Okay, so first of all: You have to see it, if only for the awesome, scary (!) performance by Pam Grier, who I love so very much but never ever could imagine thinking of as scary. I’m used to thinking of Ms. Grier as a hero to me, and she’s often that in movies too, but not always! Go back to the beginning, to movies like WOMEN IN CAGES (1971), where she is absolutely villainous, and convincing, or HIT MAN (1972), where she’s the femme fatale. I guess even in SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM she’d be the bad guy, if you’re looking at it from the title character’s point of view. Pam Grier is definitely a case where such love and affection for an actor can lead even an aficionado like me to forget of the range she is capable of. In CINNAMON, Pam Grier’s character is a kingpin, the boss-level villain, an intriguing example of one since she’s not playing a verbose villain, but one who is deaf (for tragic reasons) and prone more to ominous gestures than mean monologues. She is striking to look at as ever but when she appears in this movie, it’s bad news for the star-crossed lovers who lead the narrative. I was amazed by the condensed and confined rage depicted by this character, who had been through so much and can’t even express it due to being near-mute. Again, if all you want out of CINNAMON is yet another great Pam Grier performance, you got it right here.
As for the rest of the movie, I started off by thinking “This isn’t the worst Tarantino imitation I’ve ever seen, but also not the best.” And then it did a bunch of things I wasn’t expecting, which not only elevated it with regards to taking inspiration from Tarantino but also differentiated this movie from his work significantly. There are real-world observations and concerns that, as much as I like Quentin, I don’t see him having. The closest QT ever got to dealing with stuff that really matters was JACKIE BROWN, and that I can bet is one that CINNAMON writer-director Bryian Keith Montgomery, Jr. has seen and studied. (DJANGO UNCHAINED and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD are great, but they’re fantasies.) The young dreamer and schemer played winningly by Hailey Kilgore and David Iacono, respectively, may at times put one in mind of Alabama and Clarence from TRUE ROMANCE, but again, and in the end, that was a fantasy. These are people that you can root for, and also people you could meet on the bus. CINNAMON goes beyond any Tarantino inspiration or comparison, which is an exciting thing to see. I love it when a movie demands attention.
And there are intriguing tonal experiments, for instance the truly charismatic that’s-a-movie-star! turn from Jeremie Harris, playing off whatever it is Damon Wayans is doing. The only thing I can compare it to is Bob Hoskins and Roger Rabbit. In this analogy, maybe, Pam Grier would have to be Christopher Lloyd. (Don’t get me wrong, I love Damon Wayans and I’m always happy to see him, but mostly he seems like he’s in a different movie than everyone else. Then again, he did that very thing in BAMBOOZLED, which is brilliant and he’s brilliant in it, so I am going to need to give this movie and performance another look, for sure.)
Am I making you want to see this movie yet? I hope so. Don’t let me oversell it, but also don’t miss it, especially if you like me think that Pam Grier is one of the best things to happen to American movies basically ever. I can’t exactly say that about CINNAMON as a whole (it often feels very much its budget and I feel like it ends way too abruptly), but I can say for sure that I can’t wait to see new performances by supporting ace Jeremie Harris and many more movies from writer-director Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr., who managed to do a lot with the budget, despite my quibbling above, and who really did create a fascinating stew of cast and characters. (Shout-out to Romeo!) There are striking visual moments from cinematographer Ayinde Anderson and an affecting score by Daniel Ciurlizza to recommend CINNAMON also. Another reason to see this movie is to support emerging talent. That’s what the doors of Daily Grindhouse stay open to do, and this is DG’s kind of movie, made by DG’s kind of talents, that anyone reading this site will want to take a look at.
CINNAMON premiered earlier this month at the Tribeca Film Festival. It is now streaming on Tubi.
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Tags: Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr., Crime, Damon Wayans, Daniel Ciurlizza, David Iacono, Hailey Kilgore, Jeremie Harris, Kevin Garnett, Neo-Noir, Oz Scott, pam grier, Tribeca Film Festival
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