Havoc

It seems that this is one of those films that people either love or hate. I'm more in the middle. At times I found Havoc annoying, but as it progressed, the story became more engaging, and you're supposed to find aspects of it annoying.

Anne Hathaway--who is trying her hardest here to distance herself from her previous Disney and family film image by choosing a role where she's naked and sexual as often as possible--plays Allison, a rich, enigmatic high school student, wrapped up with a very plastic wannabe-gangsta-rapper group of white kids. They have a minor encounter with a Mexican gang in East L.A., and Hathaway finds herself (somewhat) inexplicably drawn to the Mexican gang. She keeps returning to visit one of the leaders, Hector (Freddy Rodriguez). At one point things become more complicated, as the audience surely expects.

The annoying aspect of the film is the rich kid gangsta posers. They seem incredibly fake, stupid and ridiculous. But on the other hand, that's pretty much the point. Los Angeles certainly has a reputation, somewhat deserved, for plasticity, so I suppose that Los Angeles high schools would be even worse, because a large percentage of high school students everywhere tend to conform to some clique or another (as do many adults, for that matter, but the "join a club to fit in and be accepted" mentality is usually more transparent and focused in high school). So the main characters should be annoying, and Allison, and later her friend Emily (Bijou Phillips), should be frustrating in their lack of direction and independent identity.

The problem with Havoc, however, is that the bulk of the running time is given to this irksome, frustrating and ridiculous group of characters. That's not exactly a recipe for falling in love with a film. Both Allison and the audience will likely respond to the Mexican gang better because there is an air of authenticity present with them, thanks largely to the cast playing those roles, but they're just not in the film enough, and the climax and dénouement are far less than satisfactory in that regard. Likewise, one rich kid character who is making an amateur documentary on the rich kid "gang" comes across as more authentic and interesting, but he ends up having an inexcusably minor role.

Still, if you can bear the inundation of poser behavior and lingo, there is an interesting story somewhat buried here, plus some attractive cinematography, a good soundtrack (both the songs and the more traditional score), and I'm certainly not complaining about seeing, um, more of Anne Hathaway. Approach this one with a lot of caution, but it's easy to see how it could be a gem for some.

The film "Closer" (2004) was never meant to be liked, just revealing. I felt the same vibe resonate throughout the eighty-six minutes of Havoc. It's not at all meant to be a film you'll necessarily respect, favor, prefer, or like--the film is simply meant to show you the stupidity of the rap/gang culture. The emptiness, the lack of emotion and integrity that is showcased throughout the generation. A previous review stated that all the actors were terrible in this film, that there was no plot, and virtually nothing in the movie in the first place. I agree to an extent; there is no plot in the lifestyle, no purpose. However, I believe the actors actually gave surprising performances, Joseph Gordon-Lewitt the most convincing; I didn't even recognize him for a moment. The filming was well done with a few gag-me exceptions; most angles were appropriate for the scenes (though the sexual situations *definitely* could have used a little more imagination).

Overall, there could have been more to the film than what we're left with. This could be attributed to the death of the original screenwriter in 2003, or it could be the director's execution. However, I still stand by my opinion that it's worth watching, but that you probably won't desire to see it again.

Allison Lang (Anne Hathaway) is from the upper class white neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. Her parents (Michael Biehn, Laura San Giacomo) are divorced and she's not connecting with them. Her boyfriend Toby is a Wigger and a poser. He takes her and her friend Emily (Bijou Phillips) to the bad side of L.A. They try to buy drugs and get rolled by Hector (Freddy Rodríguez). Even with Toby's cowardice, she is excited by the incident and returns to the spot the next night with Emily, Amanda (Shiri Appleby) and Sasha (Alexis Dziena). She finds Hector again as she falls further and further into his dangerous world.

This is a souped-up afterschool special. I don't particularly find these characters that compelling. The girls could do whatever the hell they want for all I care. It starts with the idiotic posing from Toby. It brings up an interesting casting choice. It's crazy looking back that Mike Vogel got the bigger role while Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum are cast as his friends. The other problematic casting choice is Freddy Rodríguez. I can't buy him as a gang leader especially since he's a foot shorter than Anne Hathaway. He's definitely not hard enough and there's a bit of Napoleon going on here. Hathaway is good in this movie and keeps it compelling. She's really the major bright spot in this.

