Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Sweet Sixteen; here's the breakdown of my ratings:
Story: 1.00
Direction: 1.00
Pace: 0.50
Acting: 1.25
Enjoyment: 1.00
TOTAL: 4.75 out of 10.00
Sweet Sixteen is one of those films that tries to be different. Sadly, in doing so, its effort is obvious and adds to the list of handicaps within the movie.
The story is your standard mysterious killer on the loose whodunnit. Regrettably, the writers fail to make the murders, the victims, or their stimuli piquant enough. I never cared about who was getting offed or who was committing the murders or their motives for the bloodshed. And induced disinterest is a terrible thing for a whodunnit. One reason for the indifference was the characters. You have your typical cowboys hating on the Native Americans - The customary rebellious Native American and his classic Grandfather figure, who is nonchalant with the whole situation. Another handicap in the story was its structuring. You can guess which person is questioned first by the Sherriff for the killings. Even though the Sherriff is proud to be part Native American, he still pursues Longshadow. In truth, the writers lean heavily towards him being the perpetrator. They could have easily chosen to make a stand about the racial unfairness of the area. They do hint at it a couple of times but never get their gnashers into the meat of the matter. It's a shame as it would have made a good hook and added some much-needed thought-provoking. Then there are the characters who are only around to drive the narrative in the writer's preferred direction - Like Dr John Morgan and, to a certain degree, even the Sheriff. There appears to be a lack of a leading character in this tale.
The direction is your routine affair. Most scenes are point-and-shoot with very little in the way of embellishments. And the tempo is your commonplace saunter. As with most films of this style, a varied pace and imaginative lighting and camerawork would have gone a long way to making the picture more intriguing. I found my attention drifting several times.
However, the most heat in this lukewarm picture is the cast. We have some serious talent in the roll-call. It's a shame the writers couldn't provide a better script and that the director couldn't guide them correctly. They all give their best with their bestowments. And, in some little way, it lifts the movie a tad.
Sweet Sixteen is not a great movie and nor is it ghastly. As such, I'd recommend it for one watch, though only if there's nothing more pressing for you to do, like learning to dance an Irish Jig.
Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers lists to see where I ranked Sweet Sixteen.
Take Care & Stay Well.
