Just looking at the genre, this is a cut above the normal. This is by no means an endorsement of this movie, but it is better than most.
Waist Deep (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:76
Fresh:20
Rotten:56
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: A well-meaning B-movie that suffers from a cliche-ridden script and poorly drawn characters that fail to inspire much sympathy.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence and pervasive language.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Jun 23, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $21,318,194
Synopsis: This sun scorched, bullet-blasted South Central L.A. story follows the car- and corpse-strewn trail of an ex-con turned security guard O2 (Tyrese Gibson), who gets carjacked while his son is still... This sun scorched, bullet-blasted South Central L.A. story follows the car- and corpse-strewn trail of an ex-con turned security guard O2 (Tyrese Gibson), who gets carjacked while his son is still asleep in the backseat. The thugs hold the child for ransom, and O2 has 48 hours to come up with a hundred grand. His only lead in getting the kid back is Coco (Meagan Good) the cutie who distracted him at the traffic light. Together they bicker, fall in love, and launch a plan to take down a vicious gang leader named Meat (The Game) while they roll along on a bank-robbing spree. Director Vondie Curtis-Hall keeps the action humming and swathes his gritty South Central locations in a thick haze of urban grime and chaotic spontaneity, making it reminiscent of 1970s cult classics like BLACK CAESAR and THE WARRIORS. Tyrese is more than up for the job here as the tough but tender O2; he and the very sexy Meagan Good generate major onscreen chemistry. Larenz Tate plays O2's dope-head cousin, and Kimora Lee Simmons has a funny cameo as a fencer of hot designer dresses. Her husband, Russell Simmons, was one of the producers. [More]
Starring: Game, Tyrese Gibson, Paul Terrel Clayton, Meagan Good
Starring: Game, Tyrese Gibson, Paul Terrel Clayton, Meagan Good, Eric Lane
Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
Producer: Ted Field, Preston L. Holmes
Composer: Terence Blanchard
Studio: Focus Features
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Release:
Mar 22, 2009
DVD Features:
- Region [unknown]
- Snap Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
- Subtitles: English, SDH, French, Spanish
Additional Release Material:
- Deleted Scenes
- Music Video: "Bad Girls" Music Video
Featurette:
- 1. Analysis of a Scene
- 2. Drive by Filmmaking
Reviews for Waist Deep
A mean and depressing B-movie in which there's no one to root for or even care about.
It seemed impossible that Vondie Curtis Hall could direct a movie that‘s as bad as Glitter, but he has: Waist Deep. And Mariah Carey is nowhere in sight.
That sappy sentimentality juxtaposed with plenty of gritty gangster stuff drives both the tone and the plot of Waist Deep.
The efforts of Waist Deep to make some meaningful social commentary about street gangs and the vicious circle in which African-American men often find themselves seem like an afterthought, rather than anything remotely sincere.
The Game attempts to exude menace through hardcore forehead-wrinkling and gangsta nose-crinkling, but his efforts are more comic than sinister.
The worst is saved for last: just when you think the movie has shown the courage of its 'gritty' convictions, it hits you with schmaltz that would shame a Hallmark card.
lets it's booming gangsta rap soundtrack cover up the sad truth that the film doesn't have a real message.
A cynical excuse for the writer and director (and talented actor) Vondie Curtis-Hall to sock some money away for the kids' college tuition.
Vondie Curtis Hall helmed Gridlock'd, a low-budget buddy thriller starring Tupac Shakur and Tim Roth, with nary a rote moment. This is not the case with Waist Deep, a big-budget thriller with nary an original moment.
The dialogue by Curtis-Hall and Darin Scott is a degrading string of profanities and inanities, interspersed with sadism and exploitation of women. Their opinion of their target audience should depress moviegoers of any color.
Even with the movie's multiple personas, its message -- that salvation sometimes doesn't arrive in the expected form, and that escaping isn't the same thing as running away -- is delivered loud and clear.
The lead actors are good, and the film moves along so well that audiences may overlook plot holes that are, well, waist deep.
Marred by absurd plot digressions and choppy, sloppy and incoherent shaky-camera action sequences.
Everyone connected with this gangsta opus was probably trying to make a crowd-pleaser. However, you wind up wondering what kind of crowds they were trying to please.
...shows some gritty visual flair, but too much of this material feels familiar, right down to the climactic showdown and the obligatory pulsating soundtrack.
By teasing us with potential meaning only to embrace wanton gunplay, Waist Deep betrays thinking members in the audience.
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