One of the many things I liked about “Hush Money” was that Director/Writer/Cinematographer Terrell Lamont didn’t waste much time getting into the heart of the story. He didn’t start in the middle and jump back to the beginning and then jump laterally, like a Tarantino movie or something, which by the way there seemed to be some Quentin like undertones throughout, maybe it’s just me. However, Lamont just chose to move the starting point forward and proceeded to explain how we got to there the rest of the way. It was a nice approach for an independent that worked for me.
Another thing I liked about “Hush Money” was that Joshua Ray was cast as the lead, Doug Shaw. Joshua did a fantastic job bringing the audience into his rapidly unraveling world while at the same time making you almost feel sympathy and understanding for the actions he is taking.
Kennedy Waite as Kennedy Joseph, does a very good job with some very challenging scenes. She does a fine job walking the line of the terror of being held captive but also developing chemistry with her captor that further allows the audience to be conflicted over the actions of Doug Shaw.
Now there were some moments in movies where you say to yourself that probably wouldn’t unfold that way. However, I feel like Lamont the writer actually attempted to acknowledge these moments and build in rationale to justify them. Because of that, coupled with the good start and the strong acting, these moments again are minimized and I found myself not dwelling on them and just wanting to see how the story was going to end.
With almost anything, it’s all about the little things and this movie took the effort to think about the little things and that isn’t always the case with independents. To me the standard of a movie is how polished is it. After watching this movie, I was left feeling that “Hush Money” raises the bar for other indy produced projects.
“Hush Money” did a very good job with the production of the movie as well. I think Terrell Lamont the cinematographer crafted some very good shots that can also be overlooked with a lot of independent films.
The edit and sound were right there as well. Also, “Hush Money” must of had an in with the local police department and they used that very effectively throughout the movie which also helped raise the production value.
An art teacher’s plans fall apart when he kidnaps a ballplayer’s daughter to repay a debt to a ruthless mob boss.