[Rating: Rock Fist Way Down]
Within the first minutes of The Madness Within, we get a preview of what the life of Russ Washington (writer and director Hunter G. Williams) is like.
Before the opening credits are shown, there’s a trailer-like vignette of him, standing naked by the window, yearning for a woman named April (Tessa William). We see her beautiful face for a quick glance before we see several cut scenes of them having sex, living a lavish Southern Californian life, and then it’s back to naked Russ. There are other random pictures and scenes of him doing drugs that are added for effect; all before the credits roll, like a TV preview of an episodic show.
Within the first five minutes, we find out all we need to no longer be interested in this disaster. We are introduced to Russ’ best friend and business partner, Marcus (Edin Gali). They’re misogynistic cokeheads in the midst of negotiating a movie deal and finding action for the night. That’s where he meets April. Within the next five minutes, you see their first tryst and are led to believe they’ve fallen in love. This “genuine” love is immediately tested when he finds out during the next scene that she’s a hooker. WHAT?
There’s no need to bury the lead here. This is a failed attempt at making a movie. It plays like an extended late night episode of something on Skinemax, deluxe with bad acting, unbalanced sound, and overuse of the same exterior shots (Universal City AGAIN?).
The two main characters exemplify the biggest issues with bro culture today as we watch them sniff coke and Special K, screw random women, and blow Hollywood studio money until the bitter end.
The biggest issue I have with this movie is the false advertising of Lily Tomlin as the co-star. She’s in the movie for less than five minutes. The bait and switch job here would make a shifty used car salesman proud. This is the equivalent of putting a star on the cover on an old DVD movie they made before making it big. They may have a small role in it but a big space on the front. The worst thing is the joke is actually in the movie! Her single scene occurs when the two bros convince Lily (over the phone I might add) to be in their movie for $40,000 cash and she agrees. IS THIS REALLY WHAT HAPPENED HERE?
The movie was advertised as “The Wolf of Wall Street for the Hollywood crowd” but that’s just an insult to Jordan Belfort and anyone associated with the book and the movie. This was just absolute trash.
KB is a native New Yorker/Midwest transplant who’s into tech, sports, and the arts, especially film and music. He still aspires to be a DJ in his other life. You can frequently catch him watching Hitchcock classics, film noir, and anything Star Wars.
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