Pickings, a creation of Usher Morgan is a interesting hybrid of Neo Noir, Drama and Western genres. Shot around New York State on a modest budget of 350,000 dollars, with a predictable, yet fast moving plot , this movie stands out with a well edited screen play, dazzling photography and some over the top characters.The story is a female oriented tale of how a tough no-nonsense woman protects her bar and her family from a vicious mobster and his ruthless henchman.
While the plot is cliched, there are several aspects of the film that keep the viewer engaged. One is the extraordinary camera work. For instance, when the camera focuses on a character seated at the bar, the background is blurred but the colors of the background are made to match the color of the outfit, the character wears(or their skin tone). This adds to the visual appeal. The use of light and shadow in the movie is very reminiscent of classic film noir. Secondly, the dialogs are kept to a minimum, and just enough to make the story coherent.
Picasso said that while good artists imitate, great artists steal. The master at stealing ideas for movies is Quentin Tarantino. Usher Morgan has stolen a handful of ideas from Tarantino’s Kill Bill. One of them is that a part of the backstory is told with animation. Usher also mixes in animation with the narration. Many of the characters are introduced through portraits like those found in graphic novels. The characters themselves, like the theatrical Italian mob boss and some of his henchmen can only exist in noir or mobster movies.
The protagonist herself seems like a tribute to the ‘bride’ in the Kill Bill Movies. Like the bride, she too survives a close range gunshot to the head. Despite it’s faults, Pickings is an engaging movie that proves that one does not need a large budget to make a good, visually enthralling movie.The cast includes great performances from Elyse Price, Joel Bernard, Katie Vincent, Joe Trombino, Emil Ferzola, Yaron Urbas. The movie runs for an 103 minutes. Pickings is a hidden gem and is worth the watch.
Bay Area Bloke 