where can i get this?

vhs. lol.

Nice website, too bad most of it is unavailable. I wasn't able to sign up for updates either. Well, please let me know if anyone finds a way to get this film. email: [email protected]

For all of you wondering if this movie will ever be available, the answer is yes - finally. As the supervising sound editor who inherited the original tracks and mix made in late 1996 for the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, where Vin's starring role in the film brought him to Stephen Spielberg's attention (with the rest being, as they say, history), I am in a position to know.

First Look Studios will be releasing the film on DVD later this year (2007). The reasons it has taken so long are many and varied, but firstly I'll address the question someone asked about whether the picture is any good: it is surprisingly good for a director's first feature - not brilliant, but quite good nonetheless; it has loads of warmth and humor, and wears it's heart right out there on it's sleeve (and I mean that as a good thing). Vin is quite affecting in the role of the defacto ringleader of a ragtag group of guys in their early twenties who've all grown up without fathers, and Vin cast a group of unknowns like himself who are nearly all uniformly excellent (this is Mike Epps first role in front of a camera). The picture was made for next to nothing, and hence is rather "rough-around-the-edges", which limits it's marketability by a major studio.

There were also music rights issues to deal with for a commercial release; most of the music in the film is songs from the mid-90s, and the costs of the usage rights for songs originally chosen on 1996 were prohibitive for an independent release (usage rights fees for film festivals are a fraction of what one pays for a commercial release). I suspect this must have discouraged potential distributors who saw the film at Sundance, since the film lacked a marketable star that could help guarantee enough ticket sales to make up for the expense of the music.

I expect that these music issues, perhaps some investor issues, the lack of major film festival awards, the substantial costs of a video release, and just being very busy once he'd been hired by Spielberg, acted to discourage Vin from pursuing an independent release to video on his own - until now; remember that DVD sales didn't take off until 2000, and as that happened the production costs came down fast.

Vin's production company One Race Films attacked the music issues in earnest in 2005, after he had just wrapped "The Pacifier"; I put together a new mix of the film with a fresh batch of songs at that time. But it wasn't until late 2006 that One Race was able to strike a DVD distribution deal with First Look. I just completed yet another mix with many songs replaced with more affordable material, and we were able at this time to do some more "clean up" of the most difficult-to-hear-for-the-background-noise dialogue (as I said, it's a bit "rough around the edges", and that is most evident in the original production recordings, but that can be also considered as part of this film's considerable charm).

I'm told by First Look to expect the DVD to "hit the street" in July; I hope you all seek it out. If you'd like to see a side to Vin's acting talent that he doesn't get enough chances to display (BTW-check out "Find Me Guilty" if you haven't already), then you really should see this wonderfully sincere effort. Also, there will be a 35 minute "Making Of" extra on the DVD that's got some cool footage of Vin on the street at Sundance in '97, when nobody knew who he was - yet - and a lot of interesting interview material that's worth viewing once you've seen the film; Vin's stories about the trials and tribulations of getting the picture made are frequently hilarious.

For the record, I have no financial interest in the success of this film, and I don't work for Vin, although as an independent sound editor/supervisor I did work WITH him during the course of sound post-production on "The Pacifier", and I found him to be a really down-to-earth guy, and very professional. I simply like this film and am pleased to have my name on it.

- David A. Whittaker

I have seen it online at walmart.com

SAVE your money!!!