Gimme the Loot 2012

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: ... 'Gimme the Loot' isn't the kind of film where a lot happens, but that's it's small-scale magic ... Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Sofia is intense and unsmiling, while Malcolm is a charming, goofy chatterbox, and they make a vivid impression, even without spray paint. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Tashiana Washington and Ty Hickson are terrific in the main roles. So is Zoe Lescaze as Ginnie, a spoiled white kid who teaches the taggers a thing or two about drift and being dissolute. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: It may be a slight movie, but it has its sunny charms. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Gimme The Loot has an energy that's been missing from independent film lately. It's not dreary or quirky; not excessively stylish or stubbornly formless. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: As it lopes along, the movie offers a warm but very sharp portrait of New York's have-nots and their uneasy relationship with the haves. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Small but bursting with energy. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: There's barely enough narrative to sustain even an 81-minute picture, yet a sweet spirit buoys this quick-witted, amiably foul-mouthed indie. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: I see so many independent movies that sometimes, when an indie movie comes along that really is independent -- that is to say, when it offers up a fresh new way of seeing -- I blink twice. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Amid all the copycatting and pricey bombast and genericness, here's a movie that looks like it hails from a real place; whose characters sound like they come from somewhere; whose stakes are stresslessly low. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: Does it sound patronizing to call a slice-of-life film about teenage Bronx graffiti artists adorable? It's not meant to. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: "Gimme the Loot" shouldn't be as appealing and exuberant as it is, it really shouldn't. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: The idea is good but the result is saccharine; the movie plays more like an outline that's still awaiting its point of view. Read more

Scott Tobias, NPR: A warm and wonderfully discursive slice-of-life story, with an emphasis on language and local color and a great feel for the longings of working-class adolescents. Read more

Miriam Bale, New York Daily News: Director Adam Leon, 31, has slyly and reverentially crafted a perfect New York movie, including the class tensions, relentless hustling and spontaneous connections that best define the exuberant strain of the city. Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: "Gimme the Loot" winds up as a shaggy-dog story built largely out of digressions, but the punch line is tender, as is Leon's attitude toward being young and poor in New York. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A movie about teenage taggers in the Bronx should be fast and raw, scruffy and loose, and Adam Leon's Gimme the Loot is just that. Read more

Sheila O'Malley, Chicago Sun-Times: Adam Leon has created something unique and current, with affectionate nods to New York films of the past. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a simple, meandering, slice-of-life indie film that feels more authentic than most "gritty" New York films with infinitely larger budgets. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Want a bracing alternative to the usual Hollywood swill? Try Gimme the Loot, a fresh, funky jolt of filmmaking joy. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A thousand-watt jolt of mischief, a spunky, funky, ebullient indie that packs its 81 minutes with cinematic exhilaration. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: 'Gimme the Loot' is ... meandering and a little shallow. And even at 79 minutes it feels a little too long for what's essentially the film equivalent of a short story. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: It's a triumph of the underdog in more ways than one. And that final shot would make Ozu beam. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: The stakes may be low, but the experience is authentic ... Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Leon's grungy resume indie is a modest deal, with a sweet, mumblecore-style ending, but it glows with unmistakable star power. Read more