The Girl is in Trouble Film Review

DJ Caught in a Spiral of Violence and Intrigue

Life would have been much better for DJ August, played by Columbus Short, if he had ignored the SOS call of a damsel in distress. In a fateful night, the cool DJ takes a call at 2:30 in the morning from Signe, played by Alicja Bachjleda, an attractive woman he once met at the nightclub.

The young lady is desperately in need of a place to stay, and of course, Mr. cool the DJ cannot resist her.

DJ August is a Nigerian immigrant, and for some strange reason, not only does he allow her to crash at his placee, but he doesn’t ask any questions when she shows up naked under her trench coat.

Of course, sparks fly, and a few compromising positions later, August is ready to bid adieu to the Swedish temptress he so easily succumbed to as a booty call.

Then he catches her as she tried to make a getaway with all the cash he had in his wallet. He struggles with her and discovers what appears to be a murder, recorded on her cell phone camera.

short
Short in 2010.

DJ August asks Signe if the murder on the video is real, and rather than deny it, she curtly responds, “None of your business!” That answer of course piques August’s curiosity, and he is drawn deeper and deeper into the intrigue like an animal sruck in quicksand.

The perpetrator of the apparent murder is Nicholas, played by Jesse Spencer, a spoiled-rotten rich kid-turned-drug dealer. Nicholas is the son of a very well-connected Wall Street powerbroker whose fortune materialized out of a Ponzi scheme.

The feature-length film The Girl Is in Trouble is the directorial debut of Julius Onah, and was Executive Produced by Spike Lee, It. Columbus Short narrates the movie, in an attempt to emulate the tone of the hard-nose hero of a typical pulp fiction novel. Unfortunately, that narration is where any similarities to the film noir genre ends, as this predictable whodunit proves a tad too transparent for this critic to recommend.

This film is in trouble.

The Girl Is in Trouble

Fair (1 star)

Unrated

Running time: 94 minutes

Distributor: E1 Entertainment

Watch The Girl Is in Trouble trailer:

Kam Williams is a popular and top NewsBlaze reviewer, our chief critic. Kam gives his unvarnished opinion on movies, DVDs and books, plus many in-depth and revealing celebrity interviews.

Sadly, Lloyd Kam Williams passed away in 2019, leaving behind a huge body of work focused on America’s black entertainment community. We were as sad to hear of his passing as we were overjoyed to have him as part of our team.