Blood Guts Bullets & Octane Reviews

A fresh, sharply-written slice of no-budget sleaze that deserves not to get lost in the throng of Quentin Tarantino knock-offs. Bob and Sid (co-producer Dan Leis and writer/editor/co-producer/director Joe Carnahan), one-time employees of genial, middle-aged huckster Danny Woo (Dan Harlan), run a pathetic excuse for a used car lot where all the fast talk in the world can't compensate for their dismal dearth of inventory. Oh, and they're about to be evicted. Then their car broker shows up with a suspiciously sweet deal: If they'll take delivery of a gleaming red, 1963 Pontiac LeMans and let it sit on the lot for two days, $250,000 will be theirs. Of course, it's too good to be true, and Sid's scheming doesn't make it better: Even if we didn't know that the whatsit in the trunk has something to do with a string of brutal murders, including the massacre of an entire native village in Ecuador, wouldn't it stand to reason that trying to hold the car for ransom was just a bad, bad idea? Say it and get over it: RESERVOIR DOGS for the motor-mouths and pop-culture heavy dialogue; EL MARIACHI and CLERKS for the preposterously low budget; THE USUAL SUSPECTS for the big old twist at the end. But this brash, funny little crime picture has a smart-alecky personality all its own. The $7,300 shooting budget shows (though some images are handsomely composed), but the writing is edgy and genuinely clever, and -- surprise, surprise -- the acting is way above low-budget average. Casting from among your friends and acquaintances is almost always a disaster, but Carnahan and his cohorts appear to be an unusually talented bunch. Check it out, and figure that Carnahan's next might be something to see.