NateWatchesCoolMovies I've been ragging a lot on Cuba Gooding Jr. The past few reviews, so I'll go easy and speak about a good one instead. Wrong Turn At Tahoe has a script that should have been given the royal treatment; it's wise, brutal, thought provoking and very violent, with many sets of morals clashing against each other in true crime genre style. It didn't get a huge budget or a lot of marketing, but what it did get was a remarkably good cast of actors who really give the written word it's justice, telling a age old story dangerous people who inhabit the crime ridden frays of both society and cinema. Cuba plays Joshua, a low level mafia enforcer who works for Vincent (Miguel Ferrer), a ruthless mid level mobster who runs his operations with an OCD iron fist. He also rescued Joshua from a crack house when he was a young'in, forging a father son bond that runs deeper than terms of employment. When a weaselly informant tells them that local drug runner Frankie Tahoe (Noel Gugliemi, reliably scary) has it in for them, Vincent brashly retaliates first by viciously killing him. That's where the matter starts to get deep. Frankie was an employee of Nino (Harvey Keitel) that most powerful crime boss on the west coast and not a man to cross. Nino Wants hefty payment for the loss of Frankie, who was a good operative. Vincent, being the proud and belligerent son of a bitch that he is, bluntly refuses. So begins a bloody, near Shakespearean gang war in which both sides rack up heavy losses and the phrase 'crime doesn't pay' collects it's due. All parties were inevitably headed to a bitter end whether or not the Tahoe incident occurred, and I think the writer simply used that inciting incident as an example of many ways in which a life like that will always end up at a dead end. The writing is superb, especially for Gooding, Keitel and Ferrer, a vicious triangle indeed, all at the top of their game and then some. Johnny Messner is great as Gooding's cohort who can't keep his mouth shut, and watch for Mike Starr, Leonor Varela, Paul Sampson and Louis Mandylor too. Dark deeds, unexpected betrayal, self destructive ego, combustible machismo and ironic twists of fate are explored here in a script the remains as one of my favourite of that year. Really excellent stuff.

Tss5078 Wrong Turn At Tahoe is the kind of film people watch, because they see it's streaming. Compared to some of the other garbage that comes up while scrolling, this film actually seemed promising, but aside from a few interesting characters it wasn't. Joshua (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is the best middle man in the game, nothing gets past him, so when he hears that local drug dealer, Frankie Tahoe, has been threatening to kill his boss, he passes the information along. Together, they go to Tahoe's club and eliminate him, not realize that he works for Nino (Harvey Kaitel), the biggest boss in town. It's always great to see Harvey Kaitel playing a gangster, he seems to fit the role better than anyone else, and I wouldn't be surprised if one day it came out that he was the boss of a mob family. Aside from Kaitel and the mystery surrounding who Joshua is, this film was nothing more than a lot of shooting, bodies, and F words. I've said it before and I'll say it again, mafia movies may always be cool and popular, but it takes a lot more than F bombs and bullets to make a good film. We've all seen films like Wrong Turn At Tahoe, there is a lot of arguing, a lot of shooting, and in the end, what was the point of any of it?

ajs-10 I do enjoy a crime thriller and this, even though it went straight to DVD, isn't a bad one. Some great performances, plenty of violence and a pretty strong plot all add up to an entertaining watch (if you like that kind of thing). I'll tell you more of my thoughts after the following summary (summary haters please wait in the car with Joshua; he'll take you for a ride if you ask him nicely).Joshua is the number one guy to Vincent, a medium sized drug lord and crime boss on the East coast of the United States. He hears, through a third party, that a dealer by the name of Frankie Tahoe is out to kill Vincent. Of course Vincent won't stand for that and they go and take care of Frankie. Now, unfortunately Frankie works for the biggest boss on the East coast, Nino, and he's upset at losing one of his best dealers. They meet and, well, let's say they didn't part as best buddies. After Nino takes his revenge on Vincent the gloves come off and it gets very violent indeed. Of course there is a lot more to tell but I'm not going to spoil it for you.This is a very dark and a very violent film with some great performances. I thought Cuba Gooding Jr. was excellent as the brooding Joshua who has a dark secret he has been carrying since childhood; in fact it's the best performance I've seen from him in quite a while. Miguel Ferrer plays the part of the, sometimes psychotic, crime boss Vincent perfectly and Harvey Keitel is also excellent, as ever, as Nino.It's a pretty well made film which, although the budget was obviously pretty small still manages to excite and enthral. It has a very well written script but it is one of those that you have to watch, you can't have it on in the background and expect to follow it. So, if you like a good crime drama and you're not bothered too much by some rather graphic violence, then this one's definitely recommended… otherwise, I would give it a miss.My score: 6.5/10

Bob_the_Hobo I saw this before I saw Hardwired, another straight to DVD film Cuba Gooding, Jr. released. Despite Hardwired receiving virtually no good reviews, I thought it was better than Wrong Turn at Tahoe.First, the Story. Second, the Acting. Third, the Action.The Story-Franck Khalfoun gives us a laughably boring and unoriginal film. The uninspired and dull script achieves absolutely nothing.The Acting-Cuba Gooding, Jr. is dull and apathetic toward his character. Luckily, Miguel Ferrer and Harvey Keitel give some inspiration, but it's not enough to effectively save the boring plot. They do what they can with their lines, and that measures out Cuba's terrible performance.The Action-I watched the "Making-Of" extra on the special features, which was interesting, and explained to the viewer how the action sequences were done. However, the documentary was more interesting than the action scenes themselves.I wouldn't watch Wrong Turn At Tahoe again, and I wonder why Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Keitel said yes to the script. One good thing is that the sets were good, and the lighting was very moody. But Wrong Turn At Tahoe isn't going to help any careers.