iCrime and the Evils of LA' : A Movie Review

*full disclosure: a screener of this film was provided by Breaking Glass Pictures.

Director/writer: Bears Fonte.

iCrime is a film about murder, extortion and looking out for family. This title will release on DVD September 27th through Breaking Glass Pictures and this is a film that you might want to avoid. In fairness to director Bears Fonte this is his first film. Fonte is not afraid to experiment with directing techniques including split screens, multiple point-of-view, and hand-held cameras. However, the script from which Fonte is working from is quite shallow and lacking focus. Plot developments range from: the shooting of an online film, Carrie trying to protect her cousin's reputation, a fake abduction of an internet star, false romance, selling secrets to an entertainment reporter and the list goes on and on and on. In order to bring some focus to this review, two questions will be looked at: what is the focus of this film and what is the film's message?

Carrie leaves Oklahoma when she discovers that her cousin has been filmed in bondage videos, likely under the influence of drugs. She comes to Los Angeles will good intentions, but nefarious characters along the way get her involved in an abduction mystery. The authorities are never called and the distracting plot lines begin early. There is a two to three minute pause for a popular band, while Carrie is supposed to be on the trail of a kidnapper. Carrie is also supposed to be protecting her cousin (Kelly Noonan), a former Miss Oklahoma, but she gives the bondage tape to an entertainment report for some quick cash. The contradictions abound.

In answer to the question: what is the focus of this film, one has to look at the main protagonist, Carrie. The majority of the film focuses on her and there are few frames that do not include this character. Most of Carrie's story arc involves her becoming acclimatized to Los Angeles and the evils therein. When Carrie is not onscreen, there is double dealing, false impressions and tragedy. So, the film seems to be teasing a message of the loss of innocence or goodness on the streets of Los Angeles. This might be giving iCrime too much credit, but this is the message that this reviewer walked away with.

The film also plays with genres, with tragedy the final experiment. Yet, the central character, Carrie, seems almost without flaws. For tragedy to work their must be an abundance of hubris (pride) or other characteristic, so that the character has a rise and then a fall. With Carrie, she has few flaws, outside of turning away from her cousin. Her main challenges come when she gets involved with the wrong people in Los Angeles. Also, the film provides no insight into what Carrie has done wrong. There is no realization of her mistakes, by the viewer nor the charcter. Instead, the villains win with no one the wiser. One final question could be asked of this film; where was the substance in this film?

iCrime is one of these films that is almost out of your awareness as soon as the film is over. If you are unfortunate to write a review on this film, then the film stays with you a little longer. This title has some solid acting from Sara Fletcher as Carrie and Travis Brorsen as Zeffer, but the film comes together like a mish-mash of ideas. The final scenes bring the film together temporarily. However, the lessons learned here do not have much value. As well, the changing of genres from light comedy, to mystery and then to tragedy keeps the film unfocused. Search out higher quality titles from Breaking Glass Pictures including the recently reviewed The Hide.

Writing/plot/story: 6 (a few script revisions needed).
Characters/acting/believability: 6 (there are a ton of characters here, some could have been axed easily).

Overall: 6 out of 10 (not recommended, but not a total waste of time).

The film's homepage is here:

The iCrime Homepage

iCrime at Breaking Glass Pictures:

iCrime at Breaking Glass Pictures

A better film from Breaking Glass Pictures:



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