N-Secure (2010) Reviews

• What the F

  anthonycarrol692010-11-10

  This movie was almost a total waste of time if you had nothing better to do or just believe in supporting indie films it's okay.If you are expecting anything that holds the attention or even decent acting forget. To be fair the actors can't be blamed the writing was terrible which I can't understand when the premise of the movie had such potential.It seem to be a soap opera and not a very good one at that there was no character development nor any type of build up to important scenes. The dialog was unbelievable as well as strained to the point where nothing seemed realistic I would suggest that you see anything besides this movie unless you just want to be able to tell your friends that you saw a train wreck.

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• Seriously?!

  darkangelchyc2010-10-31

  Wow. First I had to double check that I was on the correct page for the movie that I just watched with my man last night. The other four reviews I have read are all positive and are flooded with undeserving compliments. We went into this movie without high expectations but at least expecting a good, solid effort. There were about 20 other people in the theater with us and we were all on the same page. This movie was atrocious. The dialogue was very poorly written, the filming was worse than a bad Lifetime movie, the actors and actresses were NOT on point. When the audience should have been getting worked up with emotion, they were all laughing instead... at the pure ridiculousness of this horrible excuse for a film. I heard one couple say this as we were leaving the theater, "I bet if Tyler Perry watched this, he was laughing his @ss off". I completely agree. Do not waste your money to see this at the theater. Go see Red instead.

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• If only the movie itself was half as fascinating as its villain.....

  bob_meg2011-07-11

  N-Secure is billed on Amazon as some sort of psychological character study of how a man can go from the pinnacle of success into the bowels of hell, simply because he isn't secure with himself and the people around him. Well, that's not quite accurate...it's really more about an obsessive controlling psychopath and his attempt to enslave virtually everyone around him into a "serve me or die" pact. What starts as an intriguing character study of an obviously emotionally bruised martinet devolves into an African American take on "the female imprisoned" ala Jennifer Lopez's "Enough," only that film was played much broader and almost for sheer action-adventure adrenaline. N-Secure never achieves that kind of driving, operatic rhythm, and by the end, you could swear you're watching a Lifetime movie. This film had four screenwriters. That's about two too many in most cases, and it definitely shows here. The film is littered with stray, odd scenes that are intriguing in that they illuminate bits of David's shattered psyche, but then doesn't do anything with them. For instance, early on we meet a Marine buddy of David's who appears to only be in the movie as a sounding board for an exposition on David's combative resentful relationship with this father. Another scene shows his current girlfriend seeking help from a therapist who seems to understand how dangerous David is. Neither of these scenes pan out or add anything to the movie in the long run, they may as well have been cut. Cordell Moore, who plays David, comes across as such an over-the-top maniac it's hard to feel any sympathy for him and it makes it even more implausible when his latest squeeze Tina (Denise Boutte) stays with him through repeated abusive episodes --- David isn't just a physical abuser, he's downright nasty to be around most of the time, even when he's showering her with gifts. The real problem, though, lies with director David Matthews. The film has a lot of pacing problems, never balancing the tension between David's current world with the paternity subplot helmed thanklessly by the normally very good Essence Atkins. There are times you wonder if one of the plots has just been dropped. Yes, this is a script problem but the director seems to not have had much input into this, or not cared. Unfortunately, at times, the whole thing seems a bit too much like a "hey-I-got-a-pile-of-money-to-blow-on-a-movie" experiment. It seems clotted with family and friends, many of whom can't act at all and who obviously are playing a "type:" Tempest Bledsoe (yes, THAT Tempest Bledsoe) and Thomas Miles as Harold (WHAT does this guy DO at David's office...is he doing a Jimmie Walker impersonation or is he just the Jive A** court jester?). It's too bad because this had some very interesting seeds of an intense character drama. But it's hard to make films like that. It's much easier to churn out formulaic psycho-husband movies, like this one. It makes Tyler Perry's pseudo dramatics almost seem professional by comparison.

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• Not Bad For A Freshman Effort

