What is Shelf Life? I recently moved into a new apartment, which means I had to box my entire movie collection. Now I”m trying to figure out how much of my physical media actually fits here.
Each and every title is now up for grabs, new or old, and it”s time to decide what goes on the shelf and what just plain goes.
TITLE: The Trust
YEAR: 2016
DIRECTOR: Alex Brewer and Benjamin Brewer
SCREENWRITER: Adam Hirsch and Benjamin Brewer
FORMAT: Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy
PURCHASED OR SENT: Sent
WHAT IS IT? A young cop (Elijah Wood) is brought into a potentially deadly deal with an older cop (Nicolas Cage) who stumbles across a possible score while following leads on local drug traffic in Vegas.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Direct-to-video (or close to it) Nicolas Cage movies are practically a sub-genre at this point. He's been working for the taxman long enough that it has turned him into a form of human white noise. I love Cage, and I love his work, but I can't remotely keep up with all of it. When something shows up here at the house, it gets processed into one of several stacks, and sometimes it can take a while to get to certain stacks. In the case of The Trust, though, I liked the cover, and I think Elijah Wood, Cage's co-star here, makes interesting choices these days. The combination of the two of them is what got me to watch it, and I was genuinely surprised by the film itself. It's a smart, well-observed piece, and it has a jet black sense of humor that makes it feel like something special. It's very small, and because of that, it feels very focused. The Brewers are great at creating a sense of creeping dread, and Wood makes a perfect visual counterpoint with Cage. Cage is throwing fastballs, giving off waves of weird freak energy, and Wood just soaks it up, looking like he's about to break and run at any moment. Narratively, it's pretty familiar stuff, but it's how you tell the story, and the Brewers emerge here as filmmakers worth watching.
DOES IT DESERVE A PLACE ON THE SHELF? Yes.
The Trust is available now on DVD, Blu-ray, and on digital platforms for sale and rental.