“Stealing Cars” is an average film with character situations that seem a bit too farfetched for its own good. But it’s still an entertaining film to watch and pass the time.
TITLE: Stealing Cars
YEAR OF FILM: 2015
DURATION: 101 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation 1:85:1, English, French and Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Spanish, Thai
RATED: R (Language Including Some Sexual References and Brief Drug Use)
COMPANY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Released Dated: April 5, 2016
Directed by Bradley Kaplan
Written by Will Aldis, Steve Mackall
Produced by Dan Keston, Rachel Winter
Executive Produced: Russell Geyser, Erika Hampson, Stephen Levinson, Clay Percorin, Mark Wahlberg
Co-Executive Producer: Sean Lydiard
Music by Phil Mossman
Cinematographer: Martin Ahlgren
Edited by Jarrett Fijal, Sabine Hoffman, Adam Zuckerman
Casting by Venus Kanani, Meredith Tucker, Mary Vernieu, Christina Wright
Production Design by Paul Avery
Art Direction by Lisa Myers
Set Decoration by Jesika Farkas
Costume Design by Deirdra Elizabeth Govan
Starring:
Emory Cohen as Billy Wyatt
Heather Lind as Nurse Simms
William H. Macy as Philip Wyatt
Paul Sparks as Conrad Sean Lewis
John Leguizamo as Montgomery De La Cruz
Felicity Huffman as Kimberly Wyatt
Mike Epps as Sherif Till
Chance Kelly as Jimmy Carmichael
Paul Borghese as Guard Guarino
Jeff Lima as Carlos
Tariq Trotter as Lionel McWrothers
Al Calderon as Nathan Stein
Billy Wyatt (Emory Cohen) is a young man with tremendous promise, but a troubled past leads him to the Bernville Camp for Boys. Billy must navigate his way through dangerous inmates and a cruel and punishing staff, but during it all, he learns to inspire others and find out the truth about himself in the process. STEALING CARS is a compelling drama with powerful performances by Emory Cohen, John Leguizamo, Mike Epps and Academy Award nominees William H. Macy – Best Supporting Actor, FARGO, 1996 and Felicity Huffman – Best Actress, TRANSAMERICA, 2005.
The first film from filmmaker Bradley Kaplan and written by Will Aldis (“Avenging Agelo”, “Black Cadillac”) comes the American crime drama, “Stealing Cars”.
Executive produced by Mark Wahlberg, the film stars Emory Cohen (“Brooklyn”, “Afterschool”, “The Place Beyond the Pines”), Heather Lind (“Demolition”, “Turn”, “Guest House”, “A Single Shot”), William H. Macy (“Fargo”, “Jurassic Park III”, “Pleasantville”), Paul Sparks (“Mud”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “Synecdoche, New York”), John Leguizamo (“Moulin Rouge”, “Carlito’s Way”, “Romeo + Juliet”), Felicity Huffman (“Desperate Housewives”, “Transamerica”, “Sports Night”) and Mike Epps (“The Hangover” films, “Resident Evil: Apocalypse”, “Next Friday”).
“Stealing Cars” made its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2015 and now the film will be available on DVD in April 2016.
“Stealing Cars” revolves around Billy Wyatt (portrayed by Emory Cohen), a rebellious teenager who is highly intelligent but because of his troubles, he is sentenced to time at the Bernvillle Camp for Boys.
The camp is led by its cruel camp led by Montgomery De La Cruz (portrayed by John Leguizamo) and officers led by Conrad Sean Lewis (portrayed by Paul Sparks) who try to break down the kids, many who are dangerous inmates.
At first, many of the inmates see Billy as weird and unusual, but because of his rebellious nature, begins to win over various inmates by inspiring them.
Meanwhile, Emory befriends the often punished Nathan Stein (portrayed by Al Calderon) and falls for the camp’s nurse, Nurse Simms (portrayed by Heather Lind).
But as Billy tries to give hope to those in the camp, he starts to discover more about himself and the source of his troubles.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Stealing Cars” is presented in Anamorphic widescreen (1:85:1) and is presented in English, French and Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1.
Picture quality looks and sounds good as can be expected on DVD. There are moments of good surround usage during a fight and an accident. But for the most part picture, “Stealing Cars” features crystal clear dialogue and audio..
Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Japanese, Thai and Korean.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Stealing Cars” comes with no special features.
“Stealing Cars” is a title that may imply that the film is about a young man serving time for vehicular theft.
But the film’s title is probably not the best description of this film as it is less about stealing cars and more about redemption and personal discovery.
Emory Cohen plays the protagonist, a rebellious teen named Billy Wyatt. We are given pieces of his past which involves his father (portrayed by William H. Macy) and his sister enjoying family time together.
What we don’t know is what brought this highly intelligent teenager to the Bernville Camp for Boys. It is quickly established that being the new guy at the camp, there are dangerous inmates but immediately, Billy shows his unusual side that irritates his fellow inmates, but also wins their respect because of his lack of bowing down to authority.
The camp which is headed by Leguizamo’s Montgomery De La Cruz runs a tight camp and the officers led by Conrad Sean Lewis (portrayed by Paul Sparks), tries to breakdown any inmate that shows any sign of weakness or disobedience.
Suffering in the camp is the often sick Nathan Stein (portrayed by Al Calderon), who is suffering, but yet the camp does nothing to help him and officers who are fed up with his sickness try to get Nathan punished. But often to his rescue is Billy, who befriends Nathan and others at the camp.
As Billy falls for Nurse Simms (portrayed by Heather Lind) and is not happy to see his mother Kimberly (portrayed by Felicity Huffman), we start to see that something bad has happened to Billy and led him to a troublesome path. And the cause is something he has buried deep in his head and never wanted to confront.
What crime has Billy committed and led him to the Bernville Camp for Boys? And will he survive in the camp due to its cruel and punishing staff?
While the film is interesting and seeing bits and pieces of Billy’s past and how we start to see why he became a rebel, the film suffers from loose character connections and consistency.
As mentioned, the title of the film has nothing to do with the overall film. The film is a drama about self-discovery but also how an intelligent and rebellious teen is able to survive punishment but also get along with his fellow inmates.
But after one escape from the heavily gated camp, it’s hard for me to believe that Billy can keep escaping from the camp and returning anytime he wants or when the Sheriff brings him back home.  Also, a potential relationship by a high school teenager and the camp’s nurse and a potential romantic scene feels out of place in the film.
Also discovering Billy’s past leaves a few questions to his criminal past and what caused a riff between him and his mother, is really never answered. In fact, there are some plot situations that unfortunely, has no answers.
As for the DVD, “Stealing Cars” is a barebones DVD. While picture quality and audio is what one can expect on DVD. It’s a bummer that no special features are included.
Overall, “Stealing Cars” is an average film with character situations that seem a bit too farfetched for its own good. But it’s still an entertaining film to watch and pass the time.
