"Waist Deep" describes itself as a modern day "Bonnie and Clyde," although when the movie features a former convict trying to save his son from a ruthless drug lord who kills people with a machete, it's hard to see the similarity.

Tyrese Gibson stars as O2 (huh?), a man whose just trying to make a living to support his son. When his son is accidentally kidnapped during a carjacking, Gibson suddenly finds himself in a pinch - he has to come up with $100,000 in 48 hours before his kid gets weed whacked. The Game (it should be a law that when you star in a movie you use your birth name) plays the drug lord who has the kid who should have jumped out of the car as soon as some stranger pulled his father onto the street, Larenz Tate plays a seedy brother, and Meagan Good co-stars as the eye candy for the picture.

Ah, Meagan Good... had I not gotten this DVD for free, she would have been the only reason I would have walked this picture. Graced with a perfect frame, real or not, she is a sight to behold, and she spends just about the whole movie running around in skimpy clothes and no bra (or at least I can pretend).

Anyway, getting back on subject, "Waist Deep" isn't a complete waste of your time, but if you're looking for a clever action movie, look elsewhere. This is pretty standard fare, although if you're looking for an action movie you're probably okay with that. There is a decent amount of shooting and robberies, but not enough to really classify this film as an "all guns blazing" action flick.

The movie fails where it succeeds, in that it is simple, and that may be good or bad depending on what you're looking for. I would have loved to see more centralization around the villain of the picture, as he is not given much screen time and thus never develops much of a sense of dread. Instead, the picture focuses a lot more on the protagonists' attempts to rob banks, but their strategy to turn two gangs against one another never really shell out. The results is a picture that never grabs your attention in the way it clearly wants to.

"Waist Deep" has its moments, and fans of the film will find a few decent bonus features on the DVD (deleted scenes, Analysis of a Scene, Drive-By Filmmaking and a music video by Black Buddafly featuring Fabolous). Nevertheless, "Waist Deep" never meets its own expectations, and thus does not live up to its potential.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.