It is no wonder that Nashville entrepreneur Julius Lewis wrote more than just the checks for N-Secure. You know your seeing a film written by a guy who simply wants to make a movie where the main character talks to themselves, revealing what their face should. Let’s call this a “duh” moment that a test screening might have stopped. This isn’t the only thing wrong with N-Secure, I’m convinced a feature film instantly doomed when it opens with a montage of “happy couple” going out, living and loving. If you a regional film funded by non-professionals who decide to make a film because you like movies – you know further doom is around the corner when the camera lingers on names of local brands and restaurants for too long.
This filmmaking probably exists in every city lurking in the shadows of film artists in the avant-garde. Buffalo is perhaps a case study with experimental film and art occurring in one corner while countless zombie films and simplistic unfunny comedies created with “hollywood” aspirations appear and die. I’m calling you out, Buffalo Niagara Film Festival – be a uniter, not a divider. After all you have nothing to lose – I was alone in a 300 seat theatre for a Friday night screening at BNFF last year. Regardless it’s nice to know Nashville shares Buffalo’s problems.
Back to not Robert Altman’s Nashville: the odd title might suggest this is a prison film about an ultra security N-Block, but it’s as useless as Avril Lavigne spelling the title of her song Sk8ter Boi. N-Secure is an example of insecure filmmaking. You get the sense checks were written to keep professional filmmaker David M. Matthews on page, even when it attempts to avert territory that evokes a collaboration between Tyler Perry and Tommy Wiseau. Perry came to the screen from theater, a medium that encourages audience interaction. There’s a laugh-out-loud in disbelief moments, where you’d hope in a packed auditorium you would get someone yelling out “oh no you didn’t”. If only Antoine Dodson was my companion for the screening, I would have had more fun.
Of interest is Tyler Perry in learning the language and syntax of filmmaking as he goes (at the rate of two films a year, like Robert Altman in his prime). Combining two mediums he may be on the verge of a masterpiece – I await his upcoming For Colored Girls. To illustrate his brilliance I present the ending of Why Did I Get Married Too, a film that’s been out for months so that statute of limitations on spoilers is over. The film ends with a rather remarkable turn of emotions: from laughter, to crying to laughter, to crying and puzzlement – when the hell did Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson show up and what’s he doing here? A brilliant ending that should have never worked but it did.
N-Secure lacks the ambition to pull this off. What it does provide is the opportunity to see the type of film I used see at 3AM on HBO in a movie theatre. It shares much in common with Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, including a paranoid protagonist that tracks his lover using GPS (Wiseau wiretapped the house). Perhaps this is unfair, N-Secure is somewhat functional.
Cordell Moore plays David Alan Washington, a former Marie who is I assume a VP of something perhaps involving sales. He lives by schedule, he knows how long it takes for you to get from point A to B. Any longer and he’s activated Lo-Jack. His poor live in fiance Robin (Essence Atkins), admits she has reservations, even though David saved her from a life in the projects.
A twisted web of lies, deception, DNA testing and murder follows as, like Lisa before her in The Room, Robin cheats. Although it wouldn’t be out of place a freak-out culminating in “Your Taaarrrriiiinnng me apart Robin” is missing. Much can be seen for miles with plot twists that happen because the characters don’t know any better.
With that said, N-Secure isn’t a bad time. It’s functional guilty pleasure entertainment wrapped in a morality tale. Everyone should know David is an N-Secure but successful man, abusive to colleges and his secretary but his secretary’s cousin tries to “fix him”. Normally you might not get this far: N-Secure is the kind of film you watch on late (late) night cable. You probably always seem to catch bits and pieces of it at random times but never are compelled to seek it out for a single sitting. I have seen the whole thing to save you the trouble.
3.5 out of 10