Directed By: Pat Healy
Release Date: 5/5/09
Grade: B-
Through the poster and even plot synopsis that Maverick Entertainment has released for Baja Beach Bums, the film seems like a sex comedy. This is very far from the truth though. It’s kind of hard to group it as it has dramatic elements, lighter humor, and takes a suspenseful and crime ridden turn. The film is better than I expected, but it does have problems deciding what it wants to be, hitting on each of these genres, but only hitting the surface of each one.
Brandt (Carver) has fallen in to depression after losing his job and his girlfriend. He feels he has nothing left and his attempts to get his old life back fail. So he goes on a vacation with his friend, T.K (Morrison), T.K.’s girlfriend, Mackenzie (Carradine) and a few of their other friends to Baja, Mexico. T.K and his friends have been going there every year for their New Years celebration. Brandt is just hoping to forget his miserable life for awhile. He soaks his sorrows in alcohol and is drunk and belligerent for most of the trip down there, getting them in some trouble with the locals. Once they get there Brandt is not too happy. They are in an unknown part on the maps and are camping out rather than staying in a hotel like Brandt imagined. He just wants to get home, but as there are no working phones around to call a cab and the trip back to town is lengthy and dangerous, he is stuck there for the time being. T.K. and the others try to show him a good time and he promises that if 24 hours from then if he still wants to go home, he will take him himself.
Brandt slowly loosens up little by little as he spends more time with Unis (Bell), a girl who takes a liking to, who is a cancer victim in remission. The two seem to bring a bit of happiness to each other, Brandt actually being the one who is more desperate for this. Soon they learn they couldn’t even leave if they wanted to. A mule ate one of the parts to their bus and it is now useless to them. T.K.’s friend, Gus, doesn’t seem to be anywhere around either, but they feel they have no other choice than to wait for him to come back so they can get a ride back in to town from him. They soon learn someone has killed him though. T.K. and Mackenzie go in to town to get parts and try to get back as soon as possible. While they are there they get arrested and are accused of being mixed up in something they don‘t know anything about. Meanwhile, the others were left with a local who clearly isn’t very trustworthy as he threatens the lives of all of them. No one even knows where they are and they could easily be deserted there.
The acting in the film was very good. Kenny Morrison as T.K. was among the best performances. He had a very likeable way about him. He had charisma and had a very go with the flow mentality while still being very sensible. Morrison and Kansas Carradine had very good chemistry and their relationship ended up being one of the better aspects of the film. Carradine was very charming and down to earth as well. The two got us to believe in their love, forming an attachment from the audience to them, fighting with them when things seemed to be hopeless. Tom Carver did decent as the miserable failed friend, but it was a little overdone. This might have partially been in the writing, but he just seemed a little too pathetic, only showing this one side to him. Even when he is snapped out of things and is brought back to humanity and being happy to be where he is and alive there isn’t nearly enough of a transition. The character is played really flat and one sided. Rini Bell made up for his lack of life as she was full of energy as Unis. She was bright, energetic, and was clearly very happy living her life one day at a time, enjoying every minute that she got.
The film doesn’t hit on the comedy as strong as it could have, but it is still enjoyable to watch since most of our main characters are fun. It actually worked best when the tension was built upon more and the characters were in danger. Towards the end everything becomes very hectic and it doesn’t seem like there will be a way to get out. Then it suddenly comes to a very sudden turn where everything is suddenly better. It just ends a bit too neatly and with little build up to this. The crime aspect could have been dealt with further as they had talked about there being so many dangerous people around these roads. There’s a drug trafficking situation going on forcing the Indians of the land in to it, threatening to kill them if they don’t and having the fear of their land being taken away if they are caught hovering over them. This is really just mentioned, but even when the criminal aspect comes out this isn’t gone in to very much. The biggest problem is it struggle with the tone, going back and forth between crime, comedy, romance, and drama. The comedy is the weakest of the categories while the romance is the strongest despite one weak character. I would have liked to see these things work together a bit better or for them to just pick one to focus on.
Great review.
Never heard of it, but sounds interesting.
I got to agree with JD, excellent review. I have seen the film, and you nailed it. The comedy falls just short and seemed like a writting or possibly production (lack of $ for more physical/visual comedy). I was pleasently surprised with Kansas Carradine's performance. She's got skills, I hope she continues to grace the screen. Pepe the Donkey is the 2nd best actor in this film.