For IMDb, 6.8 should portray a film that will be entertaining and a quality watch. This film just is not that. The black and white is a positive and I agree that there are some great visuals. But this movie is just bland and boring. The characters are not developed at all, the story line has no real backbone to it and you are left wondering what is is that you're actually watching. Not until the last 20 minutes of the movie do you see what is going on. It completely missed the mark and did not hold my attention at all.
10 Reviews
bad focal points
tsimshotsui2 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Live Cargo has interesting and relevant topics somewhere in there, but director Logan Sandler chooses to magnify the wrong ones.
The film focuses on an interracial couple who just went through a tragedy, and, while in the process of grief, returns to the Bahamian island where the woman, Nadine (played by Dree Hemingway) grew up in. She apparently sort of grew up with the island's mayor (Roy). Lakeith Stanfield's character, Lewis, is uneasy in the island, and just wants to try to rekindle the flame with his wife. His wife is not quite ready though. The film spends most of the time with grieving Nadine.
The more interesting story line involves Roy, a man called Doughboy, and news of the increasing number of lost and/or dead bodies in the ocean shared via radio. With all this, somehow we spend a lot of time with this young man called Myron (Sam Dillon).
The film is difficult to get through. One reason is the consistently heavy tone with little essence to back it up. The director was also incapable of juggling all of these themes and story lines well. He spends way too long a time on the least interesting characters, thus spreading them too thin, and then leaving the more interesting parts unexplored and badly and/or too swiftly handled. I'm troubled with how the story about the couple ended, frankly: how we got there and how the filmmakers came up with that end point. It feels cheap and insulting.
The cinematography by Daniella Nowitz is one of the high points of the film. Some stunning shots underwater were my favorite. Lakeith Stanfield is always great, and still way underused here. The lead credit is misleading. Robert Wisdom and Leonard Earl Howze were fantastic.
The film focuses on an interracial couple who just went through a tragedy, and, while in the process of grief, returns to the Bahamian island where the woman, Nadine (played by Dree Hemingway) grew up in. She apparently sort of grew up with the island's mayor (Roy). Lakeith Stanfield's character, Lewis, is uneasy in the island, and just wants to try to rekindle the flame with his wife. His wife is not quite ready though. The film spends most of the time with grieving Nadine.
The more interesting story line involves Roy, a man called Doughboy, and news of the increasing number of lost and/or dead bodies in the ocean shared via radio. With all this, somehow we spend a lot of time with this young man called Myron (Sam Dillon).
The film is difficult to get through. One reason is the consistently heavy tone with little essence to back it up. The director was also incapable of juggling all of these themes and story lines well. He spends way too long a time on the least interesting characters, thus spreading them too thin, and then leaving the more interesting parts unexplored and badly and/or too swiftly handled. I'm troubled with how the story about the couple ended, frankly: how we got there and how the filmmakers came up with that end point. It feels cheap and insulting.
The cinematography by Daniella Nowitz is one of the high points of the film. Some stunning shots underwater were my favorite. Lakeith Stanfield is always great, and still way underused here. The lead credit is misleading. Robert Wisdom and Leonard Earl Howze were fantastic.
Artistic Film
suhstayn30 July 2017
A bit too artsy for me I have to say.
If you are a fan of excellent cinematography then this is well worth checking out. It is a very well made film in this area.
However, the story is limited. The characters are limited. The dialogue is limited. The acting is good but there isn't enough meat there for them to work with.
It is filmed in black and white. That disappointed me because I was looking forward to all the beauty of the islands. All the colours. The black and white detracted from that most of the time. Although sometimes it definitely added to landscapes and to the film in general.
Again, if you are a big fan of interesting & high quality cinematography, then this film is well worth checking out.
If you need more to enjoy a film, then I'd give this one a miss.
If you are a fan of excellent cinematography then this is well worth checking out. It is a very well made film in this area.
However, the story is limited. The characters are limited. The dialogue is limited. The acting is good but there isn't enough meat there for them to work with.
