SPEC D: Nick Cannon. U.S./Jamaica. 100 min. Sep 13, 9:15 pm, Scotiabank 12 Sep 16, 5 pm, Scotiabank 12. Rating: N
If Nick Cannon has any affection for dancehall, it’s nothing compared to how much this writer, director, producer and star loves his own abs.
His Tarzan Brixton is a permanently shirtless Brooklyn native who hops on a plane to Kingston, Jamaica, plotting to overthrow local don Dada (Collie Budz) in the ganja export business with the help of his cousin (Busta Rhymes). He gets lured into dancehall culture while playing around with two women (Kimberly Patterson and Canada’s Kreesha Turner) in a plot that is imbecilic, misogynistic and entirely beside the point.
It would have been so easy to get this movie right. The vibrant culture, pulsating energy and talented dancers busting up the floor are all here. All Cannon had to do was let us enjoy them.
He fucks that up with a jittery camera and spastic editing, constantly cutting away from the talent as they move, as if we gave a shit about his reaction shots, or zooming in so close to bouncing asses that it becomes clear what the filmmaker thinks is the limited appeal in dancehall.
