Dallas 362

Year: 2003

Grade: C+

Country: USA

Director: Caan

Review

scott caan is no james caan, that’s both a critique and a compliment. a critique in that james caan is a pretty great actor and his son pales when compared to him. it’s a compliment in that he’s separated himself from his father. he’s a different sort of actor and he’s carved out his own place in hollywood. they both play tough guy roles, but scott adds a humor that james didn’t really have in the majority of his roles. i haven’t seen the only picture that james directed, but i can say that scott’s directorial debut was better than i had anticipated. i think the important thing here is that he didn’t ruin the story or the performances with his direction. it wasn’t a particularly amazing film in any way – the story was good enough, there were some colorful characters, there were some strong performances and some that were less than strong, but nothing was hampered by his direction; and for a first time director i think that’s an important thing.

the story follows two twenty-something guys who constantly find themselves in bar fights and generally getting into trouble. caan is the bad boy and hatosy plays the protagonist trying to figure out what to do with his life. in a way it’s like a much more toned down, humorous version of menace II society with caan playing o-dog and goldblum playing charles s. dutton’s character.

i liked the soundtrack which is mostly rootsy rock stuff like the soledad brothers. i think the worst part of the film is that it’s not very original. the final scott caan sequence is derivative and the entire plot is old hat. that said, the goldblum character dynamic was interesting and the skitish character played by val lauren was a nice touch.