If you’re going to make a great heist film, you have to know what you’re up against. The genre has turned out some of cinema’s most exciting moments, from Topkapi to The Usual Suspects to Inside Man. The bar in this genre is high (and full of the appropriate amount of betrayal).
Sean McLeod’s DVXUser Betrayal Fest entry “Cleaned Out” is solidly effective storytelling, even while it may not be breaking any new ground.
Click here to download and watch “Cleaned Out”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a good short film starts with good casting and a director who knows how to work with talent. McLeod does a fine job in both areas here, especially in the case of Mike Lepera, who plays the lead (Banks). His work is detached and cool, as you’d expect from the team leader. The other “heisters,” played by Mike Vernaroli and Park Trailer, are also very effective, particularly Vernaroli as the scheming Lenny. (More on him later.) Sherzad Shinjari (the detective), does a passable job, but he comes across as if he’s trying to “play” a detective rather than “be” one. As Chazz Palmintieri proved in The Usual Suspects, when the momentum of your film is largely driven by the back-and-forth between cop and criminal, both parts absolutely have to feel authentic while still giving talent the freedom to make the characters their own.
From a craft standpoint, McLeod and cinematographer Christina Ienna do a fine job of creating distinct and appropriate “looks” for each scene. There are missteps here and there (the car interior, for example), but these things certainly never take the viewer out of the film’s world. In fact, when I found out that there had been some visual effects compositing in the film, I was surprised. Everything on screen felt “right,” a credit to both the shooting team and the effects artist (Matthew Ramsaur). Across the board, the crew behind “Cleaned Out” kept the movie’s forward momentum moving, and not once did the piece feel like it lagged.
The weakest point of McLeod’s entry stems largely from the genre he’s chosen. Simply put, it’s a challenge to take audiences somewhere they haven’t already been with a heist film. We think we’ve seen it all, even though there’s always a new twist or idea out there waiting to be filmed. The “twist” at the end of “Cleaned Out” feels a bit familiar, which doesn’t make what came before it any less effective, but it causes the film to fall a bit short of what might have been. Personally, I might have told the story from the perspective of Lenny, changing the focus of the film a bit in the process. After all, it’s fun to see the schemer get schemed, and it might have breathed a little freshness into the genre.
“Cleaned Out” may not measure up to Kubrick’s “The Killing” or John Huston’s “The Asphalt Jungle,” but McLeod’s film is a solid entry that captures the spirit of the theme perfectly, while offering up top-notch performances from a game cast. No small feat for a six-minute heist film.
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CAST
BANKS: Mike Lepera
LENNY: Mike Vernaroli
HARRY: Park Trailer
DETECTIVE: Sherzad Sinjari
“THE HEAVY”: Gil Percy
CREW
Writer/Director: Sean McLeod
DOP: Christina Ienna
1st AC: Michael Distefano
POST SOUND: Kevin Couvillon
SOUND EDITOR: Stefan Cvetkovic
LOCATION SOUND: Johnathon Diemer
COMPOSITOR: Matthew Ramsaur
MAKE-UP ARTIST: Alysse Lister
