The Girl from the Naked Eye (2012) Reviews

• Not that bad, it had its moments. Very decent genre movie.

  gaystimpy2011-12-18

  Must admit the movie had moments that surprised me. The relationship between Jake and Sandy had moments that were quite heart warming. I thought the Sandy actress did a great job. Kinda reminds me a lil of the relationship in Leon: the Professional between Natalie Portman and Jean Reno's characters. There were some scenes that was actually quite funny where i found myself chuckling out loud. Jason Yee did a pretty good job playing a bad/good guy. The cigarette smoking was kinda a thing in the movie with his character for some reason. Some of the flow reminded me of sin city in the atmosphere they were trying to create. Also surprising was how humanized the characters were. The Simon character was very down to earth and didn't fit the typical bad guy portrayal. The movie felt like they put a lot of heart into it and did the best they could with what they had. Sure the fight scenes were't typical Hollywood style hyper edits and loud added explosive hitting sounds but for the movie it fight pretty well. More like early Steven Seagal fights. Like to see him more in movies.

• Dark and Moody Gem of an Indie

  gregsrants2011-06-24

  When it comes to independent film screeners, no film impressed us more in recent memory than David Ren's The Girl From the Naked Eye. The film stars newcomer Jason Yee as Jake, a driver for an escort service who takes on the role as heavy when his gambling debts spiral out of control. In the sordid world of prostitution, Jake find a diamond in the rough – a young 16-year old runaway named Sandy (Samantha Streets) who is working as a prostitute for Simon (Ron Yuan), a high ranking thug in a world of unlawful activities. But as we learn in the opening chapter, Sandy is murdered and Jake will make it his ambition to find out who was responsible and make them pay with his own form of justice. Jake's investigation will work outside of the police inquiry and each promising lead will take him through the underbelly of a criminal enterprise where countless ruffians are just chompin' at the bit at a chance to take their best shot against the inquisitive Jake. The Girl From the Naked Eye is told with both flashbacks and a narrative style that is quite impressive from relatively novice writers Jason Yee and Larry Madill. The narrative in particular doesn't add fluff nor does it try and infuse humor into a character that is serious to the core in his pursuit. The flashbacks were also expertly placed and allow for us to understand better Jakes attachment to Sandy while allowing the present day story to unfold in detail. Most impressive in the production are the fight sequences which are truly top rate. Jake primarily uses his fists to parade through countless brutes in his search for the truth. And the sequences are handled with the precision of a craftsman. A particular scene of Jake fighting a handful of guards in the hallway of a building complex reminded us of OldBoy and was clearly the highlight of the film. The film was purposefully shot in the darkened crevasses of the city and the film will hardly be one that the anti-smoking lobbyists will endorse. There weren't many bright colors, if any, in the film and I respected the look and atmosphere that was orchestrated by director David Ren. The story was good, but not perfect. There were a few dead ends and a few troubled spots where I might have had pieces of a scene left on the cutting room floor but for the majority of the very brisk 85-minute running time, the plot moves forward and the audience is largely entertained. And although the biggest baddest villain in the film (played by Gary Stretch) is admirable, he is not as mean and relentless as you might expect out of such a genre film. The cast in The Girl From the Naked Eye (oh, we should add here that the Naked Eye was the name of a seedy strip club to where most of the characters have connections) all do outstanding work in large and bit roles and Dominique Swain and Sasha Grey both have blink-and-you'll-miss-em scenes that do nothing more than add their name to various search engines pointing to the film. The sum of its parts results in a film that was directed with a clear vision, choreographed with surgical precision and scripted in a down-to-earth format allowing for a high return on the entertainment dollar.

