Very Cool!!!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Review: Although the movie seems cheap and it doesn't really start off that well, it does end up with a moral to the story and it's good to see Vin Diesel really act. We are all used to seeing Diesel play the tough guy in his big budget movies, but in this film he shows that he has a heart and that bullets can't always bounce off of his body. All of the cast look like there on steroids, except for Mike Epps, and it has a deep undertone of a band of brothers who grow up doing everything together. Personally, I hated the beginning, but when the storyline kicks in its pretty average. If you keep in mind that this was made with a very low budget, totally by Vin Diesel, it is well put together but it's not a classic like earlier Scorsese movies, which it did remind me of. Average!Round-Up: After watching Riddick last week, it's amazing to see how far Diesel has come. It's a shame that Diesel doesn't show his acting skills more in his movies because he actually can act. At this point, we all know what to expect from his films. They all seem to be big budget action movies which shows that he has become type casted. Maybe he needs to go back to the drawing board to show that he doesn't have to show his muscles and kick ass in all of his films. As for the other cast, you can tell that this is the first time that they have been in front of a camera, but the chemistry between the cast seemed very real.I recommend this movie to people who want to see an early Vin Diesel trying to get out of the hood and falling in love. 3/10

Long ago, in the days when the Fast and the Furious was still just an old Roger Corman B-Movie, and nobody thought a franchise could be spun out with a title as limp as The Chronicles of Riddick, Vin Diesel was just another struggling actor, earning his crust selling light bulbs as a telemarketer. With admirable verve, the shiny headed one set out going his own way - writing, producing, directing and starring in his own pet project. The resultant work was selected for Sundance in 1997, and, whilst hardly causing a sensation, was obviously seen by enough of the right kind of people to set its maker off on his path to stardom. Little seen in the intervening years, the film, Strays, is finally finding a wider audience on DVD.The film follows Rick (Diesel) a part-time dope dealer and general lay- about wishing to transcend his social status and become… well, that isn't entirely clear. But something.  Surrounded by friends even more gormless than himself it is little wonder Rick sees himself as something special. Tired of the daily bump 'n grind, he looks for true love with the middle class girl next door, but his innate dimwittedness always seems to get the better of him. Strays examines the lives of the buff, rather brutish, none too sharp yet somehow vaguely existential young male. Pasolini made a couple of masterpieces with such material, Scorsese got some pretty decent mileage too. Diesel, sadly, offers up a tepid, plodding insult to intelligence.The first half of the film actually holds some interest with its ham- fisted dissection of male narcissism and the pleasing attendant whiff of homoeroticism. Disappointingly Diesel rejects this fruitful avenue for a remarkably inane progression into soppy romance, with the Pantene-fresh Heather (Lanza) falling for Rick's dubious charms (he likes mint choc chip ice cream and - shockingly - all the words to the Tin Man song from the Wizard of Oz.) Diesel's acting range is showcased in all its glory: witness the occasions in which his character will offer some pithy advice to his no-good friends first in a low voice, AND THEN SHOUTING IT AS LOAD AS HE CAN. Rick has mother issues, which apparently excuses his all-round prickishness. And anyway, IF EVERYONE WOULD JUST LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYING VERY LOADLY things would probably be OK. The improvisational style aims for Cassavettes but hits some way wide of the mark. The Pacifier had more soul than this.

Strays is brutally honest and... beautifully executed. It uses harsh words and harsher actions to portray a lifestyle that is real and not sugar coated for the audience. It does not apologize for this but instead asks us to understand the truth being portrayed. A war without blood would not be accurate. These lives without the brutal language would be false and would strip the movie of its commitment to honesty.The acting, directing, and writing in this movie was done with absolute attention to detail. I deeply enjoyed this movie. It was fresh and new and at times so real and raw I felt like a voyeur. Rick's life unfolds before us and we are taken along on a journey through his emotional awakening. Gracefully it allows us to experience the lives of its characters without judgment.This in turn gives us the freedom to feel and grow along with them. It evokes emotion and dialogue and is in my opinion a great work of art.

Sometimes the combination of good writing, good direction and good casting collides into a great movie. Writer/Director Vin Diesel stars as Rick, the emotional center to a very strong ensemble of acquired family. The older brother who is finally facing the future, Rick tries to develop a new life while still taking care of his circle of strays. He rebels from his sex-filled nights against Salvatore, a womanizing freeloader and his drug-providing past with Fred, his not so bright cousin. Their unending loyalty keeps the "family" strong, even when he falls in love with a midwestern outsider, Heather. Perceptive and extremely witty writing keeps the pace throughout the film, and his chemistry with Fred, played beautifully by Joey Dedio, is worth the price of the ticket alone.