It's a common almost natural reflex among children that if they have two objects in front of them, they'll almost always choose the object that's flashier, and bigger. It's just an inborn need, and such is the case with "A Room for Romeo Brass". Romeo and his next door neighbor Gavon are best friends who bicker and argue and their bond is strong.
Gavon walks with a limp due to a back disorder and Romeo defends him constantly. But once Morell enters the scene, their friendship is tested. Morell, after breaking up a fight with Romeo who is attacked by two big kids after defending Gavon, seems nice enough and accompanies the boys home, but pushes himself in to Romeo's life, not only serving as a
friend who is flashier, bigger, stronger, and faster than Gavon, but also as a father figure for Romeo who has no father in his life.

Suddenly Romeo wants nothing to do with Gavon, nor does he really visit him once he's had back surgery, and Romeo and Morell become friends. I admit I was fooled. Upon first glance and about forty minutes in to the movie, you get the sense this is going to be about two friends who form a bond with a mentally unstable and innocent man who means well.
The element that keeps Morell in their life is Romeo's very sexy (and I mean sexy) sister Ladine who doesn't have an interest in Morell, but he persists in courting her innocently, though at any moment you just know it could turn risky for both parties. But suddenly the movie takes an unexpected dark turn, it was a dark turn that just threw me for a massive
loop. It was a dark turn that I hadn't read about, nor did I see coming and it just basically made the movie for me.

Morell, is a person who corrupts a strong friendship very easily, thanks to Romeo, and the film manages to basically examine simple people, in a simple story about family, but then it's all disturbed with Morell, a seemingly innocent element reaching out for friendship. He is a dangerous element not too easy to categorize. It's easy to see he's pretty erratic and off his rocker from the beginning, so his sudden dark turn personality-wise will not surprise the audience in the least because it's to be expected. As the movie progresses we get the hunch that Morell may actually be smarter than he seems. The family isn't exactly what you would call tightly knit. Ladine really dislikes her brother Romeo, Romeo is constantly being thrown out by his mother, Gavon's father cares more about what's on television than what's going on with his son who is experiencing back surgery.

But the most important story element is Romeo's estranged father who re-appears one day and is greeted with less than welcome arms by Romeo who despises him, which ultimately gives Morell a chance to sneak in with a relationship with Romeo. All the while the movie turns from a funny, charming film about family, and sinks down in to a dark, intense, and occasionally very disturbing portrait of what happens when you get too close to someone you don't even know for sure. Morell experiences a drastic character change halfway through the film that will leave audiences basically with their heads spinning, and Paddy Considine, a very underrated overlooked actor, handles the sudden transformation well as the movie continues on its streak of disturbing scenes that thrive on simplicity.

Some scenes were funny, some plain disturbing, and others just funny because they're very uncomfortable and Considine excels. We're never sure if Morell is aware of his psychotic tendencies or if he doesn't know any better, but the movie ends on a note you'd want and wouldn't expect. I can't say enough about Paddy Considine. This is a man who pulled in great performances in "Cinderella Man", and "In America" and still is overlooked. He is an excellent actor and he's excellent here and manages to steal the movie away from the two boys who are the main focus. It's a shockingly obscure movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Hard to believe a film can be both touching, dark, and disturbing all at the same time, but this accomplishes it with flying colors with a dark story that sucks you in with its excellent acting, most notably by Paddy Considine who I like more, the more movies I see him in. His dark scene stealing performance alone should be a reason to watch this. Look for this.

[   Shop Movie Posters   |   Link to Us   |   FAQ   |   Top^   ]
All written reviews material and content are a copyright of Felix Vasquez Jr. and Cinema Crazed.
Content borrowed without written permission will not be permitted.

¤ ¤ ¤