Waist Deep is a pretty much a “paint by numbers” urban action flick that is entertaining – even if you have to turn your brain off the second the credits finish rolling at the beginning of the movie. With that said, the movie does feature slick filming, a modern gangster plot, and a pace that stays steady from beginning to end.
The film stars Tyrese Gibson - no stranger to the urban gangster film with roles in Four Brothers and Baby Boy; Larenz Tate - another familiar face to this kind of movie with roles in Dead Presidents and A Man Apart; The Game – the “gansta” rapper who also lent his voice to the hit video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; and Meagan Good – who also appeared in Brick and the horror flick Venom. It was directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall - who also wrote the screenplay with Darin Scott based on the story by Michael Mahern.
Waist Deep follows O2 (Gibson) who begins a mad quest to get his son back after a gangster named Meat (The Game) kidnaps him from the backseat of his car. O2 (which is short for “Oxygen”) was involved in a robbery several years ago with Meat, went to jail, and lost the money (including Meat’s share of the cut). However, Meat doesn’t believe O2, and tells him if he wants the kid back he has to come up with $100,000 before the deadline or he starts cutting the kid up. We get to see some of Meat’s cutting skills at the beginning of the movie which helps us know he is serious on his threat.
Desperate, O2 turns to Coco (Good) – the woman that was actually in on the car jacking that cost O2 his son – for help in getting the loot together. His plan (although it is never really fully brought into the film’s plot) is to hit all of Meat’s safe houses and steal his money. He also plans to blame another gangster for the robberies which will hopefully cause enough confusion that O2 will be able to get his kid back.
Unfortunately, Meat doesn’t keep enough cash at his safe houses so O2 decides to start knocking off the banks that Meat uses to store his profits – well actually he just robs the safety deposit boxes. With little planning, O2 and Coco manage to rob all the safety deposit boxes with ease, but still come short of the total cash needed (I guess Meat isn’t that successful of a gangster since he doesn’t have $100,000 in three banks).
Gibson plays the same kind of character we have seen before
O2 then turns to his pothead brother Lucky (Tate) for help fencing some of Meat’s jewelry that he stole from the safe houses. Lucky (who actually isn’t despite what he is named) makes the mistake of taking the loot to Meat to fence (way to go Lucky!). This leads to the final showdown between Meat and O2.
You would think that the movie ends with the showdown, but it doesn’t! Instead, we get a “thrilling” car chase through downtown L.A. between the cops and O2 – who also just happens to have Coco and his kid in the backseat. Halfway through the chase, O2 uses some quick car thieving skills to separate himself from Coco and the kid. This finally brings us to a somewhat sappy, predictable ending on the beaches of old Mexico.
Ok, I am being a bit harsh on this film because it is somewhat entertaining – even though it is very cliché. Curtis-Hall handles the film’s pace at full throttle and never lets it slow enough for you to notice how dumb the plot really is. The filming is also solid and keeps you interested in what is happening on the screen despite the fact we have seen it so many times. Gibson and crew all do a good job in their roles, but none are given unique enough characters to really develop.
The gunfight after Gibson is carjacked at the beginning and the car chase at the end are fairly normal stunts for this kind of movie, but are handled well and will entertain fans of the action genre. Unfortunately, that is about all the film has to offer.
The film has several flaws and gets so far-fetched towards the end that it is just too much to handle. O2 and Coco take down three banks without so much as a single real threat of being caught (they do have to blend into a crowd at a parade to avoid capture once). Although the clock is ticking, O2 and Coco also still find the time to hook-up for a short sex scene, but it is justified because they had to wait on Lucky to fence the loot. Since they have nothing better to do (like find the kid), why not take a break for some quick nookie.
O2 and Coco are not quite Bonnie and Clyde
Gibson is solid in the role, but he really needs to start branching out because this character could easily be the same role he played in Four Brother, Baby Boy, or even 2 Fast 2 Furious. I liked his performance in Annapolis, but this just seemed to be more of the same for me. Since we have seen him do this kind of role so many times, it made the film feel that much more predictable and formulaic. I am not saying it is Gibson’s fault, but a lack of better development on the part of the writers.
The Game plays just the same old kind of urban gangster we have seen a hundred times before, and comes across as if Meat had watched Scarface one too many times. Although there is not much to work with, it would have been nice to see a different take on the street gangster instead of more of the same kind of thug we have seen in countless other films. His part does have some moments where the rapper could have broken out, but again I blame the writers for not giving more in the script.
The DVD comes with some pretty standard special features including "Going Deep: Analysis of a Scene" featurette; "Drive-By Filmmaking" featurette the driving scenes and chases, deleted scenes; and "Bad Girl" music video with Black Buddafly and Fabolou.
Analysis of a Scene shows how the filmmakers choreographed the carjacking scene (probably the best part of the movie), and features interviews with Gibson, Curtis-Hall and cinematographer Shane Hurlbut. It runs about five minutes. “Drive-By Filmmaking” is about eight minutes long and takes you behind the scenes to show the filming of the car chases and further demonstrates Hurlbut’s role in designing the film’s slick look. There are five deleted scenes that add up to about 13 minutes of extra footage. None really redeem the film, but might interest some fans of the movie.
Overall, Waist Deep is not a horrible movie, and does manage to entertain. If you are a fan of the gangster or action genre, I would say give the film a try. There is nothing really original to it, but it isn’t a bad way to kill 97 minutes. If this is not your favorite kind of genre, I would give the film a pass. It really doesn’t have anything to offer other than lots of cool action, and car chases. After all, this isn’t the kind of movie where you go looking for a deep and meaningful plot.
Meat has watched Scarface too many times
Waist Deep is now available at Amazon . Although this version of the DVD is not available in the UK, it is available at AmazonUK on HD DVD. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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