South Of Pico (2008/Image Entertainment DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Film: C

 

 

It wasn’t enough that Crash was a biog step too far away from Robert Altman’s films, but that hit has inspired so many bad imitators that I have lost count.  Ernst Gossner’s South Of Pico (2008) is the latest and rather belated attempt to recapture what it sees as the older film’s success, but is such a pale imitator that it falls flat quickly despite some good actors being cast.

 

The multi-layered storyline here includes a cancer victim, limo driver who loves to have sex with female clients, high school trouble, ethnic trouble, sexual jealousy and a conclusion that thinks it is making some great statement and falls flat.  It also has a big glaring error the makers missed or ignored, but I knew early on we might be in trouble when it cowardly began by telling us the whole mess would be told in flashback, which is (now more than ever) the ultimate cop out.  Kip Pardue, Henry Simmons and Gina Torres get top billing, but this is so near-sappy and melodramatic that any chance it could work dies too early.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is good, but not great with weak definition and mixed composition, while the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is dialogue weak and its 2.0 variant does not improve the situation any.  The combination is barely above a TV movie.  The only extra is the trailer.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo