop working a case until it’s over. But the thing they share that’s the same is that they are both loyal to family and willing to go the distance to do whatever it takes to right the wrong, epically Bobby because you see that after certain evince take place (Not saying) he takes responsibility and does something about it, also enjoyed hearing the lovely 80’s background music like Heart of glass by Blondie, which brought back memories for me, now before you say a word I know I was born mid to late 80’s (1986) there for I grew up throughout the 90’s, but I didn’t care for much crap the 90’s gave, I also liked the cinematography which gave this dark and gritty like setting that came out quite nicely and perfect for the mood of the film, also the action was great, it’s not much but it is very satisfying capturing the viewer full attention with plus pounding scenes.

The story is about Bobby Green, a night club manager for one the hottest club in New York, who is the it guy for knowing who’s who among the night life crowd, living the fast track life mixed in with the wrong people, but what no one knows is he is the brother of Captain. Joseph Grusinsky, one of New Yorks most dedicated police officers, and the son of Deputy Chief Albert Grusinsky the head of the New York drug division, and when they come to him for help become an inside man for them which he refuses but after his brother suffers a horrible accident by the Russian mafia he is torn by keeping his loyalty to his family or his friends, while trying to hang on to the woman he loves, he soon realizes that he is stuck in a situation that puts everyone he cares for in the line or danger unless he does what’s right to fix it all.

As for the acting, Joaquin Phoenix was mind blowing, I first got a taste of his talented acting skills back in 2000 with Gladiator it was here where I became a loyal fan, and so far he has yet to disappoint me, Mark Wahlberg another great actor with fine talent that is hard to find among now days actors, what I talk about is the great risk he tends to take with his acting jobs, one in particular which is also one of my all time favorite films by his is none other than 1997’s hit Boogie Nights which till to date is (in my opinion) his best work, now like all actors, in his career he has had a bit of bad apples fall from his tree, but with every bad film he quickly makes up for it in the next film and his performance in We Own The Night was fantastic and so far in the last few years he yet to make a single bad film, one could say he‘s on a winning streak, Robert Duvall was magnificent, I‘ve been a fan of his since I first watched the The Godfather on VHS as a child, he’s an actor that still has the old Hollywood magic that truly makes him shine on screen no matter what film or what role he‘s in, and of course Eva Mendes, an actress who‘s acting talent is as stunning as her beauty, she embodies the very meaning of the word sexy, and who acting goes above and beyond the normal standards and her performance in this was truly unforgettable.

Final Say: I had a blast watching We Own The Night, and what I found most intriguing was during my research I found out that the saying We Own The Night was apparently a real New York police slogan in the 80’s, I reall enjoyed watching this and I highly recommend it.

Copyright 2008 TCWreviews.com
All Rights Reserved

Review: Descent (2007) [Reviewed By Kelsey Zukowski]

Descent
Review By: Kelsey Zukowski
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Chad Faust, Marcus Patrick
Directed By: Talia Lugacy
Written By: Talia Lugacy, Brian Preist
Released: 2007
Grade: B-

Maya (Dawson) is a college student at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. She is an excellent student and is somewhat of an intellectual. Her social life is where she isn’t quite up to par. She hasn’t completely gotten over her past boyfriend and is wary of men. Just to satisfy her mother she makes up a boyfriend based on a book she is reading. One night, she goes to a party. As she is getting close with a girl, one of the guys at the party intervenes. As Maya is trying to go, her future rapist, Jared (Faust) stops her. Maya sees through his pick up lines, but he doesn’t give up very easily. She eventually agrees to at least talk to him. He tries to escalate things that night, but Maya postpones the intimacy. They go on a date and Maya actually has a pretty good time. They go back to Jared’s house as things go farther. Maya is enjoying it at first, but then things start to move too fast for her. She tells Jared to stop. He doesn’t listen though and she struggles and screams for him to let her go. Jared just covers her mouth and finishes until he’s done with her though.

