directed by:
Alfred Padilla written by: Alfred Padilla genre: Drama, Comedy |
What catches your attention when you start watching something new is always interesting. At first, I got hung up on the look of Coney Island itself, assuming, of course, that's what we were looking at right away as this movie began – this place looks cool! Then, as a Canadian, I started wondering about where in the heck Coney Island actually was. We've probably all heard lots about it in passing or through seeing this movie or that, but where is it, precisely? It turns out it's an offshoot of Brooklyn, over there in New York, in case you're like me and never have any idea of where anything is outside of where you live.
It isn't long before we've got a bag full of unknown pills that are believed to be "mostly ecstasy" & a party about to start. I know if there's one thing I personally love about unknown pills, it's definitely the thrill of what the hell have I taken, and/or am I going to die ten minutes later? The answer you're looking for is always the simplest one, though – if you're worried about the content of some unbranded pills, you combat those with copious amounts of alcohol & cocaine – problem solved! It's fair to say that "Coney Island Cousins" gets pretty damn real pretty damn quickly, and…spoiler alert – the next thing you know, the character Max is dead. So where do you go from there, right? What would YOU do? Do you leave him there, laid out on the bed, like a monster? Do you call the cops like some kind of neighbourhood hero? Do you take a moment to rifle through his computer and steal the dead guy's money as any normal person would clearly do? Hmmmm... Look, I suppose it's fair to say that Val (Diana Sillaots) and Yulia (Upa InSpace/I. Ginzburg) are not exactly model citizens…but they haven't hung out for a while, so dead guy or not, you gotta make the most of your time spent together with old friends/family! Besides, it's not like they actually KILLED the guy, right? So why not take a load off, spark up "a $100 stick," and just enjoy the nightlife for a while? At the very least, whilst you're in the middle of reminiscing and reconnecting with an old friend, why not take all the time you need to fleece a dead guy properly and make sure you get every last dime out of his accounts with the kind of caution that'll make sure it doesn't get traced back to you? You have to admire Val and Yulia – you've never met two people so cool about having a dead guy in the room next to them. Most folks get so uppity about that kind of stuff, but not these two. They continue to enjoy their night, order food, tour the city, make bids on eBay, and chill together as their friend, the corpse gets some much-needed rest in the room adjacent to them. Watching them win a high-priced auction on eBay was a pure dark comedic delicacy, leading them to need a fingerprint from their dear departed friend. I won't tell you how they go about getting it, but it definitely had me laughing. Personally, I really enjoyed how "Coney Island Cousins" doesn't seem to try that hard to land its material – it's almost as if you were to laugh - that would be a bonus. The jokes are generally quite on the dry side, and they speed through them without pausing for a laugh, as so many shows in this genre would do. Again, that appeals to me personally – I like that kind of approach. It's not like what you're going to see is the kind of ha-ha funny you expect from a Comedy – no – "Coney Island Cousins" plays more like a Drama or even a Mystery would in terms of its pace and demeanour, but if that's your jam, you'll probably dig this.
Rashad Bashir makes a stellar appearance as Lucious, and Max's outdoor neighbour/nighttime patrons like Marleen (Janice Messitte) make for highly interesting interruptions to the main plotline goin' on. Ultimately, you'll find that a film like "Coney Island Cousins" moves along similar lines you'd find in other drug-fueled movies where madness reigns supreme, like "Go" or "Another Day In Paradise." Rashad is a real breath of fresh air in this film – I was already enjoying this movie as it began, but once you're introduced to Lucious, you feel the pace quicken, the jokes sharpen, the experience with comedy starts to become more prevalent – and it's crucial in propelling the whole entertainment factor forward. The very idea that Lucious and Yulia end up taking the time to do a stand-up set in the club in the middle of everything going on is funny in itself. Like I was tellin' ya earlier, it's like "Coney Island Cousins" isn't even aware of how funny it is…we just keep on moving with the madness without questioning it, exactly like the main characters are doing, which is a great way to tell a story. It's like we're all in on their fun and equally free from the potential consequences that could come along with their actions or inactions. I feel like Writer/Director Alfred Padilla deserves a lot of credit for how well this turns out – I'd definitely be interested in watching more from this dude. The story is creative, fun, and genuinely well-balanced. While there's no doubt about it being a comedy at the core of it all, Padilla's got this drier than your favorite gin, and expertly threaded in a level of Mystery and Drama into the mix. It's filmed effectively and cleverly, like we're right there in the room with Yulia & Val, and he's made incredible use of the supporting cast in characters like Lucious, Marleen, Max (Gregory Korostishevsky), and Noah (Jordon Ferber), in addition to others you'll meet along the way. Much to Padilla's credit, the majority of this madness actually moves in a very believable way despite how crazy this story truly IS. There's very little you have to overlook or not think too hard about logistically. There's a fraction of the plotline that expects us to believe eBay would deliver something in mere hours as opposed to the months it seems to take to get anything up here in Canada, but I'm willing to believe that Coney Island has its own magic after all I've seen in this film. I think it's highly commendable that Padilla has managed to keep such professional control over a script like this and present it to us as calmly and precisely as he does. It could have easily gone the other way in someone else's hands and become over the top & outright manic. Which, to be honest, could have possibly worked well too, but I like this style of dry delivery. That being said, I'm well aware that some folks out there connect with dry Comedy, and for others, it flies right over their heads without any kind of understanding whatsoever. I'm confident that Padilla would be ready for both sides of the scenario, but it's fair to say that this style of film works both for and against the success of something like "Coney Island Cousins" on a larger scale in the long run. As an individual critic that likes to believe he's discerning, has some taste, a grip on what makes Comedy great, and a penchant for loving movies of…hmm… let's say 'substance' and let you interpret how I mean that, I felt like this was absolutely entertaining and excellent to watch from start to finish. It wraps up pretty tightly…there are a few details and things left for us to wonder about, but at the same time, they were really just pieces of a scattered plotline that served its main purpose much earlier on. I think it'll be a surprise for many watchers how serious "Coney Island Cousins" decides to be by the time it's heading towards its ending, rather than lean on the Comedy and frantic antics that carried so much of the weight along the way. I'll concede that there's a good chance many watchers are going to feel like the balance shifts a bit too far in that regard by the time this film's credits start to roll, but I dunno, I still felt like it worked well enough. All in all, I thought everyone involved in this film did an exceptional job and that "Coney Island Cousins" stands a great chance of exceeding anyone's expectations of what it might be. I'm going with a solid three & a half stars out of five, bordering right on the edge of it being a four – the cast is great, the story is wild, and the direction and writing hit the mark…this movie is highly entertaining. |
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