So I’m sitting around minding my own business, as usual, when I get an email from the star and producer of this movie ‘Good Chemistry’, Lance Lee Davis, who asks me would I mind watching and reviewing his new movie. I am ask him if he’s sure about this because if I think his movie sucks I’m gonna let you know, and nobody should request a ass kicking. But this cat is a stand up guy and to show that he was serious he Fedex’d a copy of his flick to me, though I was subconsciously hoping that he would’ve rubber-banded a Grant or at least an Andrew Jackson to the DVD box cover, not that it would have influenced me in any way, but because I really needed the money. I was also hoping that I would really like his movie because Mr. Davis seems like a real solid dude. Unfortunately I didn’t like his movie, but I also didn’t hate his movie. Read on…

As the film opens Tobey (Davis) narrates some of his basic philosophy while driving down a deserted freeway. He sees a pretty young lady named Laurie (Brooke Anderson) stopped on the side of the road and decides to give her ride. Tobey suggests a garage or at least a pay phone so she can get some help her broke ride but Laurie is pretty damned insistent on leaving those hot wheels just were they are. Eventually they run into Laurie’s buddy Jeff (Lawrence Turner) who Tobey unwisely agrees to pick up, and this is where Tobey’s troubles will begin. This isn’t through any great insight on my part, but generally speaking when you first meet a guy and he greets you buy slapping you upside the head and stealing your car radio, I’m thinking good things are probably not going to follow.

It so happens that Tobey has picked up a couple of criminals who are on the run as they owe a crap load of loot to the Bolivian Mafia and are scrambling to figure out their next move. Eventually they hook up with Judge (Mike L. Thomas), the third member of their crew, and they subsequently disable Tobey and tie him up for the sole

purpose of using his car for transpo since theirs has broken down. Then they learn that Tobey is a high school chemistry teacher which in this universe means he knows how to cook up some smack, H, white horse, junk or whatever you want it call it and they plan to use his mad chemistry skills to pay back the mob. Just as a personal side note, I have a degree in chemistry and I have no earthly idea how to cook heroin. As little insurance the fiends luck up and snag Tobey’s somewhat scurrilous ex-wife Annette (Dawn Balkin) and hold her hostage while Tobey does their bidding. My man Tobey has a plan though because he ain’t no drug chemist and he ain’t going out like no punk (double negatives galore!). Plus he’s taken a liking to the pretty Laurie despite the fact she’s been holding a gun to his head for most of the movie. Now things are getting tight as the Bolivians are en route for their drugs, the captors are smelling a double cross, and the ex-wife has lost her mind which will lead our hero to make some seriously questionable decisions leading to an equally questionable conclusion.

First of all ‘Good Chemistry’ is one fine looking movie. Directed by one Kristopher ‘with a K’ Hardy this is a film that is wonderfully lit, well framed and despite the films low budget, it certainly doesn’t look it because visually speaking its presentation is just as good as it’s more expensive counterparts. So I did myself a little researching and discovered that it took Davis and his crew over three years to compete the project, which was shot on film as opposed to some kind of DV or HD, with the majority of that extra time going to the post production process and it certainly shows in the quality of the print that I saw. The performances in ‘Good Chemistry’ were generally solid, particularly Mike L. Thomas who was a damn good villain in this piece, partially because he brought a rational villainy to his role which offset the villainy of Lawrence Turner who was just a bit over the top.

Now the problems I had with ‘Good Chemistry’ basically centered around its narrative as I was never exactly sure what was going on. I was confused about whom these bad guys were, where the hell they came from and I seriously question how these losers could possibly owe anybody a half a million dollars considering their leader makes it a point to steal 8 dollar car stereos. I never could get a grip on Tobey’s affinity towards Laurie, considering she’s largely responsible for his current predicament, and especially after witnessing some rather extreme actions he takes in relation to this woman near the end of the film. I know he said he was lonely and all and that his ex-wife is lunatic, but damn man, get a puppy. I also wasn’t feeling the narration either as it came off as forced and dry and also didn’t seem to further the story along in the least. There were some other things going that had he me baffled but I’m not trying to spoil anything for anybody and one must also recognize that I’m not the brightest bulb in the box.

As a film ‘Good Chemistry’ is an inconsistent labor of love that is probably too deliberate in it’s pacing for its first two acts and extremely hectic in its third and final act. This is a film that is professionally produced, tightly edited and well acted but suffers from a choppy and confusing narrative. If you were to ask me would I recommend the movie I’d have to say yes, despite my reservations, because knowing what I know about the film it’s a fairly impressive achievement and deserves to be seen. It is also my assumption that future projects from Mr. Davis and his crew will only build on this and be even better still. I just hope I don’t have to wait until 2012 (the alleged end of the world by the way) to see the next movie.