Review: Love Crime

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

 

Love Crime
Directed by Nicole D’Angelo
CineRidge Entertainment; Cinema Epoch; MSC Productions
67 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/cineridge/
I have been really been impressed by this local collective of multi-pronged actors/directors/writers/filmmakers. They all support each other both in front and behind the camera, and still manage to be prolific on a meager financial means.

One consistency is that their films tend to be minimalist, taut, and more often than not psychological. I have reviewed a number of them, such as Quarantine Girl (2020; also directed by D'Angelo), Choke (2020), and Heartbeat (2020). 

Nicole D'Angelo

Our fare for today is a crime drama, founded somewhat on Arizonas-based Jodi Aria (director Nicole D’Angelo), who murdered her lover of a tempestuous relationship in 2008, Travis Alexander (Shane Ryan-Reid). I don’t obviously know what their real relationship was like, so when I refer to the actors’ role, I will use the first name, and for the real person, their last in this review to slow down the confusion.

Time is very fluid in this story, as the chronology is bounced around, yet the timeline of where we are at any scene is clear, thanks to some good direction and editing (more on that later). For the prologue, Jodi is already arrested and in holding as she interacts with grizzled police officer Ross (Sam Dobbins). He is stern, yet sympathetic to Jodi, unlike his boss, Detective Mace (Lisa London), who sees this as a case to be a publicity slam dunk (the real trial was heavily mediated).

Deeply religious, Jodi projects the same onto Travis, as the devout tend to do. She is way more committed to this relationship than Travis, yet she is still a believer. As I said, the real relationship was tumultuous, and this is expressed between break-ups and rejoinings. This is smartly symbolized in the editing, as some B-roll scenes are shown both going forward and backwards.

The personalities of the two main characters are also back and forth, in that they often complement each other, and yet they are quite different. Jodi is what I call god-delusional, grasping on to the weights of faith to keep herself steady. Travis, on the other hand, is a motivational speaker who is quite glib and sometimes impatient with Jodi’s questions about remaining “pure” in some ways; he is constantly using his experience with words and charm to console her, but you know he is being dishonest and it is almost as uncomfortable to watch as her divinity focus. As they swirl around each other, Mace makes like a bulldog trying to break Jodi’s façade, which may be her truth or her self-imposed wall to protect herself from what she has done.

Shane Ryan-Reid

It is easy to see the cracks in both Jodi’s armor of love of Travis and god, as much as it is to see through the weakness of Travis in both. Her overwhelming needs outweigh his lack of them, and in the film, there is no black and white personalities nor actions, as they both have their issues that they bring to the relationship. The fact is that this was a long-distance relationship, with him on the road a lot (Arias and Alexander actually lived in different states).

With multiple events happening over the overlapping timelines, I was quite impressed with the video editing by Michael Tang, which highlights the minimalist and stark (there’s those words again) cinematography by Gregory Hatanaka and Caleb Tou. For example, there can be two opposite events happening, such as an argument and a sex scene interwoven together, and it works. Occasionally, the writing by Jamie Grefe shows some nice flairs as well, such as when Mace states to Ross, “If truth is bitter, my coffee should be, too.”

D'Angelo’s double duty as both lead actor and director proves she is capable for the task. I was truly impressed with the artful directorial skill in which she handles the story. The film may be on the short side, but it was the perfect length to tell it.

The film is available to watch for free on Tubi, and on demand by Amazon and Vimeo.

IMDB listing HERE