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Suckers
For the majority of Suckers the focus is on the sales floor. During these scenes the film crackles with a live-wire intensity created by sharp writing, swift editing, and a gang of fine performances from the cast, especially Benzali, Eli Danker (as the stoic Mohammed), and BT (as the increasingly angry JJ). Benzali is so good, in fact, that his key scenes during Saturday morning sales meetings jump off the screen with energy. It's easy to see how his mix of limitless confidence and total disgust with weakness would make him a magnet for all the characters that struggle to reconcile their hatred of him. He tosses off racist jokes without a thought for who he offends and he cruelly refuses to accept a return from a man whose credit agent told him his newly bought car will bankrupt him. Reggie is a terrifying character all the more so for how real he is. There is no question that this guy exists.
Where Suckers goes wrong is in the final act, a sort of Tarantino-esque standoff that involves money and drugs and ends with a lot of bullets. This betrays the focus on the salesman-customer dynamic and, while Nygard handles his cliched ending with a bit more originality than most, it still rings false. It's surprising that he would veer so far from what is real given his background in documentary. Nygard is responsible for two very popular recent documentaries: Six Days in Roswell(1998) and Trekkies(1997). Still, his direction and his script (co-written with Joe Yannety who financed the film with his savings from his own car salesman stint) are, for the most part, spot on.
VIDEO:
The anamporphic video transfer looks good. This is definitely a low budget affair, but is handled well and with some degree of subtlety.
AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is nothing special. At times it is a little muffled and some of the dialog is not as crisp as such a dialog driven film demands. There are no subtitles, which is a shame.
EXTRAS:
A pretty comprehensive set of extras is included. The most original extra is a short segment called "How to Not Get Screwed Buying a Car", hosted by co-writer Yannety. He also plays a salesman in the opening scenes of the film and his willingness to share his experiences in the industry is remarkable, especially since the film paints such a bleak portrait of the car buying process. This might be the most useful extra to ever appear on a DVD.
Two commentary tracks are included, one with much of the cast and the other with the director and writer. The cast track is a raucous affair, but contains some good information. The filmmaker track unfortunately repeats a lot of the same stories but does contain a little more technical insight into the making of the film.
A trailer for Nygard's Six Days in Roswell as well as an early short called Invinsible Man (a silent 1976 8mm film that a creative young Nygrad made with some friends, their parents' cars, and a very beat up dummy) give a little insight into the director's other works.
Trailers for about a million other films released by Creative Light are included. Most don't look too promising.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
An original and entertaining, if flawed, film, Suckers is definitely worth a look. The characters are appropriately coarse and their actions indefensible (except in pursuit of the almighty dollar) but as eye-candy, as well as a cautionary tale, Suckers delivers.
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