Syrup movie review. Hey gang, Valkor here. And welcome back to another episode of MediaView, where we showcase some of the latest films that may or may not be worth checking out. The latest flick to come my way, Syrup, is sorta of in the middle; while I find it has some moments of fun, to me, it ends kinda bad. But is it worth your time? Read on and find out.
Syrup centers on slacker Michael aka Scat (Shiloh Fernandez), who comes up with a brilliant idea for a new energy drink called Fukk – it’s simply a syrupy energy drink, but would sell based off of name recognition. He brings the idea to an ad agency that’s all about soft drinks and presents it to Six (Amber Heard) – who handles such new accounts, plus she’s a knockout, bombshell, hotty babe to boot! Unfortunately for Scat, he forgot to trademark the name, which his friend “Sneaky Pete” (Kellan Lutz) capitalizes on the idea, scoring the big bucks.
Fukk is a huge success and the most popular drink in the states, but now it needs an ad campaign for the ages and Six is brought in to handle it. She in turn brings in Scat to see if “he’s got another Fukk in him”. It took him all of five days (which was the original deadline given to him by Six) and he comes up with a brilliant idea that sends Fukk into the stratospheres… until a kid dies mimicking the campaign. In the end someone has to take the fall and that fall is Scat, who gets the boot.
Scat is now living his life as a rickshaw driver when members of another agency spots him and brings him and Six in to help boost their sales and stocks. Together they create another drink called… wait for it… COK (cock)! On top of that they also have a brilliant marketing campaign where celebraties would endorse the drink and limit only those they deem worthy to get their hands on COK. This idea sends the drink and the company to the top of the charts… until some kid dies, killing himself because he wasn’t worthy of the COK. Only this round Six is the fall gal.
And in between the ups and downs of selling energy drinks, the marketing behind it, and making/losing all those millions, we also deal with the Six/Scat relationship… or their attempt at one. We know he loves her but does she love him and if so why won’t she let Scat completely into her heart. And all the guy really wants is the truth – especially her real name. In the end, he doesn’t even get that and Scat winds up walking away from her.
Syrup also offers up some interesting narration explaining the rules of marketing and business, which reflects on the characters as well as some of their actions. Plus we get a couple of cool cameos worth mentioning such as Brittany Snow (Would You Rather) who plays “Three” and has a saucy little scene. Finally there’s Josh Pais, who gets nerd points for being the voice of the Raphael in the first Ninja Turtles movie – I’d recognize that voice anywhere. Kristie Alley also makes an appearance, but her role is mad tiny and forgettable and I feel that was a waste of some good talent.
I’ve watched and reviewed a few rom-coms here on TOV such as Loosies and The Con Artist, both scoring big. So how does Syrup fare and compare to such flicks?
Syrup (2013)
Directed by: Aram Rappaport
Starring: Brittany Snow, Shiloh Fernandez, Amber Heard, Kellan Lutz, Rachel Dratch, Katie Blake, Zachary Booth, Michael Chenevert, Sophia Banks, Justine Cotsonas, Lucy DeVito
Screenplay by: Max Barry, Aram Rappaport
Production Design by: Dina Goldman
Cinematography by: Julio Macat
Film Editing by: Robert Hoffman
Costume Design by: Sophia Banks-Coloma
Set Decoration by: Shannon Finnerty
Music by: Peter Bateman, Andrew Holtzman
MPAA Rating: R for language, sexual references and brief drug use.
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: June 7, 2013
Hits: 1430
