“Anne B. Real” doesn’t deserve to be on the IMDB Bottom 100 list. While Lisa France’s film may not be good, it’s not so bad that it earns a spot amongst the worst films of all time. At its worst, “Anne B. Real” is a mediocre drama; at its best…well, it doesn’t really have a best quality, outside of good intentions. Still, my point remains that it’s not a terrible film, let alone worst of all time; just a mediocre film.
The film’s plot certainly sounds like it could be IMDB Bottom 100 list worthy. Per IMDB’s plot description, “Anne B. Real” is the coming of age story of a young female rapper, who finds her inspiration by reading “The Diary of Anne Frank.” That description makes it sound as if Lisa France is exploiting Anne Frank’s plight for lame drama, possibly even making a rap out of lines from the book. However, the film never exploits “The Diary of Anne Frank,” only using it as a catalyst for Cynthia to grow stronger. Instead of exploitation, I got the feeling that France used “The Diary of Anne Frank” as a plot device to promote the book to the viewers that would be watching the film. I will argue that using “The Diary of Anne Frank” as a plot device is mildly offensive, but that’s more in line with the issue at hand being that, since it’s not utilized or referenced enough, it feels kind of pointless to include in the first place.
The meat of the story isn’t centered on “The Diary of Anne Frank” inspiring a young woman to rap, but rather on the personal plight of said woman, Cynthia Gimenez (Janice Richardson). After her father passed away, Cynthia has become a recluse, hiding away in her bedroom to write rhymes and study. Despite her intelligence, Cynthia has given up in school, going from a straight-A student to a straight-C one. Her mother and sister are becoming worried, especially when she gets tied in with her dangerous brother, Juan (Carlos Leon). Juan has agreed to write rhymes for a local rapper named Deuce (Eric Smith), whose violent tendencies have rubbed off on Juan. Cynthia now faces the struggle of trying to help her brother, who is utilizing her writing skills for his own good (and for Deuce’s own good), whilst digging himself a deeper hole with the law due to him robbing shops for money.
My plot synopsis makes the film sound a lot smoother than it is. While I started my review off by slightly defending Lisa France, I’ll be the first to admit that she’s a lousy director, at least in regards to this film. France has no control over the drama in the film, with it weaving in and out of stoic mellowness and unbridled chaos. The first half of the film doesn’t have any weight put on its issues, with characters stating that Cynthia has problems, but we never see them. Up until we’re told that Cynthia is scraping by with C’s, I assumed she was passing school with flying colors, seeing as all she does is study (which she’s harassed for, surprisingly). Even her nightmares, which include her critics harassing her, come off as light and only mildly unpleasant. When the shit does hit the fan, it goes so over the top in attitude that it contrasts the previously set tone and feels out of place.
For example, the character of Juan is shown to be easygoing and understanding at the start of the film. It’s not until the script (which France wrote along with Luis Moro & Antonio Macia) calls for Juan to be a ruthless asshole that he starts acting like one. It’d be one thing if France hinted at him slowly losing his cool throughout the film, but subtlety isn’t one of her strong suits. When Juan flies off the handle, the film’s direction does as well. Yet, once Juan cools off and leaves the story for a bit, so does the tension, dampening the drama. This bipolar direction stunts “Anne B. Real,” never allowing it to fully take off.
Another issue I had with the direction is that, for a film that deals with heavy issues, there’s no sense of urgency to them. The film feels too safe as everybody feels reserved in order to obtain a PG-13 rating (which I’m guessing is for when Juan hits Cynthia or when a small shoot-out occurs, those being the only two times in the film where violence occurs). I’m not saying the film needs to be littered with violence and profanity, but when you’re setting the story in a crime-ridden urban jungle and using that for drama, more of an edge is needed. The most damning insults in the film are “No one wants to hear a woman rap” and “Your sister is a knucklehead!” Those feel like lines ripped from an after-school special, not a film trying to pass itself off as a tough urban drama.
One of the biggest complaints lodged against “Anne B. Real” is that the acting is atrocious and amateurish. While I’ll agree with the amateurish criticism, I’ll disagree with the atrocious criticism. It’s clear that most of the actors aren’t seasoned vets, but they all make a worthwhile attempt at making the drama work. Janice Richardson has screen presence and a good personality to her, but she does stumble when she’s made to wander around aimlessly to highlight her depression. Carlos Leon adds some level of ferocity to his performance when Juan flies off the handle, but it is admittedly over the top at times. Nobody else leaves much of an impact, but that lies more on France’s direction than anything else. I’d put most of the blame on the amateurish acting on France’s feet, as she doesn’t handle the actors well, leaving them out to dry during pivotal moments. Even a seasoned vet inErnie Hudson seems lost as the school principal. When Ernie Hudson seems lost, you know the direction is lacking.
The other big complaint lodged against “Anne B. Real” is that it looks cheap, more specifically that it looks like it was filmed on a cheap camcorder. Just like with the acting criticisms, I’m not going to completely disagree with this sentiment, but I’m also going to slightly defend the film in regard to it. While the film isn’t as polished as most are, it’s not grainy or ugly like most shot-on-films. Honestly, I was never even bothered by the picture quality of the film; the only reason I bring it up is because so many people are troubled by it. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen films that look worse than old home videos, but I had no issues with the picture quality of the film.
I was contemplating not even inducting “Anne B. Real” into the “Cinemasochist’s Dungeon of Horrors,” as it’s not aggressively terrible as most of the films that I’ve included in this series. Strangely enough, I decided on inducting it solely to defend it, even if it is in a backhanded way. While my review of “Anne B. Real” is a negative one, I wrote it more for the purpose of shining a light on its crime of being included on the IMDB Bottom 100 list. It’s certainly not a good film, but it has good intentions and is never offensive (which it easily could’ve been). I get the feeling people read the plot synopsis and automatically give it a low rating without seeing the film (which has been known to happen). While I’d never recommend watching this film, I do feel that, if it’s going to be considered one of the worst films of all time, that it at least deserves a rightful viewing. With a rightful viewing, I think people will realize that “Anne B. Real” is just mediocre, not terrible.
Final Rating: C-