Review: On the Outs

Consider it the little film that could. Despite having already come and gone last summer with a small release, On the Outs is not standing down its attempts to reach people theatrically. While most truly independent productions would be satisfied with a similar year, settling next on the wide reach of DVD, this wonderful film, directed by Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik, is deserving of much more. Luckily other people agree; On the Outs is finally being released nationwide.

Following a sprint through the festival circuit, begun in 2004 at the Toronto International Film Festival, On the Outs had not garnered concrete interest from theatrical distributors, although its run was anything but unsuccessful. Awards were picked up at Slamdance, Cinequest, Sonoma Valley, Florida and Deauville, and nominations were received for a Gotham Award and two Independent Spirit Awards. Regardless, the film only played for a short time at New York's Film Forum and then IFC Center. During its opening weekend, On the Outs had the fourth greatest per-screen average box office gross in the country, and its subsequent three weeks weren't so bad either. 

It is fitting for the production to keep striving upward, as the film's primary concerns are resilience and perseverance. In addition to telling the story of three inner-city girls struggling with their own determination against the effects of drugs on their lives, On the Outs constantly overcomes its own narrative problems, rising above many weaknesses by overshadowing them with effective strengths. For example: the film at times comes across as too obvious and predictable, occasionally pulling too hard on heartstrings and stressing stereotypical situations of violence, but the scenes that surprise with unexpected - though not unbelievable - twists are proportionally more astonishing in their contrast.

The Jersey City-set movie opens with shots of the nearby Statue of Liberty - an excessively unambiguous move that is an immediate turn off - mixed with an establishing montage of the girls' slum neighborhood. First we are introduced to 15-year-old Suzette (Anny Mariano) as she meets a much older boy. He tells her that he often sleeps in abandoned warehouses because his step-father, "uses my face for a punching bag," a cliché phrase that can only be forgiven by realizing that the young man, not the film, is the one trying too hard. 

The boy isn't just homeless; he's also a hustler and dealer, and it is easy to see where Suzette's life is headed when the two begin dating. She makes you want to yell at the screen, as though this was a horror film – only her senselessness leads her to juvenile detention rather than a gruesome death. She follows the guy around, makes his life hers and starts crashing at his friends' places with him. At one such place the film pulls out one of its surprises during a scene that sets the audience up to expect a tragedy and then instead delivers a brilliant punch line.

Meanwhile Marisol (Paola Mendoza, who also co-created the idea for the production), a teenage mother and crack addict, is another making all the wrong decisions. Not only does she spend her baby's food and milk money on drugs, she manages to get herself locked up so that her daughter is left home with a sick aunt and a threatened future of her own. Suddenly getting the child becomes a bigger priorty than getting high and so she makes a huge effort to be sure she'll get "on the outs" for a reunion.

The third girl is Oz (Judy Marte), a tomboy drug dealer and daughter of an addict, who gets on the hypocritical offensive against anybody who sells to her mother. At the start of the film she is just getting out of juvie and immediately returns to her street corner to continue selling. There isn't much for her "on the outs", although she does hold a lot of love for her mentally challenged brother, for whom she feels somewhat important as protector and friend. Mostly, though, she doesn't seem to care if she's in or out, and it doesn't take her long to get back into the detention center.

The get-to-know part of the film feels like a long time, but once the girls are locked up, the film really grabs hold. There is no faking in this confined second act. The girls don't become pals nor enemies nor do they have uplifting rehabilitation montages set to pop music. The film uses their juvie experience as just a part of their life. If the experience had been left for the end, it would have pointed toward morality and hopelessness; if placed in the beginning, it would have insinuated a false sense of them having a fresh start. In the center it is just a time in which they serve between the time before it and the time after.

It isn't that On the Outs is all that existential, but there is a real honest sort of empiricism about it. The filmmakers understand the importance of presenting these girls as representatives of a very common, straightforward life in a way the audience can observe and think about rather than be made to feel either sorry or cynical. The stories are pretty general, an effect of culminating many actual juvie testimonials, but they are plotted without a forced dramatic intention. There are plenty of problems and tragedies but no extraordinary circumstances, and the only thing close to a catalyst for each girl is herself.

Another thing the film gets perfectly is how awkwardly cliché life really is, as evidenced in Suzette's boyfriend's corny words. One of the first things noticeably different between On the Outs and an after school special is the naturally uncomfortable dialogue, mostly improvised after extensive rehearsals and experimentation between the actors.

Marte is the undisputed champion of the film, and if nothing else worked, her performance alone would be worth your time. Her talent really amazed me; of course, I hadn't known that it was she for whom one of the film's Independent Spirit nominations was, nor was I familiar with her debut film, Raising Victor Vargas, with which came rave reviews and an earlier nomination for the actress.

Though she stands out, and though the other two girls have their flaws, I don't think I've ever seen a film where the quality of performance so perfectly fits the characters.  Oz is strong and confident, and is played with strong, confident acting. Mariano holds back and seems to just float through the film, just as Suzette lacks the ability to shine and the direction to be on her own. Mendoza appears to be the worst, going way over the top, but it coincides with the loose cannon persona of the Marisol role.  

It took me three invites over a few months before I decided to attend a screening for On the Outs, mainly because I expected a cheap, badly acted and preachy little film, and then I only went because it was feeling like a squeaky wheel sounds. Well, it got my oil in the form of respect and praise. Hopefully you won't need me to tell you three times to see it.