Plot: What’s it about?
Ah, the privileged life. It must be nice. I think a lot of us forget that every time we open a magazine, turn on the television or pop a disc into our player that we’re seeing people who are much wealthier than us. It’s a fact of life and most of us are accustomed to it. Growing up wealthy has its ups and downs, much like growing up with the lack of money, I assume. Not every person who goes to a boarding school and then onto the Ivy League is a stuck up, arrogant jerk, but the movies sure do like to portray them that way. Such is the case for the characters in “Twelve.” These kids have never known a life without a trust fund or thousand dollar allowances, so their attention is to see how popular they can be. Is this a vantage point into real life? Well if you define “real life” with the parents in the Hamptons and the children doing pot in the living room then…yes.
White Mike (Chance Crawford) is a drug dealer. He’s a good guy and, by the narrator’s (Kiefer Sutherland) admission, has never had a drink, never smoked and never done drugs. Mike’s cousin Charlie (Jeremy Allen White) is strung out on a new drug called twelve. In an effort to get some more, he tries to rob local drug dealer Lionel (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson). Lionel shoots Charlie and Nana (Jermaine Crawford), a local who’s just gotten into a fight with Hunter (Phillip Ettinger). As you can see, this story is about a loose collection of people with the story kind of shifting focus as the actors are shown on screen. There’s a back story about Molly (Emma Roberts) who’s been White Mike’s best friend since childhood. The two have never really formalized anything, but there’s something there. And, in a nutshell, that’s it. There’s a lot of drinking, drugs and characters about as thin as a sheet of paper. Who knows – maybe people really are this shallow? Never let it be said that money buys happiness. Or does it?
“Twelve” is an interesting premise and from an acclaimed director like Joel Schumacher, it makes a little more sense. It’s a very non-linear plot and I think it loses its focus since there’s not really a central character. Ok, well let me recant that, if anything White Mike would be the central character but it somehow doesn’t feel like it. As I’m sure you can see, this plot description is a mess and though it’s easy for me to blame the movie, I won’t. “Twelve” has some good performances, notably from Chance Crawford and “50 Cent” but the rest of the cast seems to get lost in the shuffle. I’ve never seen an episode of “Gossip Girl” but from what previews I have seen, I feel like this is an R-rated version of it. I don’t know. “Twelve” is most likely an acquired taste, but it really wasn’t my cup of tea.
Video: How does it look?
The 1.85:1 AVC HD transfer for “Twelve” is about as I expected. The film has somewhat of a “home video” quality to it not in terms of actual picture quality, but it seems like someone is just going around filming random conversations. The image is crystal clear, detail is amazing and black levels are right on the mark. Take, for example, the scruff on White Mike’s face, the porcelain skin of Molly and the intricacies of the interiors of the homes. This is a lower budget film, but it certainly doesn’t appear that way. Viewers shouldn’t be disappointed with how this looks.
Audio: How does it sound?
Looking for an active soundtrack? Uh huh, well look somewhere else. Yes, there are a few instances in which the DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack takes hold, but by and large this is a very basic, dialogue-driven track. There are a few party scenes in which the surrounds kick in and there’s some front heavy sequences as well, but the remainder of this is all talk. Is that a bad thing? Nope. But this isn’t one that you should use to demo your system.
Supplements: What are the extras?
A surprising lack of extras here, not even a trailer. This is a rare occurrence these days.
