Brilliant and touching

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie wasn't bad as everyone says, but it could of been made a little better, casting wise I do say. BUT... look at the way the movie LOOKS, the colors are very crisp and MAKES the picture stand out for that reason. The person or persons involved in that did an OUTSTANDING job. 10 out 10 for that, and as a filmmaker I would love to hire the people who were in charge of that. I sat through the film looking at it from that angle. It was done beautifully, it looked like it was shot on film (which it was I bet)but in the 70's era. I can't stress that enough, it looked so damn amazing, I began to think that it was shot in that era. Great job, bottem line.

Being that I am not a fan of Snoop Dogg, as an actor, that made me even more anxious to check out this flick. I remember he was interviewed on "Jay Leno," and said that he turned down a role in the big-budget Adam Sandler comedy "The Longest Yard" to be in this film. So obviously, Snoop was on a serious mission to prove that he has acting chops. I'm not going to overpraise Snoop for his performance in "The Tenants." There are certainly better rapper/actors, like Mos Def, who could've done more with his role. But the point is Snoop did a "good" job. He can't seem to shake off some of his trademark body movements and vocal inflections, but that's something even Jack Nicholson has a problem doing. The point is I found him convincing in the role, and the tension between him and Dylan McDermott's character captivating. McDermott, by the way, gives the best performance in the film, though his subtle acting will most likely be overshadowed by Snoop's not-so-subtle acting. Being a big reader and aspiring writer myself, I couldn't help but find the characters and plot somewhat fascinating. It did aggravate me how Snoop's character would constantly ask McDermott to read his work, and berate him for criticizing it. But you know what? I'm sure a lot of writers are like that. His character was supposed to be flawed, as was McDermott's, in his own way. My only mild criticism of the film would be its ending. For some reason, it just felt too rushed for me, though the resolution certainly made sense and was motivated by the characters, rather than plot.

30 years ago (wow!) back in High School, I was a big fan of Bernard Malamud and read most of his works in Modern American Literature Class. But I didn't read The Tenants. So I looked forward to seeing The Tenants especially since my Cuzzin, Snoop Dogg is in it.The Tenants is an excellent though simple story transformed into a very good screenplay. The problem, however, is the director. This movie feels like it was directed by a film student. It's directed in what I would call a "matter of fact" style which fails to develop a relationship between the characters. In fact, the characters seem just to be reciting lines. Despite that, the screenplay carries this movie well and it was certainly a movie I wanted to go back to and watch to the end on DVD.

I ended up watching The Tenants with my close friends who rented the movie solely based on Snoop Dogg's appearance (a passionate fetish of theirs) on the cover. Understandably, I did not expect much. I thought the movie would include the typical array of Snoop Dogg related behavior and imagery often seen in cliché rap videos. However, my generalization was for the most part wrong. Unfortunately, this didn't make the movie any better.Most would describe the movie as a dark serious drama, whereas I would describe it as a dark seriously drawn out boring drama flick. The film tells a story of two struggling writers (Dylan McDermott and Snoop Dogg) who are trying to create their own separate masterpieces. Their polar opposite lifestyles end up forming an unlikely but highly complex and neurotic friendship. This friendship moves throughout the entire movie like a wild roller-coaster - most of which is contributed by Snoop's character - reminiscent of someone with a severe case of split personality disorder. And although the movie is a drama, the acting - which has a morbid and serious tone - from Snoop and company was more comical than anything else.I wouldn't recommend this movie for those who are attention impaired because this one has a lot of dialogue and a lot more dialogue after that. There are some mediocre conflicts, but even they are mostly bogged down with more dialogue. The end, however, jumped at me with a sudden surprise. It was a little bit twisted, somewhat unexpected and a perfect way to wrap up a movie that needed to end. While watching the ending credits I couldn't help but picture the director thinking, "Oh God, how the hell do I end this snoozer." By the way, the director laid out carefully planted hints and subtleties leading to the climax - all of which are more visible than Waldo in a crowded street of midgets wearing nothing but black sweaters.