(Mostly) lovable losers populate Will Addison/ Ben Matheny's road-trip indie, EASY DOES IT

Losers have a long and storied history on film -- particularly, I suspect, in the independent realm -- but losers of the actually lovable type prove fewer and farther between. To the array we can now add the characters of Jack (Ben Matheny) and Scottie (Matthew Paul Martinez), two really dumb dolts who just about never get anything right.

A little of this kind of thing can go quite quickly to extremes, and while I must admit this keeps threatening to occur with EASY DOES IT, thanks to these two performances (plus a lot of good supporting work), the co-writing and direction of Will Addison (shown below, with this, his first full-length film after a bunch of shorts), and co-writing from Mr. Matheny, we stick around.

The movie's plot, such as it is, has Jack and Scottie owing money to the local crime lord (a funny, scary turn by Linda Hamilton, above, in dreadlocks), as simultaneously Jack receives a post card from his now-deceased mom telling him that she has left him something. So our pair hightails it across the country  toward California to claim that "inheritance," pursued by said crime lord's daughter and major "enforcer" (Susan Gordon).

Mayhem ensues, in addition to a lot of sprightly, fast-moving fun, with the entry -- and then re-entry -- of a new character named Collin, played with relish and delight by Cory Dumesnil at left, below), that gooses the movie into becoming even more enjoyable.

Along the way, we're treated to quite a number of lovely if oddball visuals -- from shards of broken glass that turn into stars in the night sky to a reflection of EMERGENCY in a rain puddle to a ton of thick red paint washing away in that rain --  while supporting actor Bryan Batt gets the film's funniest line, a surprised but dead-on assessment of our two heroes:
"You all are stupid!"

The writing occasionally rises to funny metaphorical heights, too: "America has gone and over-expanded itself: too little jelly over too much toast." Though the film is said to be set during the 1970s, because the locations are mostly America's south and southwest, you could practically believe these are current times, as well. (Actors/stars Matheny and Martinez are shown above, right and left, respectively.)

Can't make any claim to greatness for this little film, but if you're interested in viewing good performances (from both known and not-so-known actors), while watching new talent emerge, then take a chance on this one. From Gravitas Ventures and running 97 minutes, Easy Does It hits VOD and Digital HD this Friday, July 17 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Lee Jong-suk’s debut film, THE NEGOTIATION, makes its home video debut this Tuesday

If TrustMovies goes too long without seeing a new film from South Korea, he begins to get a bit antsy for the smart pacing, classy look, action, suspense and envelope-pushing plot twists so many South Korean movies provide. If one of that country's films manages to makes its way over here, chances are it'll be worth a look, and so it is with THE NEGOTIATION, which marks the directorial debut of Lee Jong-Suk. This is a hostage/conspiracy/ corruption/betrayal thriller that, though packing in its share of silliness, also offers maybe ten times that in sheer fun.

Mr. Lee (shown at left), his writer Choi Sung-hyun and crew give us a very fast-moving tale that begins with a police officer (Son Ye-jin, at right below), who is just beginning her vacation, being called back into service due to a sudden hostage crisis. That one goes quickly south, but wait.

The higher-ups now request her services on a new and very different case -- one that keeps expanding and changing the more our heroine probes and learns.

The fact that we're talking about uber-dirty dealings involving the very highest reaches of government, military, police and (or course) the business community should come as no big surprise.

Yet how the filmmaking team puts it all together, unveiling one small surprise at a time, proves exemplary fun. And casting two of Korea's currently most popular performers in the leading roles is smart, too. As the chief villain facing off against our negotiating heroine, that very rangy, handsome actor Hyun Bin (below) is knock-your-socks-off sexy. His character is clever and funny, too, so the pas de deux that goes on between the two is generally quite delightful.

If the movie starts well enough, it grows even better as it continues, until we see a bunch of lying, devious and very powerful men aligned against one quiet but smart negotiator and another perhaps even smarter young man. If we've seen this sort of thing before (and, oh, have we!), the pacing, plotting and very classy filmmaking makes it seem new enough to pass muster as first-rate entertainment.

And if you find yourself asking, But how, against such huge odds, will justice ever triumph?, the movie has an oddball ace up that sleeve, too. No spoilers here, but I think the ending is just different enough that, though you might wish for something more, you'll be willing to buy into the if-only scenario that you're given.

