ELECTRIC SLIDE: Nothing To See Here

Electric Slide is based on the life of the bank robber Eddie Dodson. Originally a furniture salesman, Dodson found fame in 1983 when he robbed a number of banks – 64 banks in 9 months to be exact. Directed by Tristan Patterson (his first fiction feature film), it stars Jim Sturgess as Dodson and Isabel Lucas as his girlfriend Pauline.

Movies can usually be assessed on a number of attributes: the filmmaker’s prior work, the actors involved, and the medium through which the film will be released. Electric Slide is made by a second-time filmmaker, stars Jim Sturgess, and is about to be released straight to On Demand. Let’s just say that my expectations for this film started off poor.

The Worst Kind Of Film

The thing about Electric Slide is that it is the worst kind of film. It didn’t entertain me, it didn’t bore me awfully, and it didn’t offend me in any particular way. But everything that I have to say about it is an unfortunate clinical listing off of all the things you shouldn’t do when making a film. Let’s begin with the production.

From the outset, Electric Slide’s defining feature for me was its poor production. The soundtrack was probably the most annoying aspect. The sound recording is ill-judged: you can hear extraneous noises as the actors move around, and there are car noises in the distance. But then in places where there should be noise, it is conspicuously absent. On each bank robbery, the city is curiously free of sound, the banks are strangely quiet, and where there should be the usual movie noises we are accustomed to (heavy breathing, doors slamming, etc.), there is nothing. This atmosphere could have easily been created with foley work or layers of ambient sound but the filmmakers chose not to put in the effort.

Blazing a trail through this quiet world is a badly picked music soundtrack. Where the scenes should be enhanced with non-diegetic music (the kind that exists outside of the film’s world, i.e. a dubbed-on pop song), like Eddie’s approach into any one of the banks, it is oddly quiet. And in scenes which you feel would be best left quiet, so as to let the emotion between the characters come through, there is an unwelcome piece of pop music introduced. The addition of sound and music is pivotal to a film’s atmosphere, and you really notice it when it’s badly done.

That 80’s Look

Electric Slide is set in 1983 so a retro look is necessary, but the film fails to make a concerted effort. In a low budget film such as this, it can be difficult to create a period look, though it is not impossible. The costume itself is okay; however, it did remind me slightly of an 80’s-themed party. As though the characters had found the most 80’s looking things in their wardrobes, and then adapted their haircuts accordingly.

Possibly the most obvious problem where the film’s era is concerned is the lack of wide shots. When a film is set in a particular period it is important to shoot around modern aspects (cars, technology, etc.) that might give it away. In a film with a larger budget, streets can be cut off and filled with cars of the era and a number of extras dressed in period clothing. But in a low budget film the shots have to be tight on a particular car and a particular actor/extra. This makes for boring viewing, as the film’s potential for an atmosphere is cut down considerably. In the case of Electric Slide, there are a number of shots of very blank looking street corners, with no other cars and maybe one extra. This is the kind of thing that could be fixed with creative sound dubbing (the noise of pedestrians or traffic), but as previously mentioned, the film chose to bypass this.

The cinematography as a whole is frankly annoying. There are wide shots when they should be close, and there are close shots when they should be wide. Some scenes are unnecessarily handheld, and there are some cut in shots that don’t fit in with the character’s point of view. It just doesn’t feel right. I can only imagine that this had to be done to fit the production into small rooms and awkward spaces. But there’s just no continuity to it. The cinematographer, Darran Tiernan, clearly has some kind of style but it’s compromised time and again.

The Story

As previously mentioned, Electric Slide is based on a true story. Tristan Patterson has used an article by Timothy Ford (a friend of Dodson’s) as the inspiration. I conjecture that Patterson didn’t do much research outside of this article because the script is sadly lacking. To put it simply, there is a not a lot of dialogue. Which would be okay for an atmospheric crime thriller, but you often feel like there is not much going on. Added to the aforementioned lack of atmospheric sound, it all feels a bit quiet.

I’ll say this for Patterson’s script – the pacing of Electric Slide is right, but the story just isn’t there. You’re never left feeling lost or confused, but you are constantly left wondering whether there is much of a point to what is going on. Added to this is the fact that Patterson omitted a number of aspects of the original story. Notably, Dodson’s drug addiction. In the film, Dodson is robbing the banks to pay off a criminal type, whose background we’re never privy to. This might have been the case, but the story as it has been reported was that Dodson was heavily addicted to cocaine and heroin, and began robbing banks to fund his addiction.

There is also the important fact that Dodson robbed 64 banks in 9 months, something the film fails to get across. That is an extraordinary number, especially considering the fact that he robbed 6 in 1 day. This would have really amped up the action and entertainment value of the story. But then how entertaining would it be to watch a very ill man desperately trying to fund his addiction? This can be the only reason why Patterson failed to include this aspect of the story, for fear it would make the film less fun.

I have a great deal of distaste for films that take true stories and play around with the fact, so this aspect of Patterson’s script didn’t impress me. If all this wasn’t enough, Dodson was actually nicknamed the ‘New York Yankees Bandit’ on account of the baseball cap he would wear on robberies. This seems like a small yet important part of the original story, but Patterson has chosen to do away with it.

The Acting & Direction

To be honest, I don’t much like Jim Sturgess. As an actor he just doesn’t seem to offer up much. He lacks depth and feeling, and while I don’t despise him I don’t care to watch him on screen. I think I dislike him most in this of all his films. He’s just blank. He plays at being cool and occasionally plays at being stressed, but doesn’t succeed on either front.

The most miserable aspect of his performance, and possibly the thing that annoyed me most about this film is his accent. Dodson was a North Carolina native and was known for being flamboyant. So Sturgess was in the right ballpark by giving Dodson a slightly southern sounding easy drawl. But his intonation is simply irritating. I could hear his native English accent slipping out occasionally too, which only made it worse.

Patricia Arquette and Chloë Sevigny both appear in Electric Slide, but they are on screen for a very small amount of time, which is probably for the best, since Patterson’s direction is pretty bad. At some points, it’s almost like he forgot to tell the actors what to do. There are some scenes in Dodson’s furniture shop that are especially awkward and cringeworthy.

Overall, I think that Patterson was concentrating so much on making the film look cool that he forgot to create depth and atmosphere. The film even attempts a nod to 70’s/80’s cinema by using inter-titles that count down to the film’s end. But it just doesn’t add anything to the piece.

The only person who comes out of Electric Slide looking good is Isabel Lucas. While I can’t find any evidence for the character of Pauline (Dodson’s girlfriend) actually existing, the film is built on the premise that Dodson is stealing to provide for their lifestyle (this is the advertised synopsis, but is not actually what takes place on film). And as Pauline, Isabel Lucas is very good. She appears very at ease in the character, and while her dialogue is pretty non-existent, what she does as an actress gives Electric Slide the notion of atmosphere lacking in every other part of the film.

Conclusion

Patronising as it may seem, Electric Slide reminds me of a really good student film. The shot list has been executed, a good effort has been made to find locations, and the semblance of an 80’s look has been created. But in terms of feel and atmosphere, there is just nothing here. It’s empty and vacuous, just a bunch of people moving around in front of a camera, and making a foolhardy attempt at being cool. I feel bad for being so critical of this film, because it didn’t do anything wrong. But everything it did do wasn’t nearly enough to justify its making.

Have you seen Electric Slide? What did you think of it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6zZCuEjI7E

(top image source: Paragon Releasing)