It is filmed in black and white. That disappointed me because I was looking forward to all the beauty of the islands. All the colours. The black and white detracted from that most of the time. Although sometimes it definitely added to landscapes and to the film in general.
Again, if you are a big fan of interesting & high quality cinematography, then this film is well worth checking out.
If you need more to enjoy a film, then I'd give this one a miss.
Absolute load of rubbish ignore all the good reviews -10/10
marcbraithwaite4 April 2017
Firstly the film is in in black and white .However I thought I would give it a chance with the good reviews but f all happens all the way through fell asleep twice put it back on to to see if anything was going to happen just some skinny white guy floating about and also Rubbish acting waste of time so get it up yas
Nice looking, nicely acted but WOW is the writing poor!
M85ALIVE30 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
On a positive note the acting is pretty good, especially from the character of Roy and the rival fisherman. For what little time Lakeith Stanfield playing one of the """"protagonists"""""had on the screen, he was good.
Visually it's got some nice dream like shots. Great landscapes, vistas, it seems like the DP got the most of the landscape. The lightening at the end when Roy kills the other guy was very nice, kudos to the DP for sure.
The story, oh boy the story is so unbelievably unfocused and has so little direction to it, it feels like they shot the 1st draft of the script that was in written in a weekend. The opening event of the couple losing their child is shown after the event so it's hard to experience it through the character's perspective...might I add, this film is not told through the couple, they are not the protagonists as the logline would suggest, they have so little screen time and are sooooooooo underdeveloped as characters, it's shocking how on earth this film got a talented actor such as Lakeith Stanfield and that it even got into a tier 1 festival, how???why??? The couple don't experience any of the events that happen in the film, you could literally take them out and it would have little to no bearing on the plot.
Events such as the child death are not experienced fully as I said in order to get behind the characters, others like Roy's boat being stolen isn't either. The side characters, a.k.a. "the couple" have an argument about 50 mins in that is so confusing, something about calling the cops and that Roy is the cops...what is happening there? I haven't got all the context here, the writing is so bad...I'm in a state of shock, of course it's to with Roy's boat I think, again, it's not even a "show don't tell" because it does neither. Because of this characters feel and say things I have no connection to as I didn't experience this event, wasn't even told it clearly...I haven't seen this bad of writing for a film that got into tier 1 festival....EVER! Shockingly bad, seriously!!! At no point are we told Roy is the mayor.
People in the review giving this 10/10 saying this is art, it's not, it's poor filmmaking. Andrei Tarkovsky is one of my favourite filmakers, arguably the greatest arty filmmakers of all time, his films are art and this is not, plain and simple.
Visually it's got some nice dream like shots. Great landscapes, vistas, it seems like the DP got the most of the landscape. The lightening at the end when Roy kills the other guy was very nice, kudos to the DP for sure.
The story, oh boy the story is so unbelievably unfocused and has so little direction to it, it feels like they shot the 1st draft of the script that was in written in a weekend. The opening event of the couple losing their child is shown after the event so it's hard to experience it through the character's perspective...might I add, this film is not told through the couple, they are not the protagonists as the logline would suggest, they have so little screen time and are sooooooooo underdeveloped as characters, it's shocking how on earth this film got a talented actor such as Lakeith Stanfield and that it even got into a tier 1 festival, how???why??? The couple don't experience any of the events that happen in the film, you could literally take them out and it would have little to no bearing on the plot.
Events such as the child death are not experienced fully as I said in order to get behind the characters, others like Roy's boat being stolen isn't either. The side characters, a.k.a. "the couple" have an argument about 50 mins in that is so confusing, something about calling the cops and that Roy is the cops...what is happening there? I haven't got all the context here, the writing is so bad...I'm in a state of shock, of course it's to with Roy's boat I think, again, it's not even a "show don't tell" because it does neither. Because of this characters feel and say things I have no connection to as I didn't experience this event, wasn't even told it clearly...I haven't seen this bad of writing for a film that got into tier 1 festival....EVER! Shockingly bad, seriously!!! At no point are we told Roy is the mayor.
