Carrie (Sara Fletcher) leaves Oklahoma when she discovers that her cousin, Stefy (Kelly Noonan), has been filmed in bondage videos while possibly under the influence of drugs.

The feature film directing debut of Bears Fonte', iCrime is a mostly forgettable thriller with a convoluted script that tries too hard to accomplish too much without ever firmly establishing a sense of purpose. When a tabloid journalist, Evelyn Echo (Katherine Randolph), gets ahold of a tape that could destroy Stefy's career, Carrie is forced to go dwelling within the seedy side of L.A. (Wasn't Hollywood seedy enough?) to discover the truth about a teen starlet, Jordan Rivers (Leah McKendrick).

Follow that?

So, we have Stefy, said to be a former Miss Oklahoma, trying to make a name for herself in L.A. and not exactly Miss Purity herself, being protected by a cousin who ultimately sells her out, rather quickly, and ends up in an entirely different situation supposedly in an effort to actually protect Stefy.

Oy Vey.

At its core, iCrime seems to be about the grittier, darker side of Hollywood and the film industry. Unfortunately, the ambitious Fonte' casts a wide net and mostly gets pulled in empty thanks to a multitude of irrelevant characters and Fonte's apparent need to prove his filmmaking skills by taking the film across genres and filmmaking techniques. iCrime does have its occasional payoff, especially in scenes near the end. However, the script ultimately doesn't leave much of an impression beyond the impressive performances of Sara Fletcher and Travis Brorsen, who pretty much make the film worth watching themselves.

To his credit, Fonte' does actually remain faithful to the film's spirit and overall theme with a resolution for the film that felt satisfying and authentic. While iCrime doesn't completely satisfy, it's a promising debut from Fonte' and it'll be interesting to check out his future work. Filmed on a reported $1 million budget, the film's production quality is sufficient for a lower-budget indie with only a few editing glitches noted. Matt Egan's camera work nicely accompanies Fonte's shifting genres and moods, along with Jay Weber's production design.

iCrime arrives on home video courtesy of Vicious Circle Films, an arm of Breaking Glass Pictures designed for edgier releases. Release date is September 27th. For more information on the film, visit its Breaking Glass Pictures website. The DVD release will also include deleted scenes from the film.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic