In his Boxcutter film review, Kevin Bourne calls the film “authentically Toronto in the best way possible” and a “testament to the growing crop of Toronto talent”.
If you’ve read my reviews lately, this will sound a bit repetitive, but Toronto is having a moment when it comes to filmmaking. Toronto has always attracted Hollywood productions with competitive tax credits, and Toronto directors are getting regularly getting hired to work on major TV series in the United States. But now, Toronto filmmakers and producers are starting to tell our own stories, set in Toronto. And they’re actually getting theatrical runs in their own city. It really is a moment to sit up and take notice, because we’re in the middle of a major shift.
Adding to Toronto’s filmmaking run is a new made and set in Toronto film that’s making a bit of noise. Directed by former Toronto radio vet and Canadian Film Centre alum, Reza Dahya, BOXCUTTER tells the story of a hungry and talented aspiring rapper, Rome, played by Ashton James (Revenge of the Black Best Friend) who, alongside his visual artist friend, Jenaya, played by Zoe Smith (Morningside) goes on a one-day quest to recover his stolen laptop and music ahead of a potentially life-changing meeting with a major music producer. The name “Rome” is cleaver seeing that the story takes place in one day and the popular saying “Rome wasn’t built in one day”. Smart. The decision to have the film take place over the course of a day actually makes for an engaging story as it leaves the viewer wanting to know whether he will achieve the day’s quest by the end of the film.
Dahya calls it a “love letter to Toronto”, featuring a number of notable sites, including a TTC streetcar, Eglinton West/Little Jamaica, Eglinton West Station, Kensington Market, Regent Park, Spadina Avenue, Riverside Bridge, Gardiner underpass, Yonge Street/Yonge-Dundas Square, and the Don Lands.
It also features cameos from a who’s-who of local talent, including Brampton rapper RUSSELL!, who brings some comic relief as a high and spaced out music producer, as well as comedian and media personality Marlon Palmer, artist Clairmont The Second, artist and DJ, Junia-T, and music producer Rich Kidd, who plays star hip-hop producer and Rome’s musical hero, Ritchie Hill.
The film is buoyed by the performances by James, who shows that he is a very capable leading man with a bright future, and Smith, who does an excellent job of portraying the quintessential “around the way girl” from Toronto. The onscreen dynamic between the two is believable as those friends who have a deeper untapped romantic tension. You know those ones. Most of us had one of those at some point in our lives.
Adding to the storytelling are the directing from Dahya and cinematography from Canadian Screen Award nominee James Klopko. The use of closeups, angles, and cityscape shots of Toronto help this film to feel equal parts like an independent film and one with potential for commercial success.
With BOXCUTTER, Reza Dahya walks the fine line of making it a distinctly Toronto film while not making the city a caricature of itself with overembellished accents or by focusing on inner city trauma. It also turns the hip-hop film genre on its head with a deeper message beyond the music. Underneath all the Toronto and hip-hop love is an underlying story about the tension between art and commerce, industry and creative integrity as Rome and Jenaya fight the pressure to compromise their creative visions, all in the name of what their industries define as success.
Not to sound repetitive, but now is the time to get excited about filmmaking in Toronto. Between the cinematography, story, performances, and underlying universal message, this is a film with a well told story that Is authentically Toronto in the best way possible, while having the ingredients to appeal to wider audiences. It’s also a testament to the growing crop of Toronto talent, both in front and behind the camera, who are poised to put the city on the filmmaking map in the years to come.
Boxcutter is available in select theaters.
Kevin Bourne is SHIFTER’s Toronto-based editor and Senior Entertainment Reporter focusing on Black music and film & TV. He was named one of 340 international voters for the 81st and 8nd Golden Globe Awards and a Tomatometer-Approved Critic by Rotten Tomatoes.
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