The Jammed (2007) Movie Review, Trailer and Poster

Australia 2007
Director: Dee McLachlan
Cast: Emma Lung, Veronica Sywak, Sun Park, Saskia Burmeister, Masa Yamaguchi, Todd MacDonald
Rating:
Release Date: 22 June 2007
Running Time: 1 hour 29 minutes

The Movie Review

Prostitutes usually come as sidekicks only in the crime movie, with the highlight focusing more on the mafia or on the guns. So rarely does a movie bring up such an intricate theme of the real deal in the life of a prostitute. However, The Jammed is anything but cheesy, the theme is powerful and shocking. At several points in watching the movie, I shake my head a couple of times in dismay. This is absolutely a great movie coming from the land down under.

Ashley Hudson is just an ordinary girl who works 9-to-5 in Melbourne, Australia. On one day Ashley is being asked for help by a foreign Asian lady who's looking for her daughter, Ruby. Ashley (Veronica Sywak), reluctantly and worriedly,


The JAMMED
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tries to help this mother by printing missing-ad and taking phone calls from any person who has seen Ruby. Ruby (Sun Park) with two other girls Crystal (Emma Lung) and Vanya (Saskia Burmeister) are in fact lured and tricked to become prostitutes as opposed to the girls’ real intention to make a decent living. The girls are kept inside a brothel with tight security, and Ashley is going to have to face people from the dark side of this beautiful city of Melbourne to be able to reach Ruby.

Emotionally engaging from the start to finish... The story would never leave you watching with boredom, it will yank you just in time, every time you're about to get easy, it will yank you right to the shocking place, either you will excited, repulsed or hate the guts out of the villains. The Jammed has several emotional twists and while other horror movies work hard to put some fictional twist in their storyline, The Jammed on the other hand put some twists based on real actual incidents, now what could be more intriguing than a real twist based on actual thing?! Moreover the storyline cleverly shows the human side of the girls, the audience could see how they try to cope with the problems (of course) and how they try to enjoy just a few happy moments in their misery. This combination makes the audience feels emotionally attached to their story.

And what is greater than putting some new but highly talented actresses into the already sensitive theme of trafficking? These girls were giving all out, from the talent standpoint and from physical performances. The 23-year-old Saskia Burmeister who was born in New South Wales, Veronica Sywak who was born in Sydney and of course the great performance of Emma Lung who has been performing in several movies since 2002. Saskia, Sun Park, Emma, and Veronica who are saying their lines using their own dialect, makes The Jammed feels more real.

This movie is definitely not a superhero movie, but Veronica Sywak's character Ashley Hudson sure is one genuine heroine. A person who defeats her fears for the sake of helping others while she knows that it is actually something near impossible for a common girl like her. And this type of movie with this type of character are anything but tacky, a drama movie that shows appreciation to people's feeling...Hmm better make that "great drama movie" that shows both the heroic act of civilian and the hypocrisy of heartless government system.

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com