Review: ‘The Prodigy’ on DVD

For a film that was made way back in 2004, ‘The Prodigy’ sure did take a while to hit DVDs … premiering on shelves May 2007. I just recently heard of this little indie-action sleeper that’s getting reviews ranging from moderately entertaining to some who say its a freakin’ masterpiece. Well, I fall much closer towards the center of the sliding scale on this one, but that’s not to say the film was disappointing. Quite the contrary. For a film I’d NEVER heard of until a few days ago, I found the movie to be much better than the dime-a-dozen low-budget direct-to-DVD action flick I had presumed it would be. Exactly why director William Kaufman hasn’t been given his creds before now I cannot say, but I’m glad it did finally see the light of day.

What impressed me the most about ‘The Prodigy’ was the story. Its about Truman (Holt Boggs), a smarter-than-average con who is trying to make his name in the underworld. During what he hopes will be an important job, he and his warehouse full of enemies are attacked by a mysterious and talented assassin. The only one to make it out alive is Truman, who eventually manages to kill the assassin after a long and brutal close-quarters fight. After recovering, Truman returns to work for his crime boss, only to learn that someone’s kidnapped the boss’s nephew. Given the task to track down his boss’s nephew and bring “justice” to the man who committed this offense, Truman gradually learns that the man he thought he killed at the warehouse is still very much alive and that he himself plays a much larger role in this entire game than he ever realized. Truman finds himself following clues left by Claud Rains (the assassin’s chosen alias) as he attempts to unravel the mystery behind the assassin’s killing motives.

At two hours long, its a bit lengthy for an action movie, but carries well due to the writing. An interesting bit of related trivia about the movie reveals that ‘The Prodigy’ is as interesting behind the scenes as well:

• The director chose many of the locations due to their history of criminal activity. The major hotel they had shot in, was reportedly a hide out for famed bank robbers, Bonnie and Clyde.
• Many of the thugs in the opening gun battle were ex-cons. The producers had to verify that shooting the guns in the film didn’t interfere with any of their parole requirements.
• Holt Boggs trained in a boxing gym for over a year to help give a unique and aggressive style to the fight scenes.

The film’s cast also includes Mirelly Taylor, Matt Beckham, Diana Lee Inosanto, Lawrence Varnado and Dameon Clarke. ‘The Prodigy’ is definitely worth a viewing and the respect for a group of first-time filmmakers who pulled off a smart, cool action movie on a shoe-string budget and lots of perseverance.

[rating:3.5/5]