Name: Ashes and Sand
Genre: Drama
Released: 2003-05-15
Duration: 1 h 48 min
Rating: 4.1
Cast: Nick Moran, Lara Belmont, Victoria Scarborough

A silly movie, poorly shot and put together, with two stars who should have had bigger careers

"Ashes and Sand" (why such a weird title?) is a silly and unconvincing movie that also feels downright weird.

Its plot is hard to swallow, a lot of the action is poorly choreographed, and the soundtrack is relentlessly Mickey-Moused out the wazoo.

In the film, Lara Belmont (of "The War Zone") is the leader of a girl gang who bully other girls and rob men unconvincingly. Police show up at their school to investigate, including a young detective named Daniel (Nick Moran, the pretty boy from "Lock Stock"). Daniel never acts, or even looks, like a copper. Instead he seems more like a college guy who interacts with the girl gang like they're his little sisters' giggly friends.

Just as this character is never believable as a detective on investigation, nor is the girl gang ever believable as... a gang. Or even as criminals. They seem younger and more immature than they're supposed to be. At one point, the Belmont character (Hayley) grabs a cashier's head and bangs it on the counter repeatedly, though she doesn't look anywhere near strong enough to do that.

This film needed some realism. There's a ton of British flicks they could have taken lessons from. British movies, especially those about social issues, are often more gritty and realistic than American ones. Instead we watch actors going through the motions, pretending to do things we don't believe they're really doing. It's like watching those Lars von Trier flicks with actors pretending to open and shut doors that don't exist ("Dogville" and "Manderlay").

We also have two lead actors who should have had better careers. Belmont, in particular, gives it her all: in fact she's the movie's one saving grace, her performance actually being believable in places, even if some of her actions are not believably depicted. Nick Moran isn't too bad, though he seems kind of bemused here, perhaps because his role is never clearly defined.

It gives evidence that Belmont, particularly, should have gone on to bigger and better things, so I wonder why she didn't. Maybe it was because she chose to appear in turkeys like this? It was apparently screened at Cannes, but then presumably it was immediately forgotten, and deservedly so. It's not bad enough to make a dent in your mind, it's just silly and inexplicable.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

This is a British movie set in Brighton. It shows teenage angst and female gang behaviour.

The leader of the gang is Hayley (Lara Belmont) and the other gang members are Jo (Beccy Armory), Anna (Sarah French-Ellis) and Lauren (Jessica Harris). They roam the streets of Brighton stalking single men, seducing and then robbing them. Hayley meets a policeman, Daniel (Nick Moran), and becomes fixated on him. She dreams of becoming his girlfriend/lover. Daniel has a shoe fetish and lets himself be seduced by Hayley. The end result is not what he envisages.

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