Could have been great if not for shaky camera

Just saw this at the LA film festival last night and thought I'd divide my review into sections:

ACTING: The acting in this film is very high quality. Especially considering most of the cast, including the 2 main characters, aren't professional actors. The dialogue was improvised rather than scripted, which I'm sure helps the actors to deliver a more realistic performance. This technique worked very well in this movie. In fact, I'd say the acting, especially by Prince Adu and Karren Karagulian, is the strongest part of this film.

Story/Screenplay: The side story involving the store owner and his wife didn't really tie in well to the main picture. Maybe originally it was a more developed storyline and too much of it got cut out in editing, but as it stood when I saw the film, it didn't tie in well, it was underdeveloped, and really didn't need to be there at all. Or if it stayed, it could be seriously shortened. The main story involving Lucky and the baby was engrossing and interesting.

Directing: This is where the film lost some major points with me. From what I can tell, there wasn't a single tripod shot in the whole movie. Everything is hand-held. Instead of cutting the shot to change angles, the cameraman simply swoops the shot across the room to the new angle. Also, when there's motion, like running down the street, the cameraman simply runs down the street causing the shot to bounce all over the place. It's reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project. After 90 minutes of this, I actually started to get motion sickness and came very close to needing to get up and leave the theater to prevent me from vomiting. This shaky camera trend is one of the stupidest things in all of cinema. Many directors do it intentionally to create a sense of realism or panic, but it actually accomplishes the opposite, because in real life people don't see things so shaky, your brain smooths out images so you don't see the bounce when you run. Shooting with an unsteady camera distracts the audience from your main focus in the film.

Outside of this one problem, the direction was outstanding. The film looked great, despite not having a cinematographer or lighting crew or any of the other bells and whistles that most movies have. Also I have to give the director credit for getting such fantastic performances out of non-actors. I've tried making regular people into actors for a film and it's very difficult to just get a mediocre performance out of them, let alone the outstanding performances that he got out of his cast.

OVERALL: If it weren't for the shaky camera thing, I'd give this movie an 8 out of 10. It's a well-made project, especially considering the budget. But alas, the camera thing prevented me from being completely immersed in the film, and also makes me want to never watch it again. Therefore my overall score is 6/10.