Tangerine 2015 by AverageMansReviews
Review Time
Warning/Disclaimer: there is flashing effects/colourful effects/transgender
component/sexual component/vomiting/drugs/human waste and there is adult
content in this review. Disclaimer I am not a medical professional, this will
make better sense in the final section and it is just to cover my back.
Storyline: it has been designed to follow some of these characters/performers
in a day and a night of their lives [Christmas Eve;] Sin-Dee/Rodriguez,
Alexandra/Taylor and Razmik/Karagulian, these are your main characters/performers;
yes there will be some occasions where they are in the same narrative in one
way or another or all three will be. The pacing and the switches of narratives
are easy-to-follow, you know they know what they are doing and they stick to
that. But however I really, really don't like the background music for a heavy
amount of the time and when I say a heavy amount of the time we are looking at
90% of the time, don't get me wrong there are a very small amount of occasions
where it is at minimum a positive; for one example it is where there is
classical music being played in the background, it is so much more better than
the background music which is loud and noisy and really off-putting, I will
discuss the background music again later on in this review.
Art: [Visually] we have some art on this wall; you won't be able to
miss it; it is very eye-catching and noticeable as Sin-Dee/Rodriguez and
Alexandra/Taylor are walking passed it and they stop to talk to some other
characters/performers; this art is in the background. Moving on we have these
blue skies with thin clouds and later on these orange skies and sun at some
point as the day is coming to a close; this is speculation/an educated guess on
my part, I am guessing this is why this film has the title it does of Tangerine
based on this sky being this colour. [Sound] Alexandra/Taylor sings at this
Club [Mary's;] on either the visual or sound this is good.
Action: in short for another example; without giving too much away
Sin-Dee/Rodriguez with and without Alexandra/Taylor is trying to track down her
fiancé and pimp Chester/Ransone or Dinah/O'Hagan whichever one comes first she
wants both of them.
Characters/Performances: this is where I may get some backlash [I am not going to say
anything unpleasant, but addressing things of this nature; I run the risk of
getting some backlash, it is the way of the Internet Universe.] There are quite
a few prostitutes of female and transgender in this film, I am an open-minded
individual so I didn't notice that these women such as Sin-Dee/Rodriguez and
Alexandra/Taylor were transgender until the final stages of this project, so I
laugh a little when Ashken/Tumanian [Razmik's mother-in-law] says on her mobile
your husband is with gay prostitutes"[to her daughter and Razmik's wife
Yeva/Nersisyan because I was under the impression she was making an
angry/comical comment about the lack of boobs, but she wasn't she was making
reference to their gender, then later on in the film on discovering they were
transgender I felt bad for previously having a little laugh at the time.
Because yes I am open-minded so sometimes depending on the person and situation
I just see the person as they want to be seen and yes there were signs that in
a film sense there was a transgender component, now thinking about it, but like
I have said I didn't pick up on it until later on.
Now back to the background music
there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the background music at the very
least now and again is meant to convey or reinforce how Sin-Dee/Rodriguez
is feeling at that time, I am just trying to put an alternative perspective on
things, as I said I don't like it, but from this perspective I get it, if that
is its intended purpose and this goes for the background music which is a
positive as well.
Performances; they are what they are;
you will understand the chemistry on screen it does what it is designed to do
also, on looking up this film I found out; Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor
as Alexandra has Won or has been Nominated for some Awards; Won Film
Independent Spirit Awards 2016; Independent Spirit Award; Best Supporting
Female and Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards 2015; DFCC Breakthrough Artist -
International; Kitana Kiki Rodriguez & Mya Taylor Tied with [Daisy Ridley
for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 2015.] Austin Film Critics
Association 2015; Breakthrough Artist Award and Black Reel Awards 2016; Black
Reel; Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and
somehow Black Reel Awards 2016; Black Reel; Outstanding Breakthrough
Performance, Female Mya Taylor [these are two separate Awards here.]
But on reflection Mya Taylor is the
only main character/performer which is someone you can get along with, yes she
is a prostitute but she has this feel and look to her that she is just doing
this, because she is waiting for somebody to discover her as a singer.
Comedy: this film apparently is meant
to be a comedy or/and to make sure I am being fair I will stretch the
parameters and interpreted as a dark comedy. But however this is not the case
with this project, I mean there is enough at this Shop [Donut Time] and
Chester's place of business dealings to say this is comical with the chaos with
all these characters/performers and I have already given you one example of
this sequence already in this review; but for the rest of it; it isn't comical.
This film receives: 1/10, this film is poor; yes this film does have some good
elements to it, but this project has short, very short moments of smoothly
moving followed by noise and irritation, but then again what do I know when all
together this film has Won 25 Awards [including GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ
Entertainment Critics 2016; Dorian Award; Unsung Film of the
Year, not forgetting the ones I have also mentioned] and been Nominated for 43 Awards [including GALECA: The
Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics 2016; Dorian Award; Director of the Year
Sean Baker and Award LGBTQ Film of the Year, likewise including the ones I have also mentioned in this review as well.]
I do wonder when if at all they will
ever make prostitution legal and run it as a fair, safe and clean business,
because as far as I'm aware which means I could be absolutely wrong, you have
the street walkers which that is hardly safe or other avenues which are way too
expensive and still may not be safe. I am just bringing this up because this
film is based on prostitution and it is 2021, I am a long-term single person
[when this was first dictated,] everyone that knows me as things stand I will
not purchase sex, because I am a nice guy, I know where I stand and what people
think of me let's just say I am the last chosen or not at all and I have enough
things working against me or in my history but for two examples I am disabled
and I have a mental health illness, so telling someone new this and other
things like I have paid for sex, may be too much for the new person to take and
I don't lie. Disclaimer: but also I am aware sexual
release is not only physically healthy for me it also has a positive impact on
my mental health as well and I can hear some of you say "Sex is not
important." I would like to respond by saying "That is your opinion
and you are welcome to it. I am clearly talking about sex on a deeper and
beneficial level, so don't be shallow and yes it won't change the fact are my
disability or mental illness, but it lifts my mood and just makes things easier
[providing I am with a good and fun person.]
