As others have mentioned, what irked me about this film is the inconsistency of the characters. While the two protagonists appear to have a good head on their shoulders, they suddenly become insufferably stupid and get caught in revenge games. I suppose for the film to work something like that had to happen to move the plot forward and create some friction. It's just that the stark contrast in their behavior is head-scratching, especially after both of them had up to that point avoided getting caught up in gang activities. The death of Leah is more of a reason to try and seek revenge, rather than what happened to Marco, which Timmy had nothing to do with.
The "teenage love" arc works well and it is pretty realistic in general. Leah plays her role very well and the scene of her death is impactful. That is before Rapman (whom I had never heard of before tbh) starts rapping about what I just saw happen with my own two eyes, which lessens the impact of the previous scene.
In general, I think that's my biggest gripe with the film. I understand that Rapman is writer and director, but his rapping reminded me of parodies like Lonely Island. I had trouble keeping a straight face whenever he rapped about something obvious, even if the film itself is grim and the plot doesn't shy away from portraying the tragedy of the character's circumstances/decisions to its full extent.
The "teenage love" arc works well and it is pretty realistic in general. Leah plays her role very well and the scene of her death is impactful. That is before Rapman (whom I had never heard of before tbh) starts rapping about what I just saw happen with my own two eyes, which lessens the impact of the previous scene.
In general, I think that's my biggest gripe with the film. I understand that Rapman is writer and director, but his rapping reminded me of parodies like Lonely Island. I had trouble keeping a straight face whenever he rapped about something obvious, even if the film itself is grim and the plot doesn't shy away from portraying the tragedy of the character's circumstances/decisions to its full extent.