Review of Snow on tha Bluff (2012) by Eric W — 21 May 2012

I knew what Snow On Tha Bluff was about going into the movie, but what remained to be seen was how well it would be executed. And the answer to that question is pretty damn well. The line between reality and re-enactment was constantly blurred and while I think certain scenes, particularly the shootings, were staged, they were staged with such chilling accuracy and convincing performances that I was caught second-guessing myself.

The film seizes you by the throat and shoves you face-first into this violent, dirty, drug-infested underworld and holds its foot firmly on the back of your neck without remorse until the end. I wonâ(TM)t sit here and lie and say that the film didnâ(TM)t make me uncomfortable at times, because it did. It portrays a reality so far-removed from my own that itâ(TM)s shocking simply on its face. Everything appears so real and raw and visceral that itâ(TM)s hard not to feel a serious gut-check. The world of Curtis Snow is depicted as utterly cut-throat where strength is the law of the land; strength through superior firepower, numbers, and merciless fear-tactics.

Itâ(TM)s a real-life gangster film without the romanticized Hollywood gloss, and I truly felt like anyone on screen could die at any time, and the found-footage, hand-cam style makes it even more tense and realistic. When Curtis Snow and his fellow gang members are donning masks and loading weapons for a raid on a rival drug-dealer or fleeing from flashing squad-car lights down dark alleys you feel like youâ(TM)re sprinting right behind them; you feel like youâ(TM)re in actual danger.

Snow On Tha Bluff shows, it doesnâ(TM)t tell. It shows you every gritty detail and thereâ(TM)s a strange duality between feeling utterly disconnected from the men on the screen and then feeling sorry for them, somehow identifying with them despite their extremities.

Thereâ(TM)s debauchery and disturbing remorselessness, mirrored by scenes of pained loss and quiet reflection and it creates a dynamic and provoking narrative thatâ(TM)s impossible to tear your eyes from. Itâ(TM)s easy to condemn the lifestyle on screen and it should be condemned, and every time I hear some young gang-worshipping kid rave about the âthug lifeâ? I want to point him to this film. These men ARE thugs. And the lives I see are dark, desperate and doomed.