Charm

This was a real, late- night, Netflix desperation surprise. It's clever and funny and the writer/ director/ lead is perfect in all ways- how many have watched this and said I know a guy like that ( except for the serial killer thing)? I enjoyed the sly and not- so- sly pop cultural references, which included a Louis Armstrong masterpiece, a riff on the family dynasty that produced James Bond films, and so much else. The supporting actors were great- the women were attractive and seemed natural and Malcolm's sidekick male friends were funny at times. It is in no way a horror movie- not at all fair to call it that- but more of an American Psycho- style black comedy/ social satire and it hits the mark nearly as often as that movie did. It even (sort of) covers one of many a New Yorker's favorite topics lately- that of European jerks taking over. The director cast himself perfectly and he is funny just to look at, and hearing him spout his nonsense is even funnier. What perhaps keeps "Random" from being too heavy handed is the sense the director gives you that he identifies with the characters Malcolm hates and wants to get rid of, and so he is making fun of himself as much as anyone else. Well done; no expectations going in and nothing but yuks and admiration after it ended. The "8" is high but it is in context of what he set out to do, how much he had to spend, how much I laughed, etc... wait so maybe that really does make it an 8! OK, 7 and a half and great job by all involved.

I was told about this movie from a friend who didn't even make it through the credit sequence. And at first I was siding with them. Right off the bat you are introduced to an unlikable main character living a hypocritical lifestyle in NYC. He speaks about the dangers of gentrification from his upscale apartment with his hipster friends. While only living in New York for 16 years from London, he lusts for the iconic gritty, crime ridden heart of the city.

For a movie buff, the later parts of the film begin to appear as a polar opposite of Taxi Driver. Travis Bickle went vigilante, while Malcolm goes rogue. One sees the filth and crime of the city and wants to eradicate it, while the other wishes to instigate a pseudo-intellectual 'revolution' of crime.

The style is, in my mind, a sour attempt at mockumentary. There are plenty of good uses of the shaky camera work, but there are also lots of bad examples. For the most part the message works out, 'extremely low budget' sums it up well, and overall while the main character is not a guy I would share a beer with it is an interesting look into the mind of a clearly bored psychopath with lofty ideals.

British Malcolm (Ashley Cahill) has been in New York City for 15 years and is tired of the gentrification of "his" city. He wants things to go back to the better times like when NYC had edge in the 1970s. His plan is simple: Kill as many people (mostly annoying hipsters) as he can and document his manifesto with a camera crew following him around. This acerbic pitch black comedy was edited, written, produced, and directed by leading man Cahill and had me from the opening. He obviously has seen Man Bites Dog (1992), but gives the "documentary crew follows a killer" scenario its own life with his unique Malcolm character, the hipster who hates hipsters but lives in awe of French New Wave and Clint Eastwood films (don't text while watching a movie with Malcolm). Some of the lines killed me, like when Malcolm regrets killing the project's director and says, "I think I made a mistake kill Bob that way. I should have waited. I have no idea how to edit Final Cut Pro." Or when he tells someone a Mayoral candidate has just been assassinated and they say, "I know, someone tweeted about it 15 minutes ago. Who cares?"

I made it about 20 minutes into the movie and could have saved a lot of time as the next 19 minutes were essentially the same thing as the first minute. I've enjoyed many low budget movies, my problem with this movie is the total lack of anything. It's not funny, it's not exciting, there is no discernible plot. This was one of those rare movies that preaches at you but has nothing to say. The preaching is annoying enough but the babbling on about not even good platitudes was excruciating. I've managed in less than a minute to make a more meaningful social statement than the entire first 20 minutes of this movie did.

I'm almost 70, and at last I see a movie that is truly fresh, original, and completely out to lunch. If you don't want to watch the entire movie (and I highly recommend you do), just watch his girlfriend's explanation of the importance of the attempt to discover God. Her reasoning is par excellence.

If you watch the movie to the conclusion, please don't tell others. This is just as good as any Hitchcock ending, and he did it on a thin dime. There are so many things that I normally hate in a shoe-string movies such as this. The shaky, POV camera; the quick, quirky dialogue that's hard to comprehend in one sitting; and the harsh violence that's casual. But this baby transcends all of that by miles. Give this a go. Stay with it for 30 minutes and see if you don't agree with me. My cup of tea. Hope it's yours.