Diamonds and Guns (2007) A Review

This light-hearted romantic comedy follows the lives of two best friends Ashley (Renee O’Connor of Xena: Warrior Princess) and Bria (Helena Beaven) as they set off on a journey to escape their troubles and change their luck. With very little to lose, the girls take a road trip to Las Vegas where their misfortunes take a surprising turn. Somewhere between falling violently sick from a dodgy buffet and getting tangled up with the mob, the girls find themselves in love with the least likeliest of guys in this heart-warming hilarious comedy from ROC Pictures. O’Connor began her work in the director’s chair during the running of Renaissance Pictures’ hit fantasy drama series Xena: Warrior princess where she played her hand at directing two episodes- Dangerous Prey and Deja Vu All Over Again for which she received much accreditation. Shortly after her six year run with the show had come to an end, O’Connor bid farewell to the battling bard Gabrielle and went onto developing her own production company ROC Pictures where Diamonds and Guns became her first independent feature length film.

Bearing in mind that the film was made on an extremely tight budget, I must say that I was really impressed with what they came up with. It was a typical ‘girl’s day out gone bad’ flick that was surprisingly hilarious in parts and well timed with its comedic moments. I guess that boils down to a strong and talented production team that have obviously put a lot of time and effort into making the film work so well in it's genre. All the actors delivered a promising performance onscreen and O’Connor in particular added a slapstick element to the comedy that worked really well. Watch out for O'Connor's rather endearing 'Mice on Ice' routine in her opening sequence - it's priceless! There is a fair bit of adult humour running throughout the film, some subtle and some... not so subtle but funny nevertheless. What I love about the film is how it pushes boundaries and manages to incorporate some of the most outrageous scenes like, Ashley’s intimate night in with the bidet (for those of you unaware, a ‘Bidet’ is a European toilet basin to wash your behind which has been supposedly banned in the US after women’s personal misuse of the product!) – The scene is just laugh-out-loud funny, you have to see it to believe it. I guess in hindsight I would brand the film as an adult comedy but then again the title of the film kind of sums that up!

Helena Beaven, who also co-produced Diamonds and Guns, is also pretty good in her role as Bria: a Kiwi who is set to be deported back to New Zealand unless she produces a valid proof of American citizenship in just seven days. Beaven is currently part contributing her directing skills on another independent project called Night Of The Templer (2008) a tale of bloodthirsty vengeance on the horror/thriller genre which I’m sure will be an interesting watch. Ted Raimi has a small, typically funny part in Diamonds and Guns as the girl's rather zany landlord at the beginning of the film. If you ever watched him play Joxer in Xena, you will see a glimpse of that character seeping through his role as the landlord. I felt a touch of nostalgia watching the two almost recreating a typical ‘Gabby/Joxer’ moment. It would have been nice to see more of Ted Raimi in the film but it was probably a good thing that we didn’t, the film would have been too much of a Gabrielle/Joxer reunion and the idea was to produce a film outside the world of Xena.

The story-line was extremely engaging, fast paced and generally a lot of fun to watch. The only criticism I can think of was for the way in which the film ended. It almost felt incomplete and like it needed more to it. Once the girl’s leave for Vegas, the film flows at a flying pace and just as you get completely absorbed, the film draws a sudden crash ending. The end seemed rather hasty which, to me, quite obviously shows to what degree the film suffered financial constraints. If anything, this is more a compliment than a negative criticism because it showed that I wanted to see more of the film!

O’ Connor provided much of the funding for the film herself and auctioned many of her paintings and other merchandise to aid the completion of Diamonds and Guns which is admirable in itself. One of O'Connor's paintings (pictured) was featured on Diamonds and Guns and is hung up on the back wall to the opening scene. Speaking of funding, O'Connor reveals in the commentary that they couldn't afford extras for the movie so they used actual passer-by's from the public to appear as extras! If you pay attention, its actually quite funny to see their reactions to the actors as they were filming. It’s amazing how a small talented team with very little funding can achieve such good work. It makes you wonder, what could the guys achieve on a bigger budget? I would definitely recommend Diamonds and Guns, it's not a big budget film but it's very amusing and an all round must-see, not just for Renee O’Connor or Xena fan’s but also for anyone who enjoys a well done RomCom.

O’Connor will be back in front of the camera later this year on the sci-fi TV movie Monster Ark (2008) which will be airing the US SCI-FI Channel on the 9th of August '08- Will definitely be looking forward to that, although I wonder when it will air here in the UK (if at all). Then, of course, there is Bitch Slap (2009) which I’m not too excited about. The film see’s an all cast reunion from the Xena/Hercules team with the likes of Lucy Lawless, Kevin Sorbo, Micheal Hurst, Zoe Bell (who played Lucy Lawless’ stunt double in the last three seasons of Xena) and of course Renee O’Connor. Despite the film’s slightly outrageous title, I didn’t want to judge the book by its cover, so I had a look at the trailer and managed to sum it up in four words: Breasts-guns-sex-and more breasts. Reviewer’s are making out that Bitch Slap is a film for both men and women, the obvious reason for men but for women, it's all about girl power. Unfortunately, the trailer speaks a completely different language: Breasts-guns-sex-and more...breasts. Don’t believe me? Click here and have a look for yourself. Still, I’m not going to be completely guilty of judging a movie by its trailer, I can be quite partial to the occasional exploitation film (plus it's from one of the producers of Xena) so I may just add it to the watch list!

To purchase a copy of Diamonds and Guns signed by Renee O'Connor herself, go to http://www.diamondsandguns.info/. The DVD itself will cost $19.95 for purchase in the US, $21.65 for buyers in Canada and $24.74 for all other international customers (which for the UK means a grand total of £12.74- not bad for a genuine signed copy).