With a Few Tricks Up His Sleeve, a Street Magician Tries to Make it Through a Difficult Life

Jacob Latimore in "Sleight"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

The following review is from a guest contributor by the name of Matthew Williams, a friend of mine and fellow movie buff whom I met in Rider University’s Alternative Film Club.

Director J.D. Dillard’s new drama, “Sleight,” follows a young man (Jacob Latimore) with a crushing past who has to deal with not only raising his little sister after the death of their mother, but also has to navigate the challenges of everyday life by any means necessary, with performing magic on the street and moonlighting as a drug dealer being his means of choice.  However, there may be something either magical, or mystical about him that sets him apart from your average, “Pursuit of Happiness” meets “Dope” meets “Now You See Me” kind of protagonist.  For those interested in uncovering that mystery, I won’t spoil it but, rest assured, the film doesn’t cop out on it once you see it.

One of the best things about the film is the visual effects.  It reminded me of the first time that I saw Sam Raimi’s original “Spider-Man” film, and it actually had me on the edge of my seat because, thanks to great tension, it really made the main character seem as though he was vulnerable.  That’s because of how they achieved the gritty realism of what it would be like if an extraordinary person had to interact aggressively with our ordinary, pliable world.

Everything else?  It’s forgettable, which is the worst.  The film does not commit to anything that it wants to do (so the movie should have been longer), but then it hyper-focuses on certain things, like romance (which should have been cut out).  And, for those who have seen it already…Ahem…I have to vent this…What happened to the main character’s teacher?  Why add him in at all?  And that only created more questions!  That wasn’t backstory; that was a tease!  In your final cut of the movie?  That didn't make sense and made things unclear.  How can you establish all of that in the last 20 minutes of the movie?

How about this?  If you’re an average moviegoer who wants to see a movie that takes a genre (urban cinema) and mixes it with America’s current fixation on superpowers, forces it through the mold of an underdog story, makes the lead an actually smart lead, chops it up to heck, and shoots it with some admittedly desktop-background-worthy cinematography, then watch this movie.  It is, in that regard, what you would expect. 

If you’re a screenwriter, take notes and map this movie’s timeline with a piece of paper and a red pen (you’ll know what I mean).

If you’re an aspiring visual effects artist, watch this movie like it was homework.  You will sit back and really ponder how things were done and how effective minimal effects are when done correctly.

Overall, this is an interesting movie, but one that tries to mash up so many things together that it fails to deliver on any one thing.  Dulé Hill commits himself to his performance, but he’s so over-the-top that he seems like he belongs in a larger picture than this, as he really stands out when he acts circles around everyone else in the movie, aside from the lead. (Side note: Hollywood, give Hill more scene-chewing roles - it was like Heath Ledger’s Joker with the cockiness of a James Bond villain).  The sci-fi/magic aspect does not play into the plot as much as expected, but rather seems like an added thing on top of the crime-underbelly storyline and the societal/racial conversation that it’s trying to touch upon concerning police brutality and class issues.  In the end, “Sleight” comes of like a student film with a large budget. 

Final Grade: B-