Well, I definitely would have had a field day to this 2 or 3 times if I had known about it in 2005 when it came out. But, not to Joseph Gordon Levitt dropping all those N-bombs...

Havoc is definitely not a GOOD movie, but it is a bit of an anomaly and its definitely wholly entertaining. It exists in a realm somewhere between Larry Clark (I'm thinking BULLY) and something like Alpha Dog, though it's not as good as either of those.

I'm not sure how Anne Hathaway got placed as the lead in this right in between The Princess Diaries 2 and The Devil Wears Prada. Her sex appeal is definitely off the charts in this movie, and she "bares more" here than in any other movie I'm aware of, but it also feels like such an odd role for her outside of that. While she is typically a very strong actress, in this film where she is supposed to portray a "rich Pacific Palisades girl obsessed with "gangsta" culture", at no point does it feel believable. She will randomly dip into talking with slang and accents for moments at a time but then most of the time speaks like her normal self, yet the characters verbally reference her "talking hood" even when she's not at all.

On that note, nobody puts in a particularly good performance in this, but I'm sure that has a lot to do with the writing and directing as well. Bijou Phillips is great playing the same type of cute and vulnerable character she always tends to, and Freddy Rodriguez and Raymond Cruz (Tuco from Breaking Bad) do the best job out of the whole cast with the material.

It's a ride that's fully cringe all the way through, and a lot of little things don't make that much sense. Why is that one kid filming everything? What is he making a movie about? What for? Or at least, why are these kids that think they're so hard just letting him?

The actual movie itself really doesn't have an ending at all - the closest thing we get to a finale is our protagonist basically acting as a rape apologist, and then suddenly it's just over? I dunno if that qualifies as a finale.

I feel like this was the tail end of when movies like this got funded with actual stars on the cast. Half of the cast are A-listers now...seeing Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in these roles is...hilarious.

Freak show of a movie that would never be made now.

I could start off this review in Singlish by saying "This movie damn havoc", and it just about sums it up accurately and nicely. Sex, drugs and gangsterism from the hop is hip culture, this movie attempts to provide a social commentary about the lives of super rich teenagers in the Palasades, wasting their bored lives away by trying to emulate another culture they think is cool, the wannabes who chose not to conform to the norms, but try their darndest best to be one in the 'hood.

Anne Hathaway assumes the lead role as Allison Lang, a wide-eyed teenager whose language is as beautiful as her appearance. Having her material needs satisfied by her ultra rich parents, but living in essentially an empty home, her friends and her seek out the alternative lifestyle which promises loads of fun and excitement - drugs, drink and fights. Being associated with a gang brings about some perceived self esteem and self worth. But where do you draw the line when you're always seeking another high moment? A journey to "downtown" - the areas of the have-nots, where seedy bogeymen reside in, areas where parents warn their children to stay away from, sparks a discovery of a wonderland for Allison and her best friend Emily (Bijou Phillips), as they make repeated trips to be amongst the real boys in the 'hood, to hang out, chill, and do whatever them wannabes have done at a magnitude of 10. It's a primal attraction and sexual tension between the girls and the men (not the boys they hang out with, who pee in their pants when faced with real danger - acting cool is not cool), and between Allison and Hector (Freddy Rodriguez).

But like all revelations, sometimes it takes the hard way to learn a lesson, and the movie picked up on this rather rapidly in the last third, once they got enticed into playing a game of dice (with sexual connotations) in order to be initiated into Hector's gang. Basically, the audience observes the attraction of an alternative lifestyle, of wannabes thinking they can handle it all, and of redemption and change.

While it was a surprise to see Michael Biehn in the movie, the movie clearly belonged to Anne Hathaway in her very first attempt to break away from her goody-two-shoes roles like in the Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted. However, with the M18 rating here, this movie suffered cuts where it really mattered, and a poor edit too at one of the more pivotal scenes which literally screwed up the understanding of what actually happened, only to be told at face value, suggesting the "truth" of the matter, at a later stage. Sometimes I wonder why not release it as R21, and keep the film intact. Surely Hathaway has fans, but to mutilate the movie to let them in, is a bad decision.

It's peculiar to have the movie released this week, up against Singer's SUperman. Maybe some rebellious bored teenagers happen to be the answer to balance the truth and justice that the last son of Krypton embodies?