December 20, 2012 02:00am
As I see it: Barracuda
Source: Movie Reviews and More
by: Steve Nelson
Barracuda from Mercury Rising Films, Rated R, 94 minutes of fun - Reviewer Rated: Power ON!
As I see it, Barracuda is a dark comedy and twisted tale of private perversions in America. Christy Oldham is stellar in her portrayal of a cynical girl frustrated with the crimes she finds through the phone sex line she works to supplement her income as an artist and portrait painter. Oldham, who plays the lead role, produced this film with the director, Shane Woodson, who also appeared in the film.
Some of the sexually perverted characters are stereotypical and slightly predictable, but if you suspend your disbelief the simple plot is fleshed out sufficiently to make the story fun to watch as the cheaters, pedophiles and rapists get the justice they deserve.
Average, seemingly normal men are whimsically portrayed as shallow perverts. The "all men are alike" angle gets a bit old, but the "all men are perverts" line may be more true than one would like to admit. The reoccurring excuse offered by cheating husbands in this film is, "I was thinking about you the whole time" when they are discovered with another woman. This drives home Oldham's point about women needing to know how sick and perverted most men really are.
Our "Dirty Harriet" is a babe! There's just enough tease and tantalizing shots of Oldham's beautiful butt going up a breezy flight of stairs in a schoolgirl skirt to raise a man's blood pressure. She has a hot, raw, natural beauty, and moves like a stripper.
Old cars! Great music! The story of one disturbed girl on her road to recovery from sexual abuse by her father! Was that a 55 Caddy? Yes! A yellow 1955 Cadillac Coupe 2 Door Hardtop with wire wheels and white walls. Surreal in parts and a fun romp with old-school images from vintage cars to dial phones and VHS cassette tapes. The spit-take made me laugh out loud! And of course everyone loves when pedophiles and cheaters get what they deserve.
Oldham portrays most of the men in the movie as dirtbags as she brings sex offenders to justice… all except the character Harrison, an intelligent man who wears a cowboy hat and likes to catch catfish. The story concludes as our heroine finds there really ARE men out there who don't sniff a woman's dirty underwear in the bathroom when her hero comes in and lands one solid punch in the villain's face, saves her from certain death, and drives off into the sunset with her in his pickup truck and they go fishin'.
As I see it, Barracuda is an entertaining indie film that I would recommend watching. You can watch it once and enjoy it, or watch it twice and make it a cult classic.
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