MCOMEJIMMY

A man and a woman are meditating on how to make easy money and the solution seems to come from the possibility of participating in a deadly game involving an elderly woman with a disfigured face and a challenger who must remain impassive in front of her. It is said that so far only one person has managed to win the game. Meanwhile, a guy with obvious schizophrenia problems goes around killing... In the landscape of independent genre productions, it is often easy to find young talents who really have nothing to envy from the more well-known names of the unofficial circle. An undeniable talent can be recognized in the young Alex Visani, a genre director who has dedicated himself with passion to feature films (« Zombi New Millennium », « Mindcreep »), medium-length films (« Carne morta », « Blade Killer ») and short films (« La soglia », « Ultimo spettacolo »). His latest work, « M like Jimmy », is a 25-minute short film, a small noir with marked horror veins and an unmistakable pulp touch. « M like Jimmy » benefits from very careful direction and an oppressive and unhealthy atmosphere, which gives it that touch of personality capable of leaving it well impressed in the viewer's mind. Unfortunately, this is joined by an unnecessarily complicated story and a not very fluid screenplay (cared for by Alessandro Nicolò) that weigh heavily on the enjoyment of the work. The story contains few characters, but the relationship that exists between them and the succession of events to which they are subjected are not clear to the viewer; it is difficult to understand what the purpose of the agents is and one even has difficulty channeling the events into a single track once the game is solved. What is lacking, therefore, is the communicative effectiveness of the work, a work that, at the end of viewing, leaves one a bit perplexed. A strong point of « M like Jimmy » is certainly the cast, excellent really from all points of view. Usually, independent products have a noticeable recitative deficiency on the part of the cast, but in this case, one finds oneself in front of talented professionals who are often accompanied by cinema veterans; therefore, near the young and promising Raffaele Ottolenghi, Cecilia Pasquarelli, and Valerio Amoruso, one can find Lucio Vinciarelli (Il siero della vanità) and Madeleine Fischer (La morte viene dallo spazio). The special effects and the music convince, a bit less the photography that tends a bit too much towards the televisual, but it is nevertheless a very small flaw on which one can overlook considering the reduced budget. In conclusion, « M like Jimmy » is an interesting and well-conducted product, with an above-average cast, but penalized by a not very convincing plot and certainly anti-cinematic. One could have done better. The DVD of the film can be requested at the address thereignofhorror@libero.it