Movie Review
Cost of a Soul (2010)
Cast Shadow Productions
Will Blagrove and Nakia Dillard in "Cost of a Soul."
A Solemn Homecoming
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: May 19, 2011
Equally awash in blood and sentiment, “Cost of a Soul” is a remorselessly violent drama populated by weeping women and tormented men.
More About This Movie
When Tommy (Chris Kerson) and DD (Will Blagrove), wounded Iraq War veterans, return to the Philadelphia slum where they grew up, all is far from hunky-dory. Greeted by expletives from the wife he abandoned (Judy Jerome), Tommy discovers a disabled daughter he has never seen (played by a spookily composed Maddie M. Jones) and a debt to the Irish mob for her medical bills.
Meanwhile, just mean streets away, DD learns that his older brother (Nakia Dillard) is dealing drugs and his younger (Daveed Ramsay) isn’t far behind. Selflessly shelving his postwar dreams of a saxophone-playing career, DD caves to the entreaties of his hand-wringing mother (Diane Johnson) and tries to whip his family into shape. Needless to say, this new conflict is no more straightforward than the one he just left.
Bathed in cold concrete and dishwater complexions, “Cost of a Soul” unfolds in smoky bars and grimy rooms, its characters illuminated by the sickly wash of swaying ceiling lights. Rising to the challenge of the film’s thrusting close-ups, the actors are believably doomed, with Gregg Almquist particularly strong as an aging crime boss who longs for the good old days of all-white thuggery.
But though strutting an undeniable noirish style, this first feature from Sean Kirkpatrick (shot in just 18 days on the streets of North Philadelphia) is almost laughable in its determination to finish people off. As one bloody encounter treads on the heels of the next, all that remains is a tiny indie undone by its own vicious ambitions.
“Cost of a Soul” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Guns are for shooting, and hope is for sissies.
COST OF A SOUL
Opens on Friday nationwide.
Written and directed by Sean Kirkpatrick; director of photography, Chase Bowman; edited by Jonathan Risinger; music by Rodney Whittenberg; production design by Michael Crenshaw; produced by Mr. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Risinger and Edward J. Eberwine III; released by Relativity Media/Rogue. Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes.
WITH: Chris Kerson (Tommy Donahue), Will Blagrove (DD Davis), Judy Jerome (Faith Donahue), Mark Borkowski (Jake), Gregg Almquist (Charlie Burns), Maddie M. Jones (Hope Donahue), Nakia Dillard (Darnell Davis), Daveed Ramsay (James Davis) and Diane Johnson (Maybaleen Davis).
Meanwhile, just mean streets away, DD learns that his older brother (Nakia Dillard) is dealing drugs and his younger (Daveed Ramsay) isn’t far behind. Selflessly shelving his postwar dreams of a saxophone-playing career, DD caves to the entreaties of his hand-wringing mother (Diane Johnson) and tries to whip his family into shape. Needless to say, this new conflict is no more straightforward than the one he just left.
Bathed in cold concrete and dishwater complexions, “Cost of a Soul” unfolds in smoky bars and grimy rooms, its characters illuminated by the sickly wash of swaying ceiling lights. Rising to the challenge of the film’s thrusting close-ups, the actors are believably doomed, with Gregg Almquist particularly strong as an aging crime boss who longs for the good old days of all-white thuggery.
But though strutting an undeniable noirish style, this first feature from Sean Kirkpatrick (shot in just 18 days on the streets of North Philadelphia) is almost laughable in its determination to finish people off. As one bloody encounter treads on the heels of the next, all that remains is a tiny indie undone by its own vicious ambitions.
“Cost of a Soul” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Guns are for shooting, and hope is for sissies.
COST OF A SOUL
Opens on Friday nationwide.
Written and directed by Sean Kirkpatrick; director of photography, Chase Bowman; edited by Jonathan Risinger; music by Rodney Whittenberg; production design by Michael Crenshaw; produced by Mr. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Risinger and Edward J. Eberwine III; released by Relativity Media/Rogue. Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes.
WITH: Chris Kerson (Tommy Donahue), Will Blagrove (DD Davis), Judy Jerome (Faith Donahue), Mark Borkowski (Jake), Gregg Almquist (Charlie Burns), Maddie M. Jones (Hope Donahue), Nakia Dillard (Darnell Davis), Daveed Ramsay (James Davis) and Diane Johnson (Maybaleen Davis).
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