I can’t say I have my finger on the pulse of hip hop, so until seeing Full Circle I didn’t know who Solvan ‘Slick The Misfit’ Naim was despite the fact that he is based out of Bushwick, Brooklyn — only about five miles from where I live. However, after seeing the movie it’s clear that even if this 23 year old Algerian-American rapper’s music career doesn’t work out he has a future making movies.
Naim plays Anthoni, a pizza delivery boy who is obviously a goodhearted guy despite having a penchant for being at the center of mischief. While he spends most of his day goofing off and trying to impress girls, on one delivery he comes across what appears to be a drug deal gone wrong and discovers a bag overflowing with cash. Anthoni takes the bag and thinks that its his ticket out of struggling for every dollar for both him and his little sister — but the money happens to belong to neighborhood gangster Lomatic (Rob Morgan), who comes after Anthoni and his friends with deadly consequences. Anthoni bounces between his jocular nature and a revenge-driven retaliator against Lomatic’s operations.
Not only did wunderkind Naim star, write, produce, compose music for, and co-edit this movie, he also co-directed it with Olli Koivula. Sharing directing duties was probably a good move for Naim because I’ve seen plenty of first time filmmakers bite off way more than they can chew by wearing too many hats. But make no mistake, this is still Naim’s film all the way. Your appreciation of it will depend on how you perceive his character, and though Naim might be a novice actor, he has no shortage of charisma. At times Naim’s writing hovers close to the point where Anthoni is too slick, too smooth (a beautiful girl, portrayed by Celestine Rae, virtually throws herself at him because they have a pleasant conversation), but overall Anthoni (and Naim) are so likable that it’s easy to overlook this.
There are other, more experienced actors who also add a lot of fun to the film. Morgan makes a fantastic villain, and though I’ve never seen him in a mainstream movie before I’m wondering why he doesn’t have a higher profile. Some of his henchmen — like Jamal, played by former boxer Kevin Hale — also add a lot of humor to the movie. Of course, most of the cast is made up of new faces, including former NFL player Devale Ellis, who plays Anthoni’s somewhat nerdy friend Tommy. They all play their roles very well and are clearly comfortable on camera. Another wonderful touch is the cinematography by Christopher Cannucciari, which highlights Bushwick in a mostly brightly-lit, enjoyable way — unlike how most films tend to portray Brooklyn.
Though the film as a whole is a big success, Full Circle is at its best through its first two acts. Throughout the film Anthoni crosses paths with a number of humorous periphery characters who add a few laughs, but these clever bits start to lose their appeal once the resolution approaches. As a viewer I wanted less distractions on the way to the conclusion. One scene in particular features Anthoni consulting with neighborhood wise man Ralpho (Chris Hierro, who co-wrote much of the film’s music) which seems tacked on and wouldn’t be missed if it were cut before its general release. Frankly there are a little too many characters and some of these jokes seem to be a little inside for general audiences, so even when these scenes are funny they still just drag out the ultimate confrontation between Anthoni and Lomatic, and when we get there it actually resolves a lot quicker than you would expect. In fact, I would’ve loved to see more of this time devoted to Morgan’s Lomatic, who logically would probably be going after Anthoni in a much tougher way considering how much of his money Anthoni has stashed away.
Full Circle portrays a dark story while not forgetting that there is a lot of fun in the street-level grit of New York. While I enjoyed the similarly themed (but Bronx-based) Gimme the Loot more, Full Circle is a hell of a fun ride and a very impressive debut for Naim. There’s a lot that can go wrong for first time directors on a low-budget independent film, but in the case of Full Circle Naim overwhelmingly gets it right.
RATING: A enjoyable ride through Brooklyn that although loses a bit of steam never loses its sense of fun (7.5/10).
Full Circle will screen at the New York City International Film Festival on Friday, June 14, 2013 at 8:00pm at the SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd St.) and Sunday, June 16, at 6:00pm at the MIST in Harlem (46 W. 116th St.). It will also screen at the Manhattan Film Festival on Thursday, June 27 at 7:45pm at the Quad Cinemas.
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