Jules and Louis, hustlers and jazz musicians, struggle to create a hit when a black-Hispanic escort named Ruby interrupts their lives, distracting their music and causing Louis to fight his friend’s debts away.

Black Ruby, the 2017 melodrama directed by La Raza and Mónica Esmeralda León, and co-directed by writer Zachary Laoutides, is a first of its kind, award-winning independent venture that is finally due for release on demand and digital platforms this Tuesday, March 5, 2019.

This is a story about two guys, Jules and Louis, fists, fame, and a chick named desire. Jules – the son of a famous jazz singer who aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps, instead works at the furniture franchise of his father-in-law and uses drinking and philandering as an excuse for his misery. His best friend, Solomon, a fellow troubled jazz musician, is dependent on Jules for his medication costs and hustles as a street fighter to finance their dream of writing a hit song. When a beautiful and young afro-Caribbean prostitute, Ruby, the title character, walks into their lives, their already rocky friendship hits bottom as her presence creates a love triangle between the trio, complicating their plans for stardom and hitting it big

The acting in this emotionally dark movie was earnest, though the performances had a tinge of that 90’s feeling, especially when the brooding montages start and a sad alt-rock song strums in. The editing, coupled with the sometimes verging on soap opera acting, as well as the troublesome use and portrayal of women for the sake of the narrative, reminded me of an early characteristically Kevin Smith movie. This might also have something to do with the fact that the film is shot barebones style, entirely on an iPhone 7, so with that in mind, the claustrophobic angles can be forgiven. I kind of wish it had gone all the way and been fully in black and white, it might have made the use of punchy jazz music to punctuate the moments of violence more believable, and with the boxing understory to the narrative would have given it a more Raging Bull feel, which I think is what they were going for. Instead, I found myself literally laughing out loud at times when I don’t believe they meant to make me laugh; ah, the Tommy Wiseau effect. That said, I enjoyed myself watching this movie.

I liked the dialogue since some of the lines were memorable and the characters’ inter-relationships were entertaining, but with this movie, I think the acting failed the script. The film stars Zachary Laoutides as obnoxious but troubled Louis Katz, Ric Morgan who did stand out, giving a heavy performance as the underdog best friend Solomon, Krystal E. Heredia as deadpan and pitiable vixen Ruby, Carmen Santiago Keenon as frustrated wife Christiana, and Laron Hardrick as token urban Quazy. The only thing I distinctly did not understand about the script structure is the use of an expositional narrator for the first bits of the movie, who disappears as soon as his urban-ness is no longer needed to set the mood. Other than that, I thought the writing was good and I enjoyed seeing the sad downfall of this once brotherly relationship at the hands of their “Helen of Troy”. It is guerilla filmmaking, and though ridiculous at times, its drama is modern Shakespeare-esque to me, and a good time to watch despite its shortcomings.

Though I have mixed feelings about this movie, this fresh and original film did well on the festival circuit as, among many nominations, it won Best Picture at the 2018 Los Angeles Film Forum Awards where its star also took home the award for Best Actor. Watch La Raza, Mónica Esmeralda León & Zachary Laoutides’ dark (and slightly comedic) drama Black Ruby and let us know what you think for yourself.