Review: Hard Luck

Ne’er do well former drug dealer Wesley Snipes is trying to go straight, despite falling on hard times, but when he accompanies a buddy to a back room exchange of criminal goods, the deal goes screwy, and Snipes flees with two suitcases full of money, kidnapping stripper Jackie Quinones (nice arse, but a completely shrill performance) for good measure. Meanwhile, two loony lovebird killers (Cybill Shepherd and James Hiroyuki Liao) are doing all kinds of bizarro things to helpless victims, in a seemingly unrelated story. Luis Guzman plays a flamboyantly gay pornographer associate of Snipes, who also has mob connections. Mario Van Peebles plays a cop on Snipes’ tail, and character actor Bill Cobbs plays Snipes’ mentor of-sorts, at the beginning. Look out for a cameo by Melvin Van Peebles, too.

 

Truly bizarre mess from 2006 directed by Mario Van Peebles (the fine biopic on his father Melvin, “Baadasssss!”), who must’ve been smokin’ a helluva lot of dope when agreeing to not only direct, but co-star and co-write with Larry Brand (“Backfire”). It’s got a bunch of oddball characters, none of whom appear to be in the same film, and the story structure is truly screwy, particularly at the beginning (a lot of which is unnecessary to the rest of the film). The low point must be the shockingly bad casting of Shepherd and the appallingly untalented James Hiroyuki Liao as a couple of lovey-dovey torturers who on their own absolutely sink an already hopeless film (at no point do we feel they belong with the rest of the film). Guzman is genuinely funny (and although it’s an offensive stereotype, Guzman is clearly having a ball and so does the audience during his brief moments), and Snipes isn’t bad, but he’s a long way from a comeback here.

 

It wants to be a Tarantino black crime-comedy, and is almost so bizarre it’s kinda fascinating…almost. Snipes and Guzman deserve a whole lot better than this.

Rating: D+