Barriers
(1998)
Picture:
C- Sound: C Extras: C+ Film: C+
Alan
Baxter’s Barriers (1998) is an
ambitious attempt to do a story about the lines of race and socio-economic
class, but despite a screenplay by producer Charles Ricciardi that does not
seem as phony as so many Boutique independent productions about the same
subjects from mini-major divisions of the big studios, the film cannot find the
big breakthrough it needs to stand out among the many good films made on the
subject before.
The conflict
comes from a young African American teen named Tori (Jamaul Roots) form as good
family being affected by two new persons in his life. One is a new female babysitter/nanny type
(Annie Golden) who is white and a bit immature and the other is a tough African
American street teen named Snake (Geoffrey Garcy) who offer him limited
friendship versus more realistic by rougher opportunities. Tori is so alone, he is trapped to being with
and though Snake seems like a bad choice of friend, he goes for it and the
results are not going to be good.
The title
refers to more than just class and race lines, but personal lines that can
often be even more problematic, including those between Tori and his working
parents. 86 minutes just may not be
enough time to deal with all this, but under the circumstances, half of the
pleasure of watching this film is how often it works. The acting can be awkward at times and there
is limited music that works to its advantage at times and hurts some scenes,
but ultimately, the film cannot hold together all the way leaving the feeling
that if it was not going to offer closure, it could at least have said or shown
more.
The
letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is very soft, flat, lacks depth and has film color
that is limited by what looks like an analog transfer. Video Black is one of the flattening agents
and David Sharples cinematography is not bad, but undermined by some mixed
editing. Extras include a tribute to
Quentin Crisp, stills, original trailer and Baxter/Ricciardi commentary track.
- Nicholas Sheffo
