Movie review: Loaded, including interview with filmmaker/actor Erick Gosse, actor Joel Bryant and producer Brandon Jones

by John P. Meyer

Low budget actioner substitutes creativity for cash.

According to co-writer/producer/actor (and North Texas resident) Erick Gosse , Loaded attracted some high-profile attention at AFI a couple of years ago - so much so that it was optioned by a well-known studio for distribution by their independent label. But that grab at fame and prospective fortune netted empty air when a number of studio executives left the company, with the result that the option to distribute the film was never exercised.

Leaving Erick and the other filmmakers involved high and dry, and - as he puts it - with a bad taste in their mouths.

That's when he signed on producer Brandon Jones, who arranged a DVD distribution deal (with Westlake Entertainment) while retaining the theatrical release rights; as a result, the film will now be playing in limited release starting this Friday (Oct. 19) at Studio Movie Grills in Addison and Houston, with openings in Chicago and Los Angeles to follow.

Since Loaded was made on a budget of around 80 grand, don't expect the kind of flashy production values you'd see in studio-financed action flicks like the Rush Hour or Die Hard films. This is not to say that the filmmakers haven't done their best with the resources at their disposal - because they have. The acting (including lead roles by Joel Bryant, charismatic newcomer Thomas Tamburello and Mr. Gosse, who has previously done bit portrayals on the TV show Prison Break and is currently scripting and working pre-production for another indie picture, The Skinner Box) is above average for this sort of shoestring flick. Given the fact that no special effects are employed (i.e., no blood squibs), it's amazing that the numerous shootouts and other violent encounters come off looking fairly believable - thanks mostly to creative camera points of view and some clever cutting/editing.

Story-wise, what we have here is a drug kingpin underground cop infiltration revenge movie with stylistic nods to CSI Miami (or, if you prefer to reference big screen antecedents, think Michael Mann). Except the action takes place in southern California instead of south Florida, centering on the exclusive club scene and a local drug lord who supplies the high-dollar party favors.

Mr. Gosse plays Jason Boyer, lead agent of an elite state-based alphabet soup agency tasked with hamstringing the bad guys. Joel Bryant (who you can also see this month in The Heartbreak Kid and - starting on Oct. 26 - Music Within) plays Pepsi, a flunky of the local crime boss who's been coasting along just fine as number two, thanks very much, until the arrival of a fast-lane cartel underling named Bobby (Mr. Tamburello), who has a closely-guarded yet highly-relevant personal history with the drug trade.

Also along for the high-octane fast-cut club-music-scored ride are Steve Rad (as psychotic drug lord Nick De La Cruz), Lynn A. Freedman (as street-savvy tough-as-nails detective Devine, who has the rather annoying habit of screaming, "Freeze!" when she outta just be pulling the trigger) and eye-candy Tirzah Briscoe (as Tracy De La Cruz, wife of the big baddie, who has a thang goin' on with young lion Bobby). Those with a checkered film-watching history may recognize the face of Ron Jeremy behind the wizened demeanor of medical examiner Dr. Fenerty.

A couple of areas where the film rises above the level of its humble parts are the scoring (done by Jennifer Stewart, with sound design by Brandon Krouse) and the very authentic fight scenes, choreographed by Nick Cotton. When enraged fists strike the prostrate flesh of some unfortunate beaten-down ne'er-do-well, hearing is believing.

There are a few unexpected twists and turns along the way to the unsurprising outcome, but the chief reason for taking in Loaded might be to get an early look at some nascent talent both behind and in front of the camera: much of the crew (including director Ryan Parrott) are film school students from Chapman University, solicited for the production by Mr. Gosse because a) they'd work cheap (i.e., for nothing) and b) they boasted up-to-date technical training in the use of cinematic video and lighting equipment.

Oh, and there's the whole frozen fish drug smuggling gimmick... pretty clever, that.

*****

Interview with actor/writer/producer Erick Gosse, actor Joel Bryant and producer Brandon Jones:

Three principals from the film recently closeted themselves in a Crescent Court hotel room with a trio of interested local film guys to answer questions about Loaded specifically and their various experiences in the world of indie production in general. Attending were Erick Gosse, Joel Bryant and producer Brandon Jones; hurling questions their way were Frank Swietek, "DVD guru" Ricky Miller and yours truly. In the background you'll occasionally hear chuckling (and gurgling) from Erick's wife Julie (and their swaddled bundle of joy), and a couple of late-session questions from PR person and event organizer/host Kelly Kitchens.

The audio is split into two parts because my recorder lost juice in the midst of things and I was forced to install a new battery; what you're missing out on (because I didn't immediately notice the power outage) is some rather glowing commentary on the qualities of Dallas/North Texas as an emerging filmmaking nerve center, and some discussion of the genesis of the film's opening rape/murder scene, which - while it's as sensitively portrayed as that sort of thing can be - is still a rape/murder scene; Erick had informed us in a press release that there was a factual basis behind the scene, and I'd asked him for some elaboration; he wasn't comfortable with offering much more on this score, other than to say that one of the film's producers experienced something similar.

At the point where the recording picks up again we are hearing from Erick regarding conditions on the set during the filming of that harrowing episode.