DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Steel City

By Jeff Swindoll May 13, 2008, 11:15 GMT

Sometimes a film goes unnoticed that has no reason to slip under the radar. Steel City is one such film since it features some fine acting. The attention may go to America Ferrera being in the cast but it’s the performances of John Heard, Thomas Guiry, and Raymond J. Barry that make the film worth seeing.

P.J. (Thomas Guiry) is the youngest son of Carl (John Heard). Carl is currently in jail for a vehicular homicide and P.J. finds himself on the back end of having to pay the bills. The power and water get shut off and he has to move in with his Uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry). P.J.’s older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford) is cheating on his wife and his marriage is falling apart. P.J. has a lot of pent up frustration and anger and can’t hold down a job. His girlfriend Amy (America Ferrera) had gotten him a job at a restaurant but P.J. tells the manager to take a leap and gets fired. It all stems from their father being in prison, but dad is still trying to help his boys while he’s in the big house. Uncle Vic is trying to also make an impression on P.J. and he might be able to before it’s too late. Although there seems to be an air of hopelessness that permeates the film, the ending does make it seem like things can only get better. What is it they say? It’s always darkest before the dawn and it can only get worse before it gets better. The family in the film has been shaped by the singular even of their dad having to go to prison. The acting is the thing that makes the film though. America Ferrera gets all the attention from her turn on “Ugly Betty,” but she’s really not in the picture that much. The real stars are Thomas Guiry, John Heard, Raymond J. Barry, and Clayne Crawford. Guiry is excellent as the foul tempered P.J., Crawford as the brother who doesn’t want to but is making his father’s same mistakes, Heard as the father who wants to make right but finds himself behind bars and incapable of doing so, and Barry as the gruff, but caring, uncle. Barry was the one who I thought gave the best performance following Guiry. Steel City seems to be steeped in reality and we almost feel as if we’re watching a true reality show. An excellent little film that deserves to be seen more. Steel City is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include two audio commentaries. One from writer/director Brian Jun, John Heard, and Clayne Crawford and the other with Jun and director of photography Ryan Samul. Next is an 11-minute short film that Jun made called “For Jimmy Brown. There are also 11 minutes of deleted scenes, a photo gallery, and the 2-minute theatrical trailer. Steel City is a film that overcomes its low budget to become quite the work of art. The performances are all around excellent. It’s a film that should be sought out and savored as the grand character study that it is. Steel City is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.

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