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It should have been a quick job: Otis (Sam Olive) and Cliff (Erik Nash)
pose as buyers to swindle their way into drug dealer Chris's (Tyler Roy
Robinson) place, then force him to give up his stash at gunpoint, and skip
town with nobody outside those involved any the wiser - after all, Chris
can't really go to the police, now can he? Thing is, Chris is actually
quite a nice guy, he invites Otis and Cliff in, is generous enough to
share a few beers and joints with them, and he and Cliff really hit it off
before too long. In the meantime, Otis gets quite friendly with Chris's
roommate Jocelyn (Kennedy Stinson), a hippie drifter with dreams of
becoming a singer. And before you know it, the four of them party, with
o0ther buyers stopping by ever so often to keep things interesting.
Eventually, Chris and Otis get at odds with one another, as Otis wants to
abandon the whole thing, starting to see Chris and Jocelyn as much more
than just faceless drug dealers. What none of them know of course is that
Chris's place is bugged, and a bunch of cops outside just wait for the
signal to strike - which is all the more explosive since Chris and Otis
are both packing ... Now here's an unusual movie for sure, one
that takes a standard situation that has been seen in dozens of crime
movies before, and turns it on its head, and simply by digging into its
lead characters' backstories rather than just presenting them as genre
mainstays like "the drugdealer", "the hippie girl",
"the small fry crooks" - and suddenly what could have been a
standard situation becomes a bit of an epic story, and one with musical
interludes even. And a clever script and a subtle directorial effort that
doesn't just go for the obvious make this work, coupled with solid
performances by the whole ensemble. Really worth a look!
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