DVD Review: MODUS OPERANDI

In the immortal words of Danny Glover, I'm getting too old for this shit.

Modus Operandi is one of the glut of new school exploitation films shot with tongue firmly in cheek in the wake of financial disaster that was the Tarantino/Rodriguez double feature, Grindhouse. There are a few films that have managed this feat effectively, but so far, very few. My favorite of the new breed is Black Dynamite, which manages to use all of the tropes of blaxploitation in a credible way, while still managing to get solid laughs. It is everything I'm Gonna Git You Sucka should have been. Modus Operandi is no Black Dynamite, shit, it's not even I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. The film is so far up its own ass, and at the same time incompetently constructed that it is difficult to see any bright spots.

The story, such as it is, follows a CIA agent brought out of retirement for one last job. The ensuing adventure runs the gamut of genre cliches without managing to use any of them with any success. There is ridiculous looking action, there are sexy ladies, and there is enough nudity and fake explosions to go around.  What there is not is any kind of a coherent narrative or interesting story to make me want to finish the movie.

All that being said, I will give credit where credit is due, Modus Operandi is a film. Director Frankie Latina spent five years of his life making this film, and he finished it and got it released by Kino sublabel, Horizon. That's more than I've done with my life. However, that doesn't make the film any good. There is abundant praise for Latina on the disc reflecting on the filming experience and that fact that it was shot almost entirely on donated Super 8 film stock over a long period of time. I applaud his determination, but his skill is less certain.

The number of different film stocks used for shooting is readily apparent in the fact that every scene in the film looks different. Some are black & white, some are color, almost none are even remotely in focus, and most of the scenes look like they were shot on expired film stock. Most of the cinematography is pretty static, with no real sense of danger attached, which does not lend itself well to the exploitation vibe for which Latina was aiming. Overall, the technical aspects of Modus Operandi leave much to be desired, but even the sloppiest of films can be redeemed somewhat by a good story and solid acting, too bad.

When your film stars Mark Borchardt (American Movie) and it isn't a documentary, you've got problems. The cover of the DVD, which is pretty fucking cool I must say, lists Danny Trejo among the stars of the film, which was enough to pique my interest from the get go. Unfortunately, spoiler alert, Trejo spends a total of about four minutes on screen, and three of those were immediately preceding the closing credits. Now, Trejo is no Lawrence Olivier, but when compared to the rest of the cast, he was practically Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. Incompetent acting was not as rampant in '70s exploitation as Latina seems to think, but I guess in some cases you get what you pay for.

In case you weren't able to tell from the above dissection, I didn't like this film at all. Exploitation films may be cheap, and at times even look pretty cheap, but in order to be done well they do require some skill. I see none of that here. Modus Operandi lacks craft, it lacks narrative drive, and it even lacks fun, which is the death knell for any action film. It seems as though the cast and crew were far too busy giggling behind their hands while on set to bother making the film any good. Skip it.

The Disc:

It is impossible to assign Modus Operandi any kind of objective grade for image or sound quality. There are so many varying film stocks used in the film, that who knows how it's supposed to look. The audio is all post-sync, so I can assume that it sounds about as good as it should, but it still isn't very impressive. My best guess is that the film look and sounds about as good as it can.

Kino/Horizon didn't skip on the bonus material, however, and if as much care was put into the film as was put into the extras, this may have been an entirely different review. There are several deleted scenes which don't really do much to beef up the story, even though the actual film was only 76 minutes long. There are a ton on interviews with cast and crew, all of whom seem very proud of and dedicated to their project, which is certainly admirable. There is some behind the scenes footage, which was not terribly interesting since I wasn't all that psyched about what went on in front of the camera. Lastly, there's a filmed introduction from Sasha Grey, who loaned her name to the film to get it distributed. Grey spends far too much time heaping praise on this film as some kind of new midnight movie staple, but I can't see that happening.

Modus Operandi bored the shit out of me, which is the cardinal sin of filmmaking. Sorry guys, can't recommend this at all.