People in the review giving this 10/10 saying this is art, it's not, it's poor filmmaking. Andrei Tarkovsky is one of my favourite filmakers, arguably the greatest arty filmmakers of all time, his films are art and this is not, plain and simple.
Vivid Game Changer
NewWaveCF44 September 2017
Live Cargo dances to the beat of it's own drum. The film has a revolutionary approach toward cinema. Can't wait for the next film of this auteur. The sights and sounds of this film are beyond words. This film is required viewing for lovers of cinema. I very much wish I could have caught this film on the big screen, but needless to say the digital download looked spectacular on my TV at home.
Enigmatic Masterwork
LeeAnnMovieCritic12 April 2017
One of the boldest debut films in recent memory. Caught this gem in VOD. Live Cargo played on the festival circuit for the last year since it's Tribeca Film Festival premiere in 2016. I have not seen such an artful movie come out of the Caribbean region in years. I would compare it in many ways to the 60s classic "I Am Cuba." Mainly, due to it's artistic merit and the black and white photography. This film is heavy on style, as it seemingly transported me to it's own unique cinematic realm. The visuals are beautiful, but so is the score and source music. The editing is flawless and I was pulled into the story so deeply that I forgot I was watching a movie. I was totally hooked. The director does a great job with the actors. I cannot recall a moment that felt false or poorly acted. Stanfield is great here. I have read the director Sandler and actor Stanfield have worked together prior. I would love to see them hopefully work again. Also, the most unforgettable performance in my opinion was the mysterious Myron played by relative newcomer Sam Dillon. He has such a haunting look and is able to get across his emotions with a subtle glance. The film is very mysterious and leaves some things open to interpretation, but with that I never once felt short on details or left confused - it was always clear what was really happening. That is what makes the film special and unique. There is a real sense of style with how the narrative reveals itself to the audience. I was never spoon fed, Sandler seems to respect his audience's intelligence. Seek this film out.
This is Cinema
willwyattllc23 May 2017
Enjoyed this piece of cinematic filmmaking quite a bit. Unique characters and well acted performances. It's a very fresh take on noir, in a rarely seen setting with a hint of Terrence Malick vibes. The storms throughout the film are magnificent and can't forget the underwater sequence with the shark!
Mythic & Surreal 1st Feature
CinemaMatador52 April 2017
Live Cargo is timeless. Loved this moody and mythic film. Although it is a tragedy, there is something very sexy about Live Cargo. The film seems to be layered in symbols and metaphors. It just as much a movie as it is a poem. That is not to say it was not thrilling. Their is some intriguing noir like elements embedded in the film. Some brilliant foreshadowing is trickled through out, but that is all that I will say in regards to that. Stunned to see that this was Logan Sandler (director + co-writer) first film. Wow, okay. Cinema is not dead! This new director could be become the bad boy of tropic cinema. Cinematographer Daniella Nowitz is surely on this rise after this. Loved Dree Hemingway as Nadine. Have not seen her in this big of a role since Starlet. She is ready for something major! I will say that this film feels a bit under the radar and with this type of vision, I would say that it is shamefully underrated / unknown. If you love cinema, then this will be a great viewing experience. This film is a lesson in thoughtful movie-making!
Intriguing worthwhile debut feature
williamsmark-752412 April 2017
I've watched live cargo twice! The film reminded me of Bela Tarr's work and the Art-house films of Gus Van Sant. There is not much dialogue. Moody, rhythmic and effectively hypnotic. By the half way point I felt like the images put me in a trance. The actors do a great job, especially the lesser known actors and what seem to be local non actors. What I like most about this movie is that it balances a surreal vibe within a world that is captured in a neo-realism fashion. The structure is unique and boldly refreshing, the last 30 minutes are very thrilling. The execution is mostly flawless, it certainly feels like the work of an auteur with a seasoned crew. Surprised to see that this is the directors first movie.
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