Director and co-writer Mars Roberge presents Rufus, a collection of five disturbing vignettes. Rufus, played by “’Freeway” Ricky Ross, is MC of the anthology, wherein he stands on a corner in an inner-city neighborhood telling stories to anyone who will stop and listen. The stories all feature some element of body horror, ranging from a mortician who drinks on duty with horrible results, to men suffering in a locked-in vegetative state due to a medical research experiment gone wrong. Another story involves a singer being cast in a show she definitely regrets trying out for. In the hospital story, a nurse manages to make a telepathic breakthrough to the patients with her powerful dance moves. The stories are all told haphazardly, as if Rufus has been smoking weed all day before meandering out to find people to listen to his gruesome tales. At one point his wife (Rah Digga) comes out to get him off the street, but she winds up adding to his audience for the remaining yarns he spins out.
“… a collection of five disturbing vignettes …”
The proceedings in Rufus are low-budget and low-brow. The acting is hammy and weird, and the stories are fragments of ideas borrowed from other works. On the other hand, if you are profoundly altered like Rufus, there’s an intense “whoa, that’s f****d up” sensation to be had from watching.
The actor playing Rufus has an interesting past himself. Paraphrasing from Wikipedia: Ricky Donnell “Freeway Ricky” Ross is a writer and former drug lord best known for the drug empire he established in L.A. in the 1980s. He was sentenced to life in prison but released in 2009. The nickname “Freeway” came from Ross owning properties along Los Angeles’ Interstate. He demonstrates charisma and style telling the stories in Rufus and he seems to be having fun doing the part.
Rufus is not intellectual cinema but rather a film you can run in the background at a party and look up occasionally to check in on the outrageous chaos in the tall tales being told. These are messed-up campfire tales for an urban audience.
"…outrageous chaos..."
