Gimme the Loot

Adam Leon's debut feature film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival. Two teenage graffiti writers in the Bronx (played by newcomers Ty Hickson and Tashiana Washington) hatch a scheme to tag the oversized apple in the New York Mets' Citi Field stadium. The pair spend a couple of days trying to raise $500 to make their plan a reality, resorting to selling marijuana and engaging in theft for the funding. Although Leon's direction is polished, and the young leads have charisma to spare, it is difficult to embrace a film where an act of silly vandalism is the protagonists' ultimate goal, especially one in which hackneyed racial and gender stereotypes sometimes seem closer in spirit to an old Sanford and Son episode than to the rhythm of contemporary New York. Still, Gimme the Loot has enjoyed serious critical success, and was even chosen for the Un Certain Regard competition at last year's Cannes Film Festival, so this should be considered a strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)