Welcome comic relief is provided by Kim Sang-ho (above, left), while the rest of the cast is, as usual in Korean cinema, certainly up to snuff. But it is Ms Son and Mr. Hyun who carry the film, bringing with them surprising weight and not a little emotion, as the sweet/sour finale approaches.

From CJ Entertainment and running 113 minutes, The Negotiation makes its digital home video debut this coming Tuesday, November 13, on Amazon, iTunes and Google Play -- for both purchase and/or rental.

Argo--for real--in Drew Taylor/Larry Weinstein's smashing documentary, OUR MAN IN TEHRAN

For any of you who were impressed with the Oscar-winning Argo a couple of years back (or even for those, like me, who thought that film was overdone and way over-rated), here comes a new documentary that will shed a lot of light on the story of some of those American hostages held captive by Iran some 35 years ago. Coincidentally 35 minutes shorter than its overblown narrative counterpart but packed to the gills with smart history, plenty of background, and many of the same people who were involved at the time, OUR MAN IN TEHRAN, directed by Drew Taylor and Larry Weinstein and written by Taylor and Robert Wright, is actually a kind of homage to Ken Taylor (shown on poster, above, two photos below as he looks today, and at bottom, back in the day), Canada's former ambassador to Iran, and the man most responsible for the safety and rescue of a handful of the hostages.

Perhaps the most important thing that filmmakers Taylor and Weinstein (shown above, right and left, respectively) accomplish is to give viewers a much-needed look at the kind of state Iran was prior to the abdication of the infamous Shaw and the coming to power of Khomeini. Taylor and Weinstein show us what kind of police state, complete with heavy-duty imprisonment, torture and murder the Shaw ran in order to suppress any dissenting voices. (They don't, unfortunately, tells us of the American- and British-led coup that overthrew the democratically-elected regime of Mohammad Mosaddegh and placed the Shaw back in power.)

Still, what's here gives us plenty of understanding as to why Iran desperately wanted and needed regime change toward a more just and equal society. What they actually got was something else, and that has been the story of Iran in the three decades since. The talking heads, many of them from Canada, assembled by the filmmakers, give us a smart, crisp and pungent look at Iranian society taken over by the "elite" and wealthy class. "There were bars (serving alcohol) in a country in which people didn't drink!" Notes another: "People are always happy to ban pleasures that they themselves cannot afford."

We even hear from the Shaw himself, as he explains, "There are many more things which united us with our American friends than divide us." Hello, oil! (Not to mention torture, imprisonment and death.)  There is real history here, from people who are as close to the term "experts" as you might want. And then we learn that no less than President Carter himself did not want to allow the Shaw, now diagnosed with cancer, to be allowed into the United States for treatment. This was most likely the single thing that sent Khomeini and the fundamentalists over the brink and led to the hostage-taking (above and below), yet all of Carter's advisers insisted on allowing this.

Later, and as soon as Ronald Reagan took the Presidential reins, Khomeini (in the photo, below) offered a further slap in the face to Carter by releasing the remaining hostages. (There has long been speculation that Reagan was doing behind-the-scenes dealings for their release even before he took over.)  In Canada, we see a sneering Trudeau, who, out of courtesy and respect, had been told about the hostage situation, and still played dirty politics with it. What a little media-crazy slut he was!

When we get to the actual plans for the hostages' exfiltration -- the Argo/Hollywood connection -- despite what we already know, the filmmakers manage to pack some suspense, a lot of humor and even a little surprise into the mix. Most of all, they give us something a hell of a lot closer to the truth of the situation than Argo offered, with its fake, last-minute, will-they-make-it? nonsense.

As we're smartly reminded at the documentary's close, "President Carter put the hostage's well-being above his own, and that's not typical of the actions of most senior politicians. You have to give him credit for that." Indeed. Can you even remotely imagine President Obama doing anything such thing -- not to mention that war-mongering idiot George W. Bush -- or any of the current would-be Republican candidates?

From First Run Features, the film opens today, Friday, May 15, in New York City at the Cinema Village, and then hits Wilmette, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Cleveland in the weeks and months to come.

To see all currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters shown, click here.