AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

NateWatchesCoolMovies I've been ragging a lot on Cuba Gooding Jr. The past few reviews, so I'll go easy and speak about a good one instead. Wrong Turn At Tahoe has a script that should have been given the royal treatment; it's wise, brutal, thought provoking and very violent, with many sets of morals clashing against each other in true crime genre style. It didn't get a huge budget or a lot of marketing, but what it did get was a remarkably good cast of actors who really give the written word it's justice, telling a age old story dangerous people who inhabit the crime ridden frays of both society and cinema. Cuba plays Joshua, a low level mafia enforcer who works for Vincent (Miguel Ferrer), a ruthless mid level mobster who runs his operations with an OCD iron fist. He also rescued Joshua from a crack house when he was a young'in, forging a father son bond that runs deeper than terms of employment. When a weaselly informant tells them that local drug runner Frankie Tahoe (Noel Gugliemi, reliably scary) has it in for them, Vincent brashly retaliates first by viciously killing him. That's where the matter starts to get deep. Frankie was an employee of Nino (Harvey Keitel) that most powerful crime boss on the west coast and not a man to cross. Nino Wants hefty payment for the loss of Frankie, who was a good operative. Vincent, being the proud and belligerent son of a bitch that he is, bluntly refuses. So begins a bloody, near Shakespearean gang war in which both sides rack up heavy losses and the phrase 'crime doesn't pay' collects it's due. All parties were inevitably headed to a bitter end whether or not the Tahoe incident occurred, and I think the writer simply used that inciting incident as an example of many ways in which a life like that will always end up at a dead end. The writing is superb, especially for Gooding, Keitel and Ferrer, a vicious triangle indeed, all at the top of their game and then some. Johnny Messner is great as Gooding's cohort who can't keep his mouth shut, and watch for Mike Starr, Leonor Varela, Paul Sampson and Louis Mandylor too. Dark deeds, unexpected betrayal, self destructive ego, combustible machismo and ironic twists of fate are explored here in a script the remains as one of my favourite of that year. Really excellent stuff.

Leofwine_draca WRONG TURN AT TAHOE is a straightforward low budget crime thriller boasting a decent cast, lots of action and incident, and a familiar but well-worked storyline. It's about a small time crook who accidentally bumps off the wrong person and subsequently finds himself the subject of a vendetta by a big shot crime boss.Such story lines are ten a penny, but WRONG TURN AT TAHOE does well with the material by focusing on the nuts and bolts action of the piece. There's a whole host of well-shot violence here, and a short running time that means the film never outstays its welcome. Plus, the casting of the underrated Miguel Ferrer (ROBOCOP) in a lead role is an inspired one, as this actor gets far too little screen time given his undeniable talent. Okay, Cuba Gooding Jr. is acceptable at best, but Harvey Keitel has fun with a small but grandstanding role.

ajs-10 I do enjoy a crime thriller and this, even though it went straight to DVD, isn't a bad one. Some great performances, plenty of violence and a pretty strong plot all add up to an entertaining watch (if you like that kind of thing). I'll tell you more of my thoughts after the following summary (summary haters please wait in the car with Joshua; he'll take you for a ride if you ask him nicely).Joshua is the number one guy to Vincent, a medium sized drug lord and crime boss on the East coast of the United States. He hears, through a third party, that a dealer by the name of Frankie Tahoe is out to kill Vincent. Of course Vincent won't stand for that and they go and take care of Frankie. Now, unfortunately Frankie works for the biggest boss on the East coast, Nino, and he's upset at losing one of his best dealers. They meet and, well, let's say they didn't part as best buddies. After Nino takes his revenge on Vincent the gloves come off and it gets very violent indeed. Of course there is a lot more to tell but I'm not going to spoil it for you.This is a very dark and a very violent film with some great performances. I thought Cuba Gooding Jr. was excellent as the brooding Joshua who has a dark secret he has been carrying since childhood; in fact it's the best performance I've seen from him in quite a while. Miguel Ferrer plays the part of the, sometimes psychotic, crime boss Vincent perfectly and Harvey Keitel is also excellent, as ever, as Nino.It's a pretty well made film which, although the budget was obviously pretty small still manages to excite and enthral. It has a very well written script but it is one of those that you have to watch, you can't have it on in the background and expect to follow it. So, if you like a good crime drama and you're not bothered too much by some rather graphic violence, then this one's definitely recommended… otherwise, I would give it a miss.My score: 6.5/10

ultimt3 This is a movie that begins by spoiling the movie and then going back in time like so many movies have done before. There are so many movie clichés in this flick you could make a drinking game out if it. The characters' actions do not make any sense and neither does the ending. If I hear the scorpion crossing the river story in another movie, I am going to freak out. It is up there with "We are the same.. you and I!" The dialog is really badly written, and the characters' motivations get jumbled up so often, the characters make no sense. This supposedly HUGE powerful crime boss brings a small timer into his home (why?), gets insulted and then just lets him leave (why?). Then kills the small timer's wife and then remains at that very house. Then has next to no protection on his home, a house he showed him how to get to. Characters bust out knives when it is convenient for the plot. This generic hole filled plot was really bad and the action scenes were pretty generic too. People casually chatting back and forth while gunfighting, senseless character actions, implausible circumstances over and over again. I tend to turn my brain off for action movies, but this one was beyond brain dead. It was like the script was written by a 12 year old with no editing. Many scenes had a "come on, that is ridiculous" moment. If it was cheesy and campy, it may have come off, but this movie took itself seriously.