'Gravity' Is Down to Earth

Laws of Gravity," Somerville native Nick Gomez's first feature-length film, is a rough and tumble movie made on the streets and dominated by them.

Hand-held camera work by Jean de Segonzac combines a pitted, grungy Brooklyn background with a cast of young white ruffians. Gomez has no pretentions of grandeur, which provides "Gravity" with incredible realism, but in the end impedes its cinematic impact.

The film follows Jimmy (Peter Greene) and Jon (Adam Trese) as they spend their days roaming their Brooklyn neighborhood, stealing from unlocked cars, shoplifting (Jon admonishes Jimmy for grabbing low-quality shampoo--"You know what that stuff does to your hair?") and hanging out with their girlfriends, Denise (Edie Falco) and Celia (Arabella Field).

Jimmy looks out for Jon and tries to get him to keep his wild temper under control. Jon thinks he is invincible, but he is basically the kind of kind who won't go to court for a shoplifting hearing because he "[doesn't] feel like it." Jon feels no remorse for his actions, and while Jimmy has a conscience, he is too disaffected or disillusioned to resist the same daily appeal of small-time crime.

"Life in Gravity" is a series of coarse true-to-life episodes which Gomez separates by cutting to black frames. The film is characterized by loud, emotionally charged, heavily gesticulated conversations where it is often difficult to make sense of who is saying what at any given time.

Denise and Celia can match Jimmy and Jon take for take in fast-paced, curse-laden dialogue. Some of the best scenes take place with all four characters on screen; the chemistry between these actors is potent and the relationships they create are totally believable.

In an especially affecting scene, Jon and Celia quarrel and Jon hits her in front of the group. Jon is immediately chastised by his friends who advise him to "Keep that stuff at home--If you're gonna hit her, do it at home."

The point? Even amidst the chaos and confusion of daily life, some rules aren't meant to be broken and some behavior is still unacceptable. Oddly enough, it is better than nothing to hear the admonishments of Jon's friends to "keep it at home."

Throughout this film, one watches the characters struggle to avoid descending into a lifestyle with no order, hope or solace. Dishearteningly, life for Jimmy, Jon, Denise and Celia is so chaotic that in the end no real shelter from the craziness can be afforded, even by the closest of friends.

Frank (Paul Schulze), a guy whose clean shave and straight Irish face belie his penchant for illegal activities, arrives from Florida with a cache of illegal guns. This volatile cargo draws us into the denouement of the film.

Jimmy and Jon are small time thieves, but Frank's guns push the guys further and further into a world where the price of spontaneous action can be death.

"Laws of Gravity" was shot on a $38,000 budget, but Gomez is fortunate and skilled. He does not allow his budget restrictions to hurt the movie--they add a crucial element of street-wise realism.

But we eventually lose interest in Jimmy and Jon's endless series of excursions to the local bar, the corner grocery store and Jimmy's house, and the movie starts to drag about-three-quarters of the way through. Jimmy and Jon never change--they never grow out of their loud, boisterous behavior. The emotional texture of the film is relatively static and ultimately disappointing--a brusque, volatile, not at all delicately calibrated atmosphere dominates.

"Laws of Gravity" is a powerful first film from a filmmaker who knows the streets, but Gomez needs to bring a subtler eye for a more comprehensive range of human experience and emotion to his next film. All this without forfeiting the rough energy, drive and quick-spiritedness of "Laws of Gravity."