Skills Like This DVD Review

By Kam Williams

Wacky Sitcom about a Writer-Turned-Bank Robber Comes to DVD

Sick and tired of being a starving writer and having to support himself in a never-ending series of temp jobs, Max (Spencer Berger) decides to mull his options. Then, while being consoled in a diner by his best friends, Tommy (Brian D. Phelan) and Dave (Gabriel Tigerman), he impulsively walks directly across the street to pull off a brazen bank robbery in the middle of the day.

Not only does he disarm the guard like a veteran criminal but he's even calm enough to flirt with a cute teller (Kerry Knuppe). After successfully making his escape, Max is elated to have found his true calling. Not surprisingly, Tommy and Dave don't exactly agree and aren't thrilled about becoming accomplices after the fact.

This is the wacky setup of Skills Like This, as charming a sitcom as one could hope to make on a micro-budget. The movie marks the remarkable directorial debut of Monty Miranda, who collaborated on the project with first-time actor/scriptwriter Spencer Berger.

The further the picture unfolds, the more complicated the plot becomes. First, Max picks up Lucy the bank teller at a nightclub, and brings her home to meet the parents. On his birthday, their lusty liaison blossoms into love, and she's so smitten with the easily-identifiable outlaw that she's willing to risk her career to be around the notorious bad boy with the exploding Jew fro.

Meanwhile, as Max continues to rob other establishments, the burning question becomes whether such a self-destructive path could possibly lead to a happy ending? Certainly, when you consider the fact that the clever screenplay was the brainchild of the star himself, a promising wunderkind clearly quite capable of writing himself out of any corner.

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 86 minutes
Studio: New Video
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, cast and crew interviews, theatrical trailer and a biography of the filmmaker.

To purchase a copy of Skills Like This on DVD, visit: AMAZON

To see a trailer for Skills Like This,

Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the African-American Film Critics Association, and the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee. Contact him through NewsBlaze.