After Maya’s rape, her life is changed. She starts hanging out with a rougher crowd and induces herself in drugs. Maya doesn’t have any relationships other than very casual ones. She remains to be a good student though and ends up monitoring Jared’s class nearing the anniversary of the day they met. At first they don’t make eye contact. Jared doesn’t even acknowledge her presence. When she catches him cheating on an exam, she is finally the one to confront him. His defense is that Maya is just using that as reason to lure him in, convinced that she wants more of him. Maya agrees with this and they make plans to spend the night together. She makes him strip, chains him up, and blindfolds him. Maya takes her final revenge on him, by showing him the harms that rape can do.

Rosario Dawson did a fair job with this, but honestly there was a lot lacking from her character. This is more of the fault of the script than her actual performance though. There was a lot of character development lacking, which really affected the film. You still felt for Maya though, there just wasn’t a true understanding of her. Chad Faust did well, not quite as good as his work in Saved!, but he did show the proper appeal. He was very arrogant, deceptive, and didn’t seem to have any compassion for anyone other than himself. Marcus Patrick gave a mixed performance. Some parts earlier on seemed very bland and dry. His character also wasn’t explored enough and he was really a stranger to us. At the end, he did an incredible job though during the most intense scene, which the entire film really depended on. He became angry, fierce, and loyal in the most terrifying way.

Descent should have been better than it was. One of the biggest problems was that there wasn’t enough background. When Maya is getting raped, we still don’t really have any idea who she is. She seems very broken up and on the recovery from past experiences. We know she broke up with a boyfriend awhile back and she still needed to get over him, but aside from that we know nothing else about that past life. It also seems like there is some confusion on her sexuality. She gets very close with a female friend and is upset when a guy interrupts this. Later in the film, when she goes to clubs there are many instances of her making out with girls. Yet in the beginning there are moments with Jared that she enjoys. And she pursues Adrian (Patrick), and lies about her age to impress him. Nothing is really made clear though, which makes it hard to connect with Maya even though we feel bad for the rape she had to endure.

The film has a bit of a pacing problem. The first hour goes by very slowly, yet in all this time it doesn’t seem like we are seeing the right things. We are seeing how Maya is acting, but really what we need to see is what she is thinking and how the incident has affected her. During the last half hour it really shapes up. When Maya was raped, it was pretty tame compared to many other films that have this type of scene in it. Most of the film is pretty light for the subject manner and the NC-17 rating. Once Maya seduces Jared for her revenge, the anticipation builds. You are really counting on it to be intense and it does a pretty good job of delivering in this sequence. Maya messes with his mind for awhile. She tells him of a dream she has with him in it. Once he realizes that he will be getting pain not pleasure this time, he panics and screams. Even when he is calm and says a simple word, Maya freaks out in a life threatening manner. She forces objects inside him over and over again. It seems like this will be it though, than in comes Adrian. I really appreciated this aspect as it seemed like the most creative part of the film. Maya doesn’t want to give her body to Jared again even if it is for the sake of his pain. Instead of Maya continuing to try to bring him harm, a male is brought in. If Jared just had to sex with Maya so bad that he couldn’t wait and had to force himself on her, along with some mental and confidence issues, it shows his overpowering desire for woman. So why not take that away from him and force him to have homosexual intercourse, completely destroying his sexuality and pride. Just as the painful memories of Jared may pop in to Maya’s head during sexual situations, now Jared will have to think of this time, which is much longer, more aggressive, and even more degrading than it was for Maya.

It is surprising that Adrian would do this for Maya. They knew each other and hung around each other, but they weren’t even all that close of friends. Possibly someone else he cared about had a similar experience to this. Again, we really don’t know and it would be nice seeing his character’s mindset and motives more. He is really intense and really wants to see Jared regret what he did. At this point Maya is having a hard time. She knows how badly this can affect a person and she set this up to happen to someone, which is hard with her to deal with. In a lot of films we see the initial victim defeat over their rapist and they are shown in all their glory when vengeance is served. Descent manages to communicate that two wrongs don’t make a right. Jared’s rape will never make Maya’s go away. He might have learned his lesson from this, but the sight of it will just be another skeleton in Maya’s closet.