South of Pico's Recent Activity

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Title: South of Pico
Year: 2007
Director: Ernst Gossner
Plot: The lives of four random strangers converge on the streets of a sprawling Los Angeles thoroughfare in a tale of interconnecting lives starring Kip Pardue, Gina Torres, and Henry Simmons. In Los Angeles, Pico Boulevard is the dividing line that separates the rich from the poor. Upon witnessing a tragic and devastating accident, four ordinary people with little in common find their lives permanently changed when they are forced to contend with a situation that will leave them each forever changed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Number of blog posts: 1
]]>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:17:15 GMTSouth of Pico2007Ernst GossnerThe lives of four random strangers converge on the streets of a sprawling Los Angeles thoroughfare in a tale of interconnecting lives starring <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___277110/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Kip Pardue</a>, <a href="http://www.spout.com/players/P___239212/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Gina Torres</a>, and Henry Simmons. In Los Angeles, Pico Boulevard is the dividing line that separates the rich from the poor. Upon witnessing a tragic and devastating accident, four ordinary people with little in common find their lives permanently changed when they are forced to contend with a situation that will leave them each forever changed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide1http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s300014.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/South_of_Pico/300014/default.aspxFilm Spout Post: South of Pico (2007) http://www.spout.com/blogs/jj79/archive/2008/9/17/35242.aspx

Post By: JJ79
Post To: JJ79 Blog
Post Date: 9/17/2008 10:17:15 AM
Body: Never let it be said I´m a fan of "Crash." Yeah, the story had a unique structure, an all star cast and hit upon one of Hollywood´s golden topics: race relations. But to suggest "South of Pico" is better than "Crash" is absurd. All these two movies share is a common skeleton, the bare bones on which characters traits are grafted. Otherwise, to compare the films in any manner is a disservice to both. "Crash" has the benefit of a higher budget and an A-list cast, not to mention being first out of the gate. "South of Pico," while boasting solid performances, isn´t given the time to develop its own story and bring it to a reasonable conclusion. A limo driver (Kip Pardue) has an encounter with a woman on the way to her wedding. A waitress (Gina Torres) begins to develop a friendship with a patron. A cancer doctor (Henry Simmons) receives a research grant. A son (Soren Fulton) comes to a realization about his father. An immigrant (Giovanni Lopes) works as hard as he can in order to send money to his family. These five people and their storylines converge at the end of a long day. What writer-director Ernst Gossner (story credit also to Richard Marcus) has is an end scene in sight; this scene also begins the film, but we´ll get to that soon enough. Working backwards, each character in the final shot gains a story of some kind, not at all intertwined with one another. The one common denominator, though, is each subplot reveals the humanity the five people in some way. But that´s not enough in the long run. At least not when the production runs less than 90 minutes. For a movie which aspires to imitate an Oscar winner, the audience has to find characters on screen to sympathize with, to root for. There isn´t one here; we´re given shreds of actual people to work with, incomplete backstories, half formed relationships. It´s a disservice to the material and to what Gossner is trying to accomplish. What worked so well with "Crash" is each personality on screen was a fully formed human being, with a history, cross to bear and a story which tied into the overarching theme. Try as I might, outside of humanity, I can´t find a common thread among them. Why is it Carla (Torres) shies away from any kind of human interaction? How many times previously has Patrick been let down by his father and why does he continue to give him more chances? And what´s the story with Robert and his ex-girlfriend, as in, why did he cheat on her? These are questions we need to have answered in order to feel anything except the slow march to an inevitable end. And the thing is, they never come. Strong performances from Simmons and Torres can´t provide us the information we need if it´s not there. To its credit, though, "South of Pico" does allow each of the main players a moment to shine, something on which to hang their hats. Most of the sequences are brutally honest with their emotions, but none moreso than Simmons´ interaction with a young cancer patient near the hour mark. It is a heartbreaking scene which allows Simmons-most known for his work on "NYPD Blue"-to act not with his words, but with his expressions. None of the other moments work nearly as well as this one, but that´s okay. We see Dr. Chambers finally become unhinged, his affection for his patients-and life in general-coming through…which makes the finale all the more shocking. What about the other people? I´m mixed, honestly. Of course I believe the worst part of our personalities come through in a crisis or when we witness a tragedy. But for four people to loose control at the same exact time over the same event, all because they had a rough day and saw something devastating? Maybe one or two of them become violent, but not all four, not when none of them have shown any major fits of violence. (Disclosure: a confrontation between Chambers and a patients father is mentioned.) And that´s not even taking into account the others. Suffice to say their stories are of lesser importance and quality, not to mention rather poor excuses for the actions they all take in the end. In the final analysis, Gossner tries to replicate the success of "Crash," complete with its ensemble cast and social message and ends up failing. Not because the fundamentals are necessarily unsound; not enough time is afforded the production to let us see the evolution, how they each get to the crucial moment. VIDEO: I can only guess the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer sports a fair amount of grain on purpose, to create a gritty and naturalistic look to the film. To be fair, if this is the case, the strategy works wonderfully. Each scene-indoor or outdoor-comes across as if Gossner took the camera to any street and filmed. The transfer also shows a fair number of artifacts, mostly white pops throughout the production. AUDIO: On the audio front, the standard two mixes are available: English 5.1 and 2.0. Both do an adequate job of rendering dialogue without distortion, yet the mix itself tends to overemphasize the score too much, to the detriment of the spoken word. Coupled with English and Spanish subtitles, this is the kind of mix we´ve come to expect from Image Entertainment. Solid, yet unspectacular. EXTRAS: A suite of trailers for other product, including "I´m Through with White Girls" (2:19), "Love and Other Four Letter Words" (1:57), "Love for Sale" (1:24), "Kidulthood" (2:04), "Stuck" (1:41) and "South of Pico" (1:31). PARTING THOUGHTS: Way back, I also mentioned the end of the film is also the first thing that we see. I´m not sure that construct works, either, because it gives away the finale, somehow cheapening the entire ordeal in the process. It is said the journey is more important than the destination; here, though, I would have liked to have a bit more mystery concerning where the story was actually leading.
