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T O P I C R E V I E W
BaftaBaby
Posted - 12/31/2012 : 00:18:34 Paul Tanter's supposed expose of a certain kind of techo-robbery suffers from nothing more than its treatment as a feature-length telly episode, instantly forgettable, rather than taking advantage of what it might gain as a movie.
By that I mean Tanter has a bit of a gift with his McGuffin - he could have used it to show some fascinating facts about how even the crim world needs to get tech-savvy to survive.
Just to get some faint praise out of the way - the direction assures that most of these quite decent actors are given screen room to establish themselves and their relationships. Though it must be said there's precious little originality in the choice of set-ups and cuts.
So, what might Tanter have done? Lemme process some data for you.
Ever since credit card transactions were introduced back in the 1920s crims - primarily organized crime networks - have sought ways to get their mitts on OPM [that's other people's money]. And then the law has to play catch-up and so it goes back and forth. With, of course, that other factor of Da Banx! And we've all seen with our own eyes how completely trustworthy they are. Haven't we?!
Tekkies who know, have publicly declared that credit card fraud could be completely eliminated if banks spent the proper amounts of dosh to ensure near as dammit unbreakable coding to back electronic transactions.
There are salutary lessons from the WWII days of the Enigma and Tunny Machines, steganography and other military-developed systems yet to be refined by banks to fit contemporary needs.
And, so long as those links remain weak, criminal activity will be with us if not prevail.
Dunno 'bout you, but I find this stuff fascinating, and certainly an original jumping off point for a personal story to make up a film.
But instead of focusing on the really interesting stuff of how the tech stuff works, who's protecting it, how the law liaises with them - as well as juxtaposing all that with the crim p.o.v. - Tanter chooses to marginalize the fraud experts on the law side and get mired in the constant danger of a criminal hierarchy.
In other words - same old/same old. So what's supposed to keep us watching when we've seen it all before.
So, we've got a bit of a dodgy geezer who wants to do right by the woman he loves, but just can't seem to cut a break, and so - oh dear, no, don't tell me, he gets sucked into a scheme offered by a childhood pal who now wears snazzy suits and treats people as props.
I mean, at heart, these are not people you want to bring home to meet your mom. And, the nice lass ain't retarded, so WTF does she see in this loser. EVERYONE can see he behaves like a loser. EVERYONE.
What? Bonding with the crim dick over football, booze and hookers is supposed to indicate - what? a true pal? a heart of gold?
And soon, well, what do you know, our down on his luck geezer climbs the ladder to all this new-fangled dodgy scam. And that means he's ripe for a beating or two, and, btw, he just can't seem to resist a bit of blow and some easy pussy. Oh, but he still loves that nice girl and wants to do right by her.
Oh, give me a break. To paraphrase Brando - this film coulda been a contender, it coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what it is.
