Verdict
Summary
Shot for peanuts in a grungy, from-the-bottom-view indie feature Laws of Gravity was a launching pad for writer/ director Nick Gomez (who’s been a mainstay as a director of episodic T.V. ever since) and his newcomer cast. Greene, who just passed away at 60, is the standout as the chuckling shit-for-brains leader of this group of loser characters, and while the movie has an early ’90s aesthetic outside the Hollywood mainstream, it has a pretty realistic worldview.
Plot:
Small time hoods get into very big trouble when a stash of stolen guns goes missing.
Review:
The neighborhood in Brooklyn where Jimmy (Peter Greene) and Jon (Adam Trese) and their girlfriends live and hang out isn’t exactly pretty, but it’s not a slum either, but these guys are going nowhere fast. Jimmy and Jon steal from the back of vans of trucks and sell the goods to a fence who owns the local grocery store, and their women (played by Edie Falco and Arabella Field) knows the score, but stand by their men anyway. Jon recently skipped his court appearance after posting bail, and now he’s got a warrant out for his arrest, and when he’s arrested and thrown into the slammer again, Jimmy vows to come up with the $1500.00 for his bail … somehow. Enter Frankie (Paul Schulze), a hood rat who is sitting on a stash of stolen guns that he gives to Jimmy for safekeeping while he arranges a deal to sell them all. Knowing he can quickly fence the guns for a rock bottom price but not caring that he’ll have to pay Frankie somehow later on, Jimmy fences the guns and bails Jon out with the cash, but when Frankie comes calling for the guns, all hell breaks loose when Jimmy can’t pay.
Shot for peanuts in a grungy, from-the-bottom-view indie feature Laws of Gravity was a launching pad for writer/ director Nick Gomez (who’s been a mainstay as a director of episodic T.V. ever since) and his newcomer cast. Greene, who just passed away at 60, is the standout as the chuckling shit-for-brains leader of this group of loser characters, and while the movie has an early ’90s aesthetic outside the Hollywood mainstream, it has a pretty realistic worldview. It’s not exactly an easy or a pleasant watch with these loser characters and going-nowhere mentality, climaxing abruptly in a way that just leaves you in the gutter. It packs a nasty punch, but the question is: Do you want to feel that punch?
Kino Lorber recently released Laws of Gravity on Blu-ray, and it comes in a crisp high definition transfer, with a new audio commentary by director Gomez and a moderator, plus the trailer.
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