I recently saw Sleight and it's a film I highly recommend people seeing it if they can. Part of me was delighted the film got made because it's a great premise but there was that other part that wished they didn't make it but to be honest I didn't feel that way until after seeing the movie. That was because I wished they held off on making it until they had a a larger budget. Sleight was made for a meager $250,000 and this movie deserved at least a million. Directed by J.D. Dillard and written by Dillard and Alex Theurer the premise of Sleight is as original as they come and the performances were equally as impressive.
Sleight stars Jacob Latimore as Bo. A brilliant young man who's in over his head while trying to eek out a life for him and his younger sister as a drug dealer and street magician. His kingpin boss is played by the talented Dule Hill (Charlie on The West Wing). Dule plays the charming and unhinged psychopathic Angelo who keeps Bo on a tight leash. At the same time Bo is working to stay afloat he's falling for the cute cupcake selling Holly, played by Seychelle Gabriel. Holly is a compassionate young woman running from her own demons and finds a safe haven in Bo and latches on to that lifeline quickly.
There's mounting pressure on Bo when Angelo has him commit a brutal violent act which prompts Bo to choose to leave that life behind him. He puts himself in a bad situation and when it touches those he loves he decides to use his abilities, his sleight of hand to set things right. Dillard's directing is fantastic, nothing seemed force or heavy handed and all the performances seemed completely natural but the most important thing is you would not believe Sleight was made for a quarter of a million dollars. Hopefully Sleight 2 will have a bigger budget because I'm sure the next act of Bo's story will be amazing.
