'3 Black Chicks Review...'
NAOMI'S WEB (2000) Unrated; running time 88 minutes Genre: Thriller IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0243441 Official site: http://www.newquestfilms.com/ Written by: Don Abernathy, Keana Jackson Directed by: Don Abernathy Starring: La Tamra Smith, Keana Jackson, Don Wood, George Tovar, Audrey Morgan, Diane Travis, Michael Raines,
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsnaomisweb.html
It's fairly easy to review a big-budget, studio released movie, especially when it's bad, and even more especially when it's irredeemably so. After all, the kabillion dollars that's blown on Rilly Bad Flicks, just begs folks like me to come along and rip the movies' Powers That Be, a new one. Such is not the case when I review an independent film for 3BC's "Spotlight On..." section. If I think it's bad, I have the obligation to myself and my readers, to say so; but in doing so [she said, at risk of overestimating her value as a critic] I worry about alienating struggling indie artists, and that I might be contributing to the dearth of independent voices in the world of film - the very thing "Spotlight" was created to help remedy. In many ways, it's a no-win situation for me, but I always try to go with my gut feeling. And my gut doesn't feel too good right about now...
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**): In this unnecessarily convoluted tale, Army therapist Elaine Marshall (La Tamra Smith) is assigned to go to the Troyville military installation that serves as a prison for teen psychopaths, to do a profile of Naomi Richardson (Keana Jackson). Naomi, accused of bludgeoning her father, mother, and prison roommate, is none too anxious to cooperate with Elaine. It's par for Elaine's course, as she is also being sexually harassed by her superior officer, Colonel Brian Baxter (Don Wood) and not taken seriously by prison doctor Sanders (George Tovar) or the Warden (Audrey Morgan).
Though she starts out thinking of Naomi as an "animal" and a "freak show", Elaine's job is to get Naomi to trust her enough so Elaine can get at the root of Naomi's Issues with the world at large. But what will Elaine find when she gets there?
The Upshot: My sympathies for independent filmmakers aside, it was difficult for me to keep the sarcasm level to a minimum in writing the above movie synopsis. If you knew the sheer number of punctuation marks and incredulous reactions I left out ("'...military installation that serves as a prison for teen psychopaths'??? Whathell?!?"), you'd understand; doubly so if you read the spiel on the tape's cover, which incorrectly calls Elaine a "Navy psychologist" (unless I read my uniforms wrong, she's clearly Army; and the Colonel is wearing an Airborne patch), and provided me an ironic chuckle ("As the body count mysteriously rises, genders bend without reason". Oh yeah, "without reason" sums a great deal of this movie up nicely).
The story as presented made little logical sense, most likely because it tried to do too much in too little time, with actors only too eager to play it too broad. Filled with plotholes wide enough to drive a semi-truck through, I found myself laughing hysterically in all the wrong places--which brought FINAL DESTINATION, itself a comedy masquerading as a thriller, immediately to mind. Unfortunately for this film, it suffers even from *that* comparison. My enjoyment of "Naomi" didn't reach the level of my guilty-pleasure fondness for "Destination", save for one aspect: Keana Jackson could act circles around any of the "Destination" teens. Indeed, Jackson's actions kept this film from being a total disaster.
A natural in a sea of overactors, Jackson rarely brought me out of the moment when watching her. Even when presented with the most far-fetched of plot points (suffice it to say, I spent a lot of time screaming "Give me a break!" and "No way would that happen!" at the screen), I could almost take her Naomi at face value without too many questions. If Ms. Jackson decided to tackle mainstream Hollywood (or for that fact, continue on in indies), she could do extremely well; she has the stuff to be a major star, given the opportunity.
Would that I could say the same for the rest of the cast, or for the situations written for them. If I were cleaning house on this movie, I'd lop off the Colonel, along with the entire notion of a military installation that serves as a prison for teen psychopaths, first and foremost; it's beyond me why that disaster-waiting-to-happen was even included in the movie. Besides, with that subplot gone, Wood's reminiscent-of-porno acting (hmmm...) would go right along with it. And since I'm in a house-cleaning mood, I'd also excise all instances of Smith's "go girl" strident cadence, all too evident in her earlier scenes; it did not suit her character well, and was a major distraction every time she took that voice out of her bag. "Go Girl" Elaine worked my last nerve, whereas the more professional--and paradoxically, softer--Elaine complimented the Naomi character quite well. As for the silent [but unfortunately, not unheard-from] prison guard (Michael Raines), the wish-she-had-remained silent Warden (Audrey Morgan), and the why-the-heck-was-she-kept silent Judge (Diane Travis), the less said, the better.
To be fair, "Naomi" got better as it progressed; or to be more precise, Smith's acting and Elaine and Naomi's storyline, gradually worked better, albeit in fits and starts. Resembling a soap opera moreso than a thriller, by the time "Naomi" came to its climax, I couldn't be mad at it for much (except the irritating repetition of the line "Oh what a tangled web we weave". I got it, ok?), especially since I had almost as good a time laughing at it as I wish I could've had being thrilled by it.
In the end, I found myself wishing for what could have been: a powerfully dramatic thriller told from a unique point of view. My advice to co-writers Don Abernathy and Keana Jackson? Take away the flotsam (why complicate matters by throwing in the military? What was *that* about?), the jetsam (most of the supporting cast; Jackson and a neck-twistless Smith could easily have held the story together on their own), add more meat to the main story, and NAOMI'S WEB could really take off. At base, it does have a story worth exploring, even in short-story form; it's just covered up with too much nonsense as-is.
But hey, I'm not picky: I could've dug it just as well as an intentional comedy. It was already halfway there.
Bammer's Bottom Line: You have to give Abernathy points for the sincere effort, and most def give Jackson praise for rising above the material--even though as co-writer, parts of that material were her own doing. Taken in the same vein of its cousin-in-zealousness - the equally (and unintentionally) humorous FINAL DESTINATION - "Naomi" would be best viewed as a parody of the genre. I can get with it as a soap; but it just does not cut it (uh, no pun intended) as a serious thriller.
NAOMI'S WEB (rating: yellowlight): More time devoted to the plot that needed it, less time to the subplots that didn't, and perhaps this web would not be so unnecessarily tangled.
3 Black Chicks...Movie Reviews With Flava! /~\ Rose "Bams" Cooper /','\ 3BlackChicks Enterprises /','`'\ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 /',',','/`, EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com ICQ: 7760005 `~-._'c / http://www.3blackchicks.com/ `\ ( http://www.evenbetter.com/?partner=1987 /====\
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