Laws of Gravity
directed by Nick Gomez
There are many movies about desperate, conflicted, bored, and impoverished young men looking for a way out.
directed by Nick Gomez
Regardless of race, class, religion, ethnicity, these movies tend to have the same themes, dramas, and battles. Male behavior is apparently pretty similar no matter where you are.
This low budget early nineties movie had as its most obvious antecedent Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets but I am sure that there are several other films/directors that could claim to have some influence on Laws of Gravity.
I thought that the ending was unsurprising but this movie wasn't trying to be shocking or subvert expectations, though it does so once or twice. The film felt like a documentary that was shot with the participants being unaware of the camera. I was impressed with the acting.
I think we all know some people, who despite having some skills or intelligence, never really made it to the level of success that we thought that they would. Laws of Gravity examines how that works.
Sometimes it's bad luck. Sometimes it's self-sabotaging beliefs or behavior. And often it's a combination of all of those factors.
In early nineties Brooklyn everyone has some swagger and attitude.
Jimmy (Peter Greene) is a paroled small time hoodlum, (actually petty thief is a better description because he doesn't run any rackets, control any territory, or get respect or even much notice from the real neighborhood big dog criminals) who is losing patience with his friends and his lack of financial success.
Jimmy and his friends aren't drug dealers or bookies. No, their idea of a big score is shoplifting shampoo, stealing car radios, or peddling other stolen items on the street. Unsurprisingly, this crew doesn't earn much.
Jimmy is in a loving relationship with his understanding yet take no sh** wife Denise (Falco) who is a rarity in that she's employed. Denise also thinks that Jimmy needs to move past his friends.
These friends include the quiet and sinister Frankie (Paul Schulze) who has graduated to auto theft and gun running and the volatile Johnny (Adam Trese) who will start a fight with anyone just for fun, including his girlfriend Celia (Arabella Field).
Jimmy likes to pretend that he's more experienced or smarter than his friends. But because Jimmy owes money to some mob-affiliated loan sharks, Jimmy's friends would not necessarily agree that Jimmy is wiser.
The film captures the stereotypical loudness and aggressiveness of many New Yorkers and the various pitfalls, stupidities, and hypocrisies of masculine rules applied in criminal contexts. Higher ranking criminals don't care if Johnny yells at or hits Celia.
They do care if Johnny does it on the street where they might feel compelled to intervene to keep up appearances.
You get an appreciation for how dumb minor conflicts can inexorably mutate into something deadly because everyone involved needed to avoid punking out. The lighting and cinematography isn't great but it does feel very real. Worth checking out if you can find it.
