Pound of Flesh

Released By: Odyssey Motion Pictures
Released On: 01/15/2011
Director: Tamar Simon Hoffs
Cast: Malcolm Mcdowell, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Angus MacFadyen, Timothy Bottoms

The Film:

Prostitution. It's the oldest profession in the world, and if you believe Writer/Director Tamar Simon Hoffs, it's also how a large number of female students are paying their way through colleges and universities across the U.S.A. Using a newspaper article on a school hooker scandal as inspiration, Hoffs has created Pound of Flesh, the story of one such group of aspiring ladies at the fictional Barton College.

Malcolm McDowell leads the cast as Professor Noah Melville, a teacher of all things Shakespeare at Barton. Impressing his students (especially the good-looking girls) with his cultured ways, Melville is just like any other Professor; he grades papers, he acts as a tutor, he does a little thesis coaching, and he helps girls who can't afford tuition by introducing them to men who will pay for their services outside of the classroom. The strict Dean of Barton is Noah's only concern, as even the Chairman of the Faculty has been known to contact Melville to arrange for some female companionship.

Noah's sweet little setup, which he believes is helping everyone around him, thus making him a good Samaritan of sorts, comes crashing down around him when one of his girls takes a fall down the stairs at the home of a wealthy client. The situation is further complicated by the fact that she happened to be running with a double-barrelled shotgun at the time and managed to blow off a large portion of her face in the mishap. Her body is discovered by local police, including a recently transplanted detective named Kelly (Angus MacFadyen of Braveheart fame). Seeking to right the wrongs he created in his last position where he may or may not have killed a drug dealer just because, Kelly makes it his sole mission in life to find those responsible for the girl's death, sending everyone involved scurrying for cover. Caught in the middle, Professor Melville is forced to face up to his wrongdoing, or become a fugitive from justice.

Pound of Flesh has all of the basic ingredients for a compelling, successful film; which makes it all the more surprising that it's really not that good at all. Malcolm McDowell, normally a grade A actor, doesn't seem to understand his motivation behind Melville's actions, causing his narration to switch from dead serious to absolutely ridiculous…think Caligula. Angus MacFadyen, also a normally decent actor, seems to be channelling Benicio Del Toro's character in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, with no good results whatsoever. Just when it seems like something interesting is going to happen, or the film is about to step it up in terms of intellect, another scene with the teenage girls is thrown in; with forced dialogue that could have only been written by somebody who has no idea how teenage girls talk. That, combined with a lack of acting talent, renders the scenes with the actual victims of the story no more sincere than a cheaply-made porno.

While the actors need to take some responsibility for how bad the film is, most of the blame can fall squarely on Tamar Simon Hoffs. Her script is not well-written or compelling, and she seems to have forgotten…many times throughout….who her characters are supposed to be. With so many changes in personality, and a bizarre stretch to make McDowell seem like a nice guy…and then not…and then a nice guy again….it makes it impossible to connect with anyone in the film. Unfortunately, good idea and good casting does not equal a good film. And did we really need to see MacFadyen's naked self sprawled on a bed with his ass in the air? Probably not.


Video/Audio/Extras:

Odyssey Moving Pictures brings Pound of Flesh to blu-ray in a 1.78:1 transfer that looks alright for the most part. Unfortunately, some of the picture suffers from Hoff's decision to crank the contrast, zoom, fast cut, and whatever else for no reason here and there, but the transfer itself is pretty clear from issues. There aren't too many opportunities to see the depth of the blacks, but the picture is pleasant for the most part, with a vibrant array of colours. A DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track is more than adequate; most of the audio consists strictly of dialogue, which is crystal clear.

You can find a few interesting supplements in the Special Features menu; the most interesting of which is a 9 minute interview with Malcolm McDowell, in which he talks about his career aspirations, his choice of roles, and his character in pound of flesh. There's not too much covered in the running time, but McDowell is usually an interesting listen.

There's also a Making of Pound Of Flesh featurette that runs 11 minutes, and contains interviews with Tamar Simon Hoffs discussing the true events that inspired the film, and the themes that she likes to address in her films. Part of the interview with Malcolm McDowell previously mentioned is also included.

Outtakes and Extended Scenes has just over 7 minutes of cutting room floor material that really aren't worth bothering with, save for one blundering sexual moment between the two detectives in the film. The rest…meh.

Finally, two trailers are included, one for Pound of Flesh, and the other for Pound of Flesh with its original title of Progressive Education.

The Final Word:

Closer to completely boring than mildly interesting, Pound of Flesh is just not worth taking the time to watch.