• An indie genre film that delivers above expectations

  MLachey2012-01-25

  I must start by saying that you should not watch this film with the same expectations of a large Hollywood production because it simply isn't. With that in mind however, I found it very easy to appreciate how this film follows the graphic novel/detective film translation. Moreover, it borrows a lot from Sin City in its colour scheme, lighting and general feel. The fight choreography is gritty and satisfactory. They integrate the standard line of thugs in with trained "guards" and a certified martial artist in Lateef Crowder (Max). The biggest surprise is how much depth they add to the surrounding characters beyond the protagonist. Simon and Sandy bring forth a lot of different emotional reactions and really help raise the entire acting level of the film. There are few lines in this movie that should crack a smile as well. Overall it's a slightly different take on your standard detective narrative and worth a viewing if you have time to kill or enjoy the genre.

• The Mystery of the Murdered Prostitute

  Chris_Pandolfi2012-06-15

  "The Girl from the Naked Eye" is a bizarre but not altogether unsuccessful cross between an action comedy and a pulp detective story. Of it duel personalities, the latter is made especially evident through amusing stylistic homages, not the least of which are bookending shots of a weathered hard crime novel opening and closing. We also have several glimpses of an anonymous city skyline bathed in perpetual moonlight, city lights reflected in wet streets, and numerous characters whose faces are constantly veiled in a fog of their own cigarette smoke. Most importantly, we have an ongoing interior monologue narration provided by the main character; he may not physically or chronologically be the archetype of the private eye, but he certainly has the cynical, hardboiled dialogue down to a tee. His name is Jake (Jason Yee). When we first see him, he's on his knees on the floor of a hotel room, tearfully clutching the bloody, lifeless body of a young woman, who we soon learn was named Sandy. Consumed with grief and anger, he goes on a citywide manhunt to find her killer. Sporadic flashback sequences give us some context. Jake, a heavy gambler, owed $100,000 to a mobster after losing his car in a poker game. In order to pay his debt, he took a job at The Naked Eye, a local strip club presided over by the lecherous Simon (Ron Yuan). Although officially a bouncer, Jake's real job was to transport girls to and from the club for private liaisons with wealthy customers. This is how he met Sandy (Samantha Streets), a runaway who claimed she was "old enough" to know what she was doing. I'm sure you can already see how this movie is in part supposed to work. Sandy and Jake, both loners stuck in a rut through a combination of bad decisions and rotten luck, found each other and were able to bond. Although they obviously felt a sexual attraction towards one another, their relationship can better be described as pseudo-father/daughter – or, at the very least, student/mentor. Jake genuinely cared for Sandy, and the more he got to know her, the more he tried to make her see that she could do so much better for herself. She was tough, in her own way, but she did not belong in the world of prostitution. The tragedy runs deeper than the fact that she ends up dead; even if she had lived, they each made life mistakes that were too costly for them to conceivably end up together. There are only so many roads one can learn to walk down. You might think I'm trying to make a case for how compelling this movie is, but in fact, I'm merely exemplifying how effectively the filmmakers utilize noir-like conventions. It doesn't matter if we believe these characters; what does matter is that we see and understand the mechanics of the genre. We must do the same thing for the action comedy side of the film's personality, during which Jake gets into plenty of highly improbable shootouts and fistfights. Ron Yuan, who also worked behind the camera as the action director and stunt choreographer, stages several scenes that are violently fun, if a little too dependent on showy displays of martial arts. Even then, they're prevented from inundating the visual landscape; we're made to focus more on the tone than on the body slams. As Jake digs deeper into the mystery of the dead prostitute, he must evade Sonny's henchmen, a ragtag band of clueless thugs. Using Sonny's little black book, he also crosses paths with several of Sandy's clients, each of whom provides one piece of the puzzle. Meanwhile, Sonny has several meetings a corrupt cop named Frank (Gary Stretch), who Sonny regularly bribes in order to carry on with business. The prospect of Jake never getting his money is repeatedly thrown in his face, although I'm really not sure why; the film makes it quite clear, fairly early on, that Jake's mission is strictly about justice for Sandy and has long since stopped being about money. It would be too much to say that this is a story of Jake's redemption, although he certainly is much more decent at the end of the film than he was at the beginning. In spite of the narrative and visual stylistic throwbacks to noir thrillers, including a final cigarette-lighting scene vaguely reminiscent of the last shot of "Double Indemnity," "The Girl from the Naked Eye" is very much a contemporary film. This means that, in certain instances, it's rather exploitative. There's some graphic sexual content, including female toplessness, although it's evident mainly in the dialogue, which contains so many four-letter words that even a sailor is liable to blush. Although its plot is not as engaging as it could have been given the genre influences, and while it's not as technically fearless or innovative as films such as "Sin City" and "The Spirit," this is a competent, entertaining film – good looking, decently cast, nicely performed, and amusingly written. -- Chris Pandolfi (www.atatheaternearyou.net)

