Murder Syndicate movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Murder Syndicate

This crime thriller has now been released on Video on Demand on sites like Amazon, iTunes, Redbox, and more.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 39 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: C

IN A NUTSHELL:

The story is about a family of assassins. When the mother falls ill, her three children and younger boyfriend fight among themselves to take over her empire.

The movie was written and directed by Michael Matteo Rossi, who has been pumping out indie films almost every year. He’s already in post-production of his 7^th movie, The Charisma Killers. He loves to produce movies filled with flawed characters who are morally corrupt.

THINGS I LIKED:

The cast includes Diane Robin, Jessica Morris, Chris Levine, Timothy Haug, Steven Martini, and Mark Justice. I hadn’t seen most of them before, but I immediately recognized Chris Levine because I had just reviewed a film short that’s currently going through the film festival circuit: Chris Levine. I also noticed that the director really likes Chris because he stars in another movie by Michael Matteo Rossi: The Handler.
Each actor did their own stunts!
Fun fact: They shot the film in only 24 days in the Los Angeles area.
The director told me that the hardest scene to film was the climax in Eastvale (Riverside area). It took 4 days to film it.
The horrible incident involving Alec Baldwin accidentally shooting a crew member on set occurred while this crew was filming their warehouse action scene. Needless to say, everyone was on edge, and they were determined to be extra safe and responsible with all of the weapons they used.
For a low-budget, indie film, they did a good job introducing us to interesting characters and a bad-guys organization. I think it’s important to support new filmmakers in the industry as they learn their craft and offer something to say in the genre.
I could see this movie gaining a cult following because it’s so goofy.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Grown adults act like spoiled-rotten teenagers.
Some of the acting isn’t very good and often over-the-top
Sometimes the soundtrack is so loud that it’s hard to hear the conversations.
None of the characters are likable or relatable.
Lots of fake laughing.
A lot of the humor doesn’t land. It’s very slapsticky and would elevate the film if it were more clever.
The dialogue isn’t very good. Almost every sentence includes an F-bomb.
Was Timothy Haug wearing lipstick? It was hard to take him seriously as a killer when his rosy lips looked like that. If that wasn’t makeup, then, wow!
The fake tears on Timothy Haug definitely looked fake.
You’d think the neighbors in the residential neighborhood where the final shoot-out occurred would have heard something and called the cops after the first hundred bullets were fired.
There was a super awkward, passionate kiss in one of the first scenes where the mother was making out in front of her kids. It was, clearly, a slobbery kiss because the camera caught her trying to wipe her lips afterward.