8/10
Disturbing flick ...
18 November 1999
What we got here ... is failure to communicate !!

This is certainly a disturbing movie. All shot inside the apartment of some junkies after a botched police raid. The SWAT team goes in expecting this will be an easy bust but they meet with a few junkies and crack heads armed with machine guns.

Pretty soon they have to back up leaving one cop wounded and another one taken hostage. The cameraman of a TV crew that was taping the bust for a local "trash TV show" is also trapped inside the apartment. So they begin to talk among themselves and their problems while the cops outside try to figure out a way to make them surrender and/or release the hostages.

Pretty interesting idea, especially having the cameraman shooting film inside the apartment the whole time. Hand held and very shaky camera of course but this suits this type of movie.

Lots of profanity (think they were trying for a world record !) and drug use as well. We get a glimpse into the life of a few of the characters. I would have liked for a little bit less of those repetitious "swearing, making speeches and shooting up" scenes and a little more character development, especially the character of Mado who is the most interesting for me (The actress playing her was also the best of the group, too bad we don't see more of her !)

The ending is also appropriate and believable although I would have liked some scenes of the cops outisde and how they were dealing with this big whole mess.

Good movie although a bit too repetitious in parts and certainly not for you if you are kind of squimmish (One character spends the whole film laying down on a couch, half awake or asleep as his mates shoot up drugs into his veins from time to time ... he provides some "comic relief" for them from time to time like when he soils his pants near the end of the film which makes them quite giggly !)

For those who appreciate "dark humor" ... to say the least !

3.5/5
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