Run It: Film Review

Ambition trumps filmmaking expertise in this ragged low-budget effort.

Evangelos Giovanis, George Giovanis

Evangelos Giovanis

Louis Zorich, Sam Coppola, Evangelos Giovanis, George Giovanis

A raw, visceral intensity is the most compelling element of Run It, an otherwise uneven urban drama directed by the sibling filmmaking team of Evangelos and George Giovanis, each of whom also play major roles. Featuring a plethora of unsavory characters, undeveloped subplots and a confusingly jagged narrative, this extremely low-budget effort is mainly notable for its willingness to get down and dirty.

The complex storyline interweaves the gritty stories of multiple characters whose fates intersect. They include Andrew (Evangelos Giovanis), a substitute high school teacher whose unruly students frazzle his nerves and get him fired after he resorts to excessive discipline. Bad turns to worse when he accidentally kills his senile father's caregiver, and when his criminal brother Manny (George Giovanis) and his cohort (Doug Elridge) attempt to hit him up for money after they fall victim to some equally ruthless thugs.

Another running plotline involves one of Andrew's students, Jermain (Joshua Scarlett), struggling to cope with a father who's a heroin addict and a mother who's involved with an abusive drug dealer.

The filmmakers -- who besides their other duties were also responsible for the screenplay, cinematography, editing and even the musical score -- don't quite possess the technical chops necessary to realize their high ambitions. The frequently off-kilter camerawork and editing displays an amateurish quality. And despite the presence of such familiar faces as the late Sam Coppola (Saturday Night Fever) and veteran character actor Louis Zorich, the acting is uneven at best.

Featuring copious doses of violence, profanity and nudity -- the female characters on display are frequently depicted in exploitive fashion -- Run It belies its title with a sluggish pacing that makes the film seem far longer than it actually is.

Opens May 31 (Vago Productions)

Cast: Louis Zorich, Sam Coppola, Armen Garo, Evangelos Giovanis, George Giovanis, Doug Eldridge

Directors/producers: Evangelos Giovanis, George Giovanis

Executive producers: Themistoklis Giovanis, Vasiliki Giovanis

Screenwriter: Evangelos Giovanis

Director of photography/composer: George Giovanis

Editor: Evangelos Giovanis

Not rated, 110 min.

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