• A much better film then I thought it would be.

  jmcginn1742012-08-29

  Late August and most of September is usually a crappy time of year for films at least for me. Sure there is Expendables 2 out and Lawless coming out Friday, but they aren't movies I desperately want to see or willing to fork at least ten bucks for to see, so this is usually the time I rent films, and that's what I did a few days ago. I rented The Raid: Redemption, Flowers of War and The Girl From The Naked Eye. The Naked Eye was a spur of the moment decision on my part. It's only a buck to rent at the Red Box and the summary sounded decent, so I decided to check it out which leads to my review of the film. This will be another relatively short review. The film follows Jake (Jason Yee) a driver for high class escorts who seeks justice for Sandy (Samantha Streets) who he finds shot dead in her apartment; even though he's a driver, a recovering alcoholic and in debit to the mob. The story is a noir-mystery that was influenced by the films of the late 1930's, 1940's and the 1950's. Even for the direct to DVD you can tell the film didn't have that big of a budget. Still the story works pretty well as Jake gives us his internal monologue as he tries to find Sandy's killer. The flashbacks gives detail into the relationship of Jake and Sandy and also gives depth to these flawed characters trying to get out of the sh*tty lives they have. For me this was a surprisingly good story with a sad and fitting ending. The acting by these C level stars was pretty good. Jason Yee was great as the lead showing depth of emotions that fit the role. I had never heard of the actor before this film. He's manly stared in direct to DVD films, but I was surprised he had an un-credited role in The Dark Knight Rises as one of Bane's mercenaries. Ron Yuan (Simon) did a decent job as Jake's boss. He's another actor I'd never heard off, but you might recognize his voice. He gets most of his work from video games. He's had roles in Command and Conquer, Prototype, Alpha Protocol, Fallout New Vegas and many others. Another unknown actor Gary Stretch plays Frank who has an interest in Jake and Samantha. He does a good job playing a bad guy, and apparently has had many roles in direct to DVD films. Samantha Streets is a beautiful actress and did a great job playing Sandy. She's only had guest roles on television shows and minor roles. I think some director or film studio should give her a chance. Samantha is attractive and is a pretty good actress. The overrated retired porn star Sasha Grey is on the cover of the DVD, but she's only in the film for a minute. I know why the studio did that so she could draw attention to the film, but like I said she's only in it for maybe a minute. On a side note I know some men find her attractive, but I don't see the appeal. In my opinion she's ugly and very flat chested. Sasha isn't Hollywood hot and she's not even street hot, and the majority of the women I see on the street are hotter than her. Anyway back to my review. With such a low budget film you can't expect special effects action sequences, and that was probably the worst part of the film. The action was at best decent. The best scene for action was the climax in a hallway, which was surprisingly really good, but that's pretty much the highlight of the film action wise. David Ren wrote and directed this film and he does a good job with the budget he has. I didn't know this until I looked him up, but he also directed another decent direct to DVD film called Shanghai Kiss, which I enjoyed. In my ratings you'll find I'm harsher in my criticism to films that I see in the theater then when I rent or download films. I expect more from films that are released in the theater, because they're supposed to be the higher quality films in writing, directing, acting and action/effects. I am a little more forgiving for films that are direct to DVD or films I rent. Would The Girl From The Naked Eye be worth paying at least ten bucks to see in the theater no, but overall the film is pretty good and I recommend that you rent it; it's worth the buck you'd spend to rent it at Red Box. It has a good story and characters with decent acting, below average action and good directing.