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On the Outs
It is fitting for the production to keep striving upward, as the film's primary concerns are resilience and perseverance. In addition to telling the story of three inner-city girls struggling with their own determination against the effects of drugs on their lives, On the Outs constantly overcomes its own narrative problems, rising above many weaknesses by overshadowing them with effective strengths. For example: the film at times comes across as too obvious and predictable, often pulling too hard on heartstrings and stressing stereotypical situations of violence, but the scenes that surprise with unexpected -though not unbelievable - twists are proportionally more astonishing in their contrast.
The boy isn't just homeless; he's also a hustler and dealer, and it is easy to see where Suzette's life is headed when the two begin dating. She makes you want to yell at the screen, like you would were she in a horror film; only her stupidity leads her to juvenile detention rather than a gruesome death. She follows him around, makes his life hers and starts crashing at his friends' places with him. At one such place the film pulls out one of its surprises during a scene that sets the audience up to expect a tragedy and then instead delivers a brilliant punchline. Meanwhile Marisol (Paola Mendoza, who also co-created the idea for the production), a teenage mother and crack addict, is introduced as another making all the wrong decisions. Not only does she spend her baby's food and milk money on drugs, she manages to get herself locked up so that her daughter is left home with a sick aunt and a threatened future of her own. Suddenly getting the child becomes a bigger priorty than getting high and so she makes a huge effort to be sure she'll get "on the outs" for a reunion. The third girl is Oz (Judy Marte), a drug dealer and daughter of an addict, who gets on the hypocritical offensive against anybody who sells to her mother. At the start of the film she is just getting out of juvie and immediately returns to her street corner to continue selling. There isn't much for her "on the outs", although she does hold a lot of love for her mentally challenged brother, for whom she feels somewhat important as protector and friend. Mostly, though, she doesn't seem to care if she's in or out, and it doesn't take her long to get back into the detention center. The get-to-know part of the film feels like a long time, but once the they're locked up, the film really grabs hold. There is no faking in this confined second act. The girls don't become pals nor enemies nor do they have uplifting rehabilitation montages set to pop music. The film uses the juvie experience as just a part of their life rather than making it the end, which would point to the morality and hopelessness, or, at the beginning, which would insinuate a fals sense of them having a fresh start. In the center it is just a time in which they serve between the time before it and the time after.
Another thing the film gets perfectly is how awkwardly cliché life really is, as evidenced in Suzette's boyfriend's corny words. One of the first things noticeably different between On the Outs and an after school special, besides being a three-in-one deal, is the naturally uncomfortable dialogue, mostly improvised after extensive rehearsals and experimentation between the actors. Marte is the undisputed champion of the film, and if nothing else worked in the film, her performance alone would be worth your time. Her talent really amazed me; of course, I hadn't known that it was she for whom one of the film's Independent Spirit nominations was, nor was I familiar with her debut film, Raising Victor Vargas , with which came rave reviews and an earlier nomination for the actress. Though she stands out, and though the other two girls have their flaws, I don't think I've ever seen a film where the quality of performance so perfectly fits the characters. Oz is strong and confident, and is played with strong, confident acting. Mariano holds back and seems to just float through the film, just as Suzette lacks the ability to shine and the direction to be on her own. Mendoza appears to be the worst, going way over the top, but it coincides with the loose cannon persona of the Marisol role. It took me three invites over a few months before I decided to attend a screening for On the Outs , mainly because I expected a cheap, badly acted and preachy little film, and then I only went because it was feeling like a squeaky wheel sounds. Well, it got my oil in the form of respect and praise. Hopefully you won't need me to tell you three times to see it. ©2005 Christopher Campbell |
Consider it the little film that could. Despite having already come and gone last summer with a small release, 
The Jersey City set movie opens with shots of the nearby Statue of Liberty - an excessively unambiguous move that is an immediate turn off - mixed with an establishing montage of the girls' slum neighborhood. First we are introduced to 15-year-old Suzette (Anny Mariano) as she meets a much older boy. He tells her that he often sleeps in abandoned warehouses because his step-father, "uses my face for a punching bag," a cliché phrase that can only be forgiven by realizing that the young man, not the film, is the one trying too hard. 
It isn't that