Overall, The Cliff, written and directed by former police officer, Dennis Dotti Dotson, was a good film. The film was set and filmed in Dallas with a Dallas cast and crew. Dotson confirmed the film was loosely based on some things he experienced as an officer in Oak Cliff. Though Dotson said the film was more about providing entertainment than sending a