While I studied in the suburbs, the concept of a neighborhood in the context of ‘neighborhood watch’ is something that still alludes me. Yes, I had a few people living next to me, but when I moved out, I moved out for good and did not see the need to return. Hence, when people talk about their ‘neighborhoods’ in movies, I could not help but be a bit envious of them. There is an overarching sense of nostalgia which some people find attractive. Not to mention the issues, such as the current state of things and their history. In this particular regard, Phil Allocco’s new film 5lbs of Pressure seems to draw from realism, which is something audiences appreciate.
After finishing his sentence for murder, Adam, played by Luke Evans, is released from custody. The return, however, is difficult for some considering that his ex-wife Donna played by Stephanie Leonidas and the family of the victim are not particularly thrilled about his freedom. All Adam desires is to meet and spend time with his son Jimmy played by Rudy Pankow and live in peace, away from controversies. While Adam wants to stay out of controversies, things are not so easy in his area and the thiug that rules most of it is a guy known as Leff, played by Alex Pettyfer. He and his nephew Mike, played by Rory Culkin, run their drug operations but while Leff is confident and straightforward, Mike is more timid than what people would expect from a drug dealer around that area. Life in this neighborhood appears normal with the respective parties going about their business and ignoring one another. But as time passes, certain things start to irritate amongst them. Mike doesnt feel like following Leff’s footsteps and the brother of the victim Adam has already started seeking revenge as his life has completely gone off track.
All of this is coiling up to a point of no return that perhaps some may not make it through.
The title 5lbs of Pressure is a portrayal of a hand gun trigger gauge, an event from the life of the writer / director Phil Allocco. He spoke about it all with a sense of loss, a man with great ideas that pursues telling the world about the great horrors of mistakes, both past and present. These ideas certainly did have their place and even though it wasn’t very bright, the film really did have some key aspects that made it more than infuriating. It certainly has quite a bit of a ‘been there, seen that’ feel to it but overall, it just gives us a sense of longing to see something that isn’t afraid to cross boundaries and push the envelop.
5lbs of Pressure is an appealing film but even though it has, some level of guilt and pain in the story, it doesn’t quite deliver an emotional impact which these stories require. In fact most the characters don’t seem to display any emotions at all apart from Evans and Leonidas who seem to be the only ones who have alive bodies. The other performers are so much focused on their performance that they equalize the tone of delivery which is inappropriate in a situation where more feeling is required. There is also too much exposition in the first parts of the movie which allows the viewer to know what to expect and in some ways steals away the layer of mystery that could have been used in the movie. I understand what Allocco was trying to do, but in his film while the intentions may be good it seems that the film was unable to give me the right amount of pressure to make a diamond.
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