Written by: Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

Set on the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles, this wannabe action thriller has “Bonnie and Clyde” aspirations but fails miserably.

A newly paroled ex-con named 02 (Tyrese Gibson) has, somehow, just landed a job as a security guard – a concept which requires an immediate and complete suspension of disbelief from the audience. That gives him access to a gun. Duh!

But on his first day of work, when his flaky cousin Lucky (Larenz Tate) fails to pick up 02’s son, Junior (H. Hunter Hall – a.k.a. the director’s real-life son), from school, he must leave his position before a replacement shows up in order to pick up the boy, taking the gun with him. Then he’s carjacked by local hoods – with his beloved boy trapped in the vehicle. 02’s only connection to the punks is a designer-clothes street hustler, Coco (Megan Good), whom he forces – at gunpoint – to help him get his son back from a gang leader named Big Meat (hip-hop star The Game), who is demanding a $100,000 ransom in two days.

Oh, and there’s one more complication. Since 02 already has two strikes against him, under California’s strict “three strikes” law, he can’t go to the police, particularly since the 48-hour deadline occurs amid residents’ protests demanding that the mayor and the police keep their neighborhoods safe.

Screenwriter/director Vondie Curtis Hall (helmer of Mariah Carey’s ill-fated flop “Glitter”) drags out every urban cliché and superficial stereotype, and the acting is absurd. Credit cinematographer Shane Hurlbut for making this clumsy, senseless mess of car chases, fistfights and gun battles look better on-screen than it deserves.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Waist Deep” is an implausible 1 – a complete waste of one’s time and money.