]]>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:17:15 GMTJJ79JJ79 Blog9/17/2008 10:17:15 AMNever let it be said I´m a fan of "Crash." Yeah, the story had a unique structure, an all star cast and hit upon one of Hollywood´s golden topics: race relations. But to suggest "South of Pico" is better than "Crash" is absurd. All these two movies share is a common skeleton, the bare bones on which characters traits are grafted. Otherwise, to compare the films in any manner is a disservice to both. "Crash" has the benefit of a higher budget and an A-list cast, not to mention being first out of the gate. "South of Pico," while boasting solid performances, isn´t given the time to develop its own story and bring it to a reasonable conclusion. A limo driver (Kip Pardue) has an encounter with a woman on the way to her wedding. A waitress (Gina Torres) begins to develop a friendship with a patron. A cancer doctor (Henry Simmons) receives a research grant. A son (Soren Fulton) comes to a realization about his father. An immigrant (Giovanni Lopes) works as hard as he can in order to send money to his family. These five people and their storylines converge at the end of a long day. What writer-director Ernst Gossner (story credit also to Richard Marcus) has is an end scene in sight; this scene also begins the film, but we´ll get to that soon enough. Working backwards, each character in the final shot gains a story of some kind, not at all intertwined with one another. The one common denominator, though, is each subplot reveals the humanity the five people in some way. But that´s not enough in the long run. At least not when the production runs less than 90 minutes. For a movie which aspires to imitate an Oscar winner, the audience has to find characters on screen to sympathize with, to root for. There isn´t one here; we´re given shreds of actual people to work with, incomplete backstories, half formed relationships. It´s a disservice to the material and to what Gossner is trying to accomplish. What worked so well with "Crash" is each personality on screen was a fully formed human being, with a history, cross to bear and a story which tied into the overarching theme. Try as I might, outside of humanity, I can´t find a common thread among them. Why is it Carla (Torres) shies away from any kind of human interaction? How many times previously has Patrick been let down by his father and why does he continue to give him more chances? And what´s the story with Robert and his ex-girlfriend, as in, why did he cheat on her? These are questions we need to have answered in order to feel anything except the slow march to an inevitable end. And the thing is, they never come. Strong performances from Simmons and Torres can´t provide us the information we need if it´s not there. To its credit, though, "South of Pico" does allow each of the main players a moment to shine, something on which to hang their hats. Most of the sequences are brutally honest with their emotions, but none moreso than Simmons´ interaction with a young cancer patient near the hour mark. It is a heartbreaking scene which allows Simmons-most known for his work on "NYPD Blue"-to act not with his words, but with his expressions. None of the other moments work nearly as well as this one, but that´s okay. We see Dr. Chambers finally become unhinged, his affection for his patients-and life in general-coming through…which makes the finale all the more shocking. What about the other people? I´m mixed, honestly. Of course I believe the worst part of our personalities come through in a crisis or when we witness a tragedy. But for four people to loose control at the same exact time over the same event, all because they had a rough day and saw something devastating? Maybe one or two of them become violent, but not all four, not when none of them have shown any major fits of violence. (Disclosure: a confrontation between Chambers and a patients father is mentioned.) And that´s not even taking into account the others. Suffice to say their stories are of lesser importance and quality, not to mention rather poor excuses for the actions they all take in the end. In the final analysis, Gossner tries to replicate the success of "Crash," complete with its ensemble cast and social message and ends up failing. Not because the fundamentals are necessarily unsound; not enough time is afforded the production to let us see the evolution, how they each get to the crucial moment. VIDEO: I can only guess the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer sports a fair amount of grain on purpose, to create a gritty and naturalistic look to the film. To be fair, if this is the case, the strategy works wonderfully. Each scene-indoor or outdoor-comes across as if Gossner took the camera to any street and filmed. The transfer also shows a fair number of artifacts, mostly white pops throughout the production. AUDIO: On the audio front, the standard two mixes are available: English 5.1 and 2.0. Both do an adequate job of rendering dialogue without distortion, yet the mix itself tends to overemphasize the score too much, to the detriment of the spoken word. Coupled with English and Spanish subtitles, this is the kind of mix we´ve come to expect from Image Entertainment. Solid, yet unspectacular. EXTRAS: A suite of trailers for other product, including "I´m Through with White Girls" (2:19), "Love and Other Four Letter Words" (1:57), "Love for Sale" (1:24), "Kidulthood" (2:04), "Stuck" (1:41) and "South of Pico" (1:31). PARTING THOUGHTS: Way back, I also mentioned the end of the film is also the first thing that we see. I´m not sure that construct works, either, because it gives away the finale, somehow cheapening the entire ordeal in the process. It is said the journey is more important than the destination; here, though, I would have liked to have a bit more mystery concerning where the story was actually leading.