  zardoz-132010-10-23

  Freshman director David M. Matthews delivers a tolerably entertaining soap opera/crime thriller about an affluent, white-collar, African-American worker who suffers from an abysmal case of insecurity where the women in his life are concerned. David Alan Washington (Cordell Moore of the video version of "Why Did I Get Married?") is a micro-managing martinet of man who doesn't trust women, especially after his fiancée cheats on him the day before his wedding with a close friend's boyfriend. Predictably, David cannot stand for this indiscretion, much less the complete lack of respect that his fiancée, Robin Joyner (Essence Atkins of "Dance Flick"), treats him when she tries to have sex with a well-chiseled guy on the floor of David's palatial residence. The boyfriend happens to be the dude that her closest friend, Jill (Tempestt Bledsoe of "Bachelor Man"), intends to wed, and Jill is just as furious with Robyn as she is her musician fiancé, Isaac Roberts (Lamman Rucker of "Meet the Browns"), for permitting Jill to seduce him. When David and Jill walk in on them, David asks Robyn why she is out of breath while Jill points out that Isaac has his fly unzipped. David rules his life by his watch; he is a creature of habit and refuses to tolerate anything less than perfection. Be a minute or two late to an appointment with David and he blows his stack. We learn that he was a Marine who paid for his college education without having to appeal to his equally intolerable father who held a low opinion of him for the get-go. This part of his character has alienated Robyn and she confided in Jill that she doesn't love David on the day before they are to be married. No sooner has David broken up with Jill than he takes a fancy to his secretary's cousin, Tina Simpson (Denise Boutte of "Extreme Movie"), and takes her off on a vacation that was initially designed to be his honeymoon with Robin. Tina has a rough time adapting to David's lifestyle. Moreover, she doesn't realize how jealous that David is. Indeed, David tampered with the brakes on Isaac's caddy and Isaac collided with a train at a railway crossing because he couldn't put on his brakes. The actual collision is suggested more than shown and the opinion of the coroner is that Isaac committed suicide. The biggest problem that "N-Secure" suffers from is its lack of tying up all the loose ends. For example, Robyn winds up pregnant with David's child and he issues a restraining order that she is not to come within a 100 feet of him. Robyn calls for DNA testing to prove that David is the father of her baby daughter. David responds by bribing the medical technician who performs the test, but this redoubles Robyn's efforts to make sure that David pays for his consequences. When David and Tina start seeing each other, the relationship is like a dream come true until David demands that Tina sign a contract so that he can trust her. He demands that she respect him, call him no later than a minute after he has called if she cannot answer, and stay away from her girlfriends. As far as David is concerned, when a woman hangs out with her girlfriends, this kind of behavior qualifies as an alibi so that she can cheat on her man. One day Tina accidentally burns herself with a curling iron while fixing her hair and David jumps to conclusions and accuses her of having been out with another man. Despite David's terminal case of insecurity, Tina loves him for the beautiful man that he is deep down in side. It doesn't take long for Tina to go sour on their relationship. When her brother calls and asks her to come home for the weekend, David immediately concludes that Tina is lying so that she can hop in the sack with another dude. Meanwhile, Robyn doesn't let the restraining order keep her from getting what is rightfully her's for her daughter. She sneaks into David's office (how'd she get past the building guards who should have been alerted to her status?) and steals a straw out of David's garbage can so she can find something to test his DNA. The DNA doctor stands by the negative reports that were shown in the test that David did not sire the child. Nevertheless, he agrees to an informal re-test. David loses no time trying to kill Robyn. He tampers her brakes and she careens through Memphis traffic and strikes a lamppost because no harm occurs to either Robyn or her baby. The re-test proves that David is the father of Robyn's baby. Eventually, Tina musters the nerve to leave David, but he catches her and slaps her. Tina seizes a knife and slashes David; David pins her to the floor with the very same knife and prepares to kill her when . . . the surprise ending kicks in. This low-budget feature film lensed on location in Memphis, Tennessee, has just enough polish to get by, but it lacks closure of the issue of David's murderous behavior and his willingness to bribe anybody to get his way. Not a bad start for Matthews as a helmer. The cinematography and editing are crisp. Presumably, the lack of closure in regard to David's deeds can be chalked up to the low-budget. The ending is somewhat of a surprise. The movie doesn't wear out its welcome, but it isn't as smooth as a major studio picture.

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• Better than expected

  drebaby2010-10-17

  I actually enjoyed this movie as did the 25-30 people who were sitting in audience with me in a Los Angeles suburb. This was a thriller full of deceit and manipulation. The production was lacking due to budget constraints, but the story was good even though the main character had issues. The characters in the movie were urban professionals played by former TV sitcom stars and a couple of actors from Tyler Perry's stable of actors. They were all good but the movie needed an A lister to sell it at the box office. I am thinking if a younger Samuel Jackson or Will Smith had played the lead character David Washington, this would have been a mini blockbuster. (Cordell Moore plays Mr. Washington very well) It would have been against type for Will who lately has been transitioning from an urban hero to a more dramatic actor. Denzel won his Oscar for playing the ultimate bad cop. Will could have gotten at least a nomination playing the lead in this one. It is worth the money so I say grab it in theaters if you can, and if you can't, at least get it when it makes it move to DVD where these types of movies usually start off at anyway.

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