Film Review: 'Gimme the Loot'

In recent years, urban life has been depicted with a mix of condescension and pessimism in films like Precious and Middle of Nowhere. Gimme the Loot is a contrasting jolt of pure energy, a low-stakes, idiosyncratic narrative conversation from writer/director Adam Leon that is as delightful as it is unexpected. Think Raising Victor Vargas. Think The King of Kong. Think Bottle Rocket. Think Fun.

Loot centers on a pair of graffiti artists who, over the course of one New York summer day, try to scrounge together $500 so that they can gain access to Shea Stadium and spray-paint the apple that comes up whenever someone hits a home run.

This sort of plot is refreshingly trivial. Like King of Kong, Seth Gordon's 2007 comedic documentary about two men fighting for the world record at Donkey Kong, or West Anderson's debut Bottle Rocket, which focused on two friends trying to pull off a low-stakes heist, the story of Gimme the Loot is secondary to getting to know the unique, funny and very human characters who occupy this less-than-glamorous, but plenty charming, side of New York City.

Tashiana Washington and Ty Hickson star as Sofia and Malcolm, a pair of Bronx teenage graffiti artists, tired of people writing profanities over their work, willing to cut corners, hop subway turnstiles, and steal, as long as they don't have to confront their victims. 

It's difficult to overemphasize how charming and funny Washington and Hickson are in their scenes. Their characters are kind people who recognize their potential and believe that the ends justify the means in an effort to gain reputations as world-class graffiti artists. 

One sequence in particular gives a good idea of the justice system that exists in this world: Sofia's bike is stolen by a couple of young kids. She tracks down one of the thieves and takes his phone as payment for her bike. Later on, Sofia tries to pawn off the phone and has it stolen from her. She is discouraged, but also seems to recognize the slanted karma involved in the situation.

For those thinking that a film involving low-level crime is not your cup of tea, it's important to recognize the levity that exists in these scenes. The stakes are about as high as Aladdin's when he stole bread in the Disney animated film. Or how about Oceans Eleven? Gimme the Loot is more fun that either of those movies.

Adam Leon, the writer/director of Loot, is an impressive new voice in American cinema. In the same way that the unpolished, lo-fi visual quality of Loot resembles Raising Victor Vargas, the similarly charming and rough 2002 debut by Peter Sollett, here's hoping Leon can hark back just a bit further, to the auteurs of the 90's, like Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino, filmmakers who never seemed inclined to sell out. 

Recent promising indie talents like Marc Webb or Colin Trevorrow have jumped from indie feature ((500) Days of Summer and Safety Not Guaranteed, respectively) to mainstream trash (The Amazing Spider-Man and Jurassic Park IV) so quickly as to make theatergoers believe their previous films were part of some Ricky Jay-style con game.

Maybe the landscape for independent filmmakers has changed so drastically that such quick moves are necessary. Peter Sollett had to wait six years after Victor Vargas before making his next film, an indistinguishable mainstream teen comedy (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist).

With any luck, Adam Leon will have room to grow with his next feature. Here's hoping it will be as wildly independent as Gimme the Loot And here's hoping, truly, that it will also star Tashiana Washington and Ty Hickson. That last recommendation goes for every filmmaker.

'Gimme the Loot' opens at the Criterion Cinemas in New Haven on Friday, April 19. Click here for showtimes. It is also available on demand.