The first film from writer-director Tony Garcia, Stinger, is a pretty great crime story. In it, we met Vince Pazito (Tony Garcia). Vince has several large problems. First, his brother Bobby (Roman Polito) is dying of pancreatic cancer and has been given a prognosis of months to live. Then he’s being blackmailed by a decidedly corrupt detective, Andrew Moss (C. Todd Vittum), who will allegedly back off Vince if he gives him someone else to arrest. Vince Pazito, dear reader, is a slinger of drugs. Vince has been in that business long enough that he wants out and is tired of staying one step ahead of both policemen and gangsters.
The person Vince likes most is Gem (Amanda Tyson). She is a chemical blonde and an aging stripper. She is also a very pretty lady. Vince is besotted with her and is prepared to do business with Desmond (Douglas Pioneer Lacey), Gem’s pimp. Vince is developing a plan to raise the funds to acquire better treatments for his brother and free Gem when rogue scientist Dr. Yawa (Andrew Szuran) targets Vince for an experiment. Vince is stung by Dr. Yawa’s bird-shaped drone. He is injected with a mind-controlling drug. This drug induces the brain to respond well to being tracked. Caught in a bad place between Bobby’s cancer, Gem’s need to be free, and the cops wanting some intel, Vince must figure a way through.
“Vince is stung by Dr. Yawa’s bird-shaped drone. He is injected with a mind-controlling drug.”
Stinger is a solid effort for a first film. The acting was good across the board. The direction was both careful and deliberate. It’s no easy feat directing yourself in any kind of production, but Garcia acquits himself well as a writer and director. The dialogue is decidedly “street” as heard in Atlanta. I found myself drawn into this small section of midtown Atlanta. There were a couple of scenes with Vince’s weed man and best friend, Gizmo (Justin Sims), that were quite wonderful exposition for the strange experiment Vince finds himself subjected to.
The film effectively demonstrates the mind-altering effects of Dr. Yawa’s experiment. Rather than trying to expend the budget on costly visuals, the filmmaker takes a stream-of-consciousness approach and allows us to see through Vince’s eyes. Another neat conceit is when we’re introduced to all the dramatis personae. Rather than rely on a noir-style voice-over, Garcia provides title cards that read off the sorts of things Vince thinks when he encounters the other characters. Describing characters simply, with little to no embellishment, really centralizes the setting for the viewer.
Stinger is a good first film. Will it be the best thing Garcia has released? Hopefully not. When someone sets out to make movies, you always hope their best film is ahead of them, yet to be made. In a way, it’s how I approach the films of Wes Anderson. You always hope the next Anderson film is better than the last. Even when the last one I saw was The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was some 11 years ago. I always hoped the filmmaker could outdo his latest effort. So with that, I would like to praise Tony Garcia by saying this is solid, and I hope he has something even better next time. It’s a great pot-boiling crime caper that you should seek out if you want to see a talented filmmaker present his first feature film.
"… great pot-boiling crime caper..."
