Review by James Lindorf
Slated and Vertical Entertainment have teamed up to bring you Cruise, the latest film from writer/director Robert Siegel. This is only Siegel’s second directorial effort (2009’s Big Fan). You may know him better as the writer of The Founder and The Wrestler. Cruise is set in the summer of ’87. Gio (Spencer Boldman, Lab Rats, 21 Jump Street), an Italian kid from Queens, has little on his mind but cars and girls. Gio lives in the moment, without a thought about the future, until he meets Jessica (Emily Ratajkowski, Gone Girl), a nice Jewish girl from Long Island. Gio is the king of the road, and to the dismay of his friends, growing bored with all manner of conquests that come with the title. Gio has the excitement Jessica craves, and Jessica has the future Gio didn’t know he wanted. You can go cruising with Gio and Jessica in select theaters and On Demand September 28th.
Ratajkowski is the standout as Jessica, and her naughty alter ego, Francesca. She plays the type (sheltered girl looking to add a little spice to her life) very well. Spencer isn’t bad as Gio. He is at his best with Jessica. It is during his pensive moments and when he is interacting with the criminal element that his performance is a bit heavy-handed. That isn’t too shocking for someone who has spent the vast majority of their career working for the Disney channel where every emotion has to be larger than life. Lucas Salvagno (Gotham) and Noah Robbins (Grease Live) are also very good as Gio’s stereotypical best friends Chris and Anthony.
Cruise may have been filmed entirely on location in Whitestone, Queens, but Siegel and cinematographer Noah Greenberg struck a perfect balance of showing off that area’s landmarks while not being so defining that it couldn’t be another town. The every-town vibe of the location and its residents even reminded me of my own hometown in Northern Indiana. Besides looking good and being acted well, some credit has to go to editor Paul Frank, who kept the film at a tight 90-minute runtime. Between Frank and Seigel they were able to keep ratcheting up the tension in the film. If the drama wasn’t in their relationship, it was him introducing her to some illegal activity, from street racing to stealing car stereos and beyond.
The big problem with Cruise is that it is a bit predictable, from angry friends to embarrassed parents, even down to the climax. While different from a lot of romance films, it was still too easy to guess where things were going. Cruise is an easy and relatively fun way to pass 90 minutes. Everything, including the writing, acting and climax are well done. There is good chemistry between all of the leads. Still, the film suffers, not from one or two individual elements, but from a lack of individuality. By being too far inside the box, Seigel and others nailed the foundations of a film; unfortunately, it looks like every other house in the neighborhood. In two years, if someone asks me about Cruise, I will remember it fondly but without detail.
