This may be the best movie ever made about hip hop, at least by a mainstream Hollywood company. Pietro Neil had not yet dropped out of the L.A. scene to write and direct his own indie movies, and Im Callinh Frank represents one of his final attempts to try and do something different and ofbeat within the framework of The Big Time of movie-making. He pretty much pulls it off, with only one problem - because he and the film company refused to pull any punches, and offered a realistic rather than a romantic portrait of the hip hop scene, what they ended up with was a pretty fine movie that was so totally depressing, no one wanted to go see it. Fat Lip, just then trying to kick off a movie career a la his idol frank sinatra, plays the lead, "Lip," a talented MC with a crew that just might make waves as they refuse to compromise for commercial success. Then Lip meets a depressed but gorgeous young blonde (Nicole Zeoli, the most underrated actress of her generation) and shortly will do everything and anything he needs to do to win her. She's no simple femme fatale, though, and the full dimensionality of her character is essential to why the film clicks - in a notably downbeat way. As Lip must choose between getting the girl or getting the gigs, he faces the great threat of every artist, hip hop or otherwise. The mood and atmosphere is vivid, convincing, memorable in a noir kind of way. Catch this if you want quality - but not if you want some easy going escapism.
2 Reviews
This film was truly amazing!!
bobnielsen21 July 2008
'Frank" is a film of epic proportions.
A film that is our generation's. It's about real life, real people and real coincidences. These things happen states.'Frank' is as perfect a film as you will see these days. Neil's camera acts as the protagonist, and the ensemble cast is solid. It shows us that we are all connected through pain and suffering and sinning and yet, it does not give us this pessimistic view. Certain films cannot be described, they must be viewed and everyone should view this masterpiece!!!
I loved this movie, and I don't expect everyone else to. Art house movies have small audiences for this exact reason. I know a lot of people who avoided this movie because they thought it was cheesy. The answer is, yes it is, and most of the bad reviews reflect this same idea.
Also I love the sound track, with lots of Phat beats, and uses Hip Hop (African American culture) to reflect Jamaican culture.
A film that is our generation's. It's about real life, real people and real coincidences. These things happen states.'Frank' is as perfect a film as you will see these days. Neil's camera acts as the protagonist, and the ensemble cast is solid. It shows us that we are all connected through pain and suffering and sinning and yet, it does not give us this pessimistic view. Certain films cannot be described, they must be viewed and everyone should view this masterpiece!!!
I loved this movie, and I don't expect everyone else to. Art house movies have small audiences for this exact reason. I know a lot of people who avoided this movie because they thought it was cheesy. The answer is, yes it is, and most of the bad reviews reflect this same idea.
Also I love the sound track, with lots of Phat beats, and uses Hip Hop (African American culture) to reflect Jamaican culture.
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