Against the Wall
A pair of lifelong friends whose relationship thrives on their mutual love for graffiti finds their creative passions stifled after being arrested over their illegal art form in director Benjamin Morgan's celluloid commentary on the absurdity of "quality of life" laws. As children living in San Francisco's Mission District, Michael "Heir" Rosario (Lane Garrison) and Curtis "Vain" Smith (Brian Burnam) longed for fame and fortune. Soon convinced that the most viable means of achieving their dreams was to spread their names across the urban landscape, "Heir" and "Vain" soon took to tagging the concrete and steel canvases of the city with their lesser-known monikers. As the years passed and their distinctive form of urban art earned "Heir" and "Vain" the status of anonymous superstars to some, others looking to clean up the streets took a less positive view of the pair's covert artistic exploits. When "Heir" and "Vain" are eventually arrested for violating the city's strict "quality of life" laws, the prospect of serving hard time and having their lives turned upside down for the outwardly victimless crime soon proves devastating for the artistically suffocated urban artists. more..
Director: Benjamin Morgan
Starring: Lane Garrison, Brian Burnam, Mackenzie Firgens, Luis Saguar, Fred Pitts
Kev Robertson's gritty camerawork and a musical soundtrack mixing hip-hop, punk and electronica add to the ambience of this impressive shoestring-budget indie.
This is a small -- if rough -- gem of a film.
While Burnam and Garrison imbue their characters with authentic-feeling frustration and anger, they never succeed in making them especially interesting; it's hard to care in any serious way what becomes of either.
Picture's cliched underlying story of restless youth plays as too naive for an older audience and too provocative for teens.
Establishes a strong sense of milieu in these street scenes, and while the movie's not without its flaws--much of the dialogue is colorless and Lisa seems a bit too together to be hanging out with Curtis--it's never less than credible.
14plus: Best Feature Film
Berlin International Film Festival (2004)
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