Mix (2004)

Director: Steven Lovy

Writers: Robert Lovy, Steven Lovy

Composer: Tim Kelly

Starring: Alex Weed, Jeffrey Schecter, Janos Kulka, Dorka Gryllus, Olga Koos, Krisztian Kilovratnik, Peter Rudolf, Eszter Csakanyi, Ferenc Nemethy

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Music. Love. Sex.

Plot: A young Los Angeles club DJ, caught between the wishes of his overbearing father and his dreams of musical freedom, uncovers danger, music, a dark family secret and the girl of his dreams, while navigating the sexy and often dangerous streets of Budapest's famous night life.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

SPOILERS AHEAD....YARRRRRRR!!!

A slightly jittery (obviously hand held) camera quickly pans from dad to the spoon he lays down.  It's out of focus but it quickly focuses on the spoon then out of focus then quickly out of focus then focus on dad as he smiles.  That takes a second or two (at least it felt like it).  This was in the first twenty minutes of the movie and that's how things were going visually for a while.  It was annoying.  Either I got used to that technique or it went away once the story picked up steam, I don't know but it subsided.  The performances are very good as is the look of the film.  The location shooting in Hungary was great but it would've been nice to see more of it.  I'm not looking for a tourist flick but it would've been nice.  What lost my interest is when Mitch (Weed) finds himself in Budapest without any money and just 4 days to muster up $1,500 for a plane ticket back to L.A. so he can make the big audition (he's a budding concert pianist having been pushed in that direction by his overbearing father).  He asks his best friend in L.A. for help and the guy tells him to get a job and to fuck off.  How can this asshole be Mitch's friend?  Anyway, this portion of the film gets into silly territory as he and an accomplice scam tourists out of their dough.  The final bit of ridiculousness is when he decides to crash an empty warehouse and put on a rave (of sorts) on the last night before he has to leave.  I felt like face palming at this point.  This movie came sooooo close to being a great, touching film but there are so many little things in the story that got in the way.  The final two minutes were so good that it reminded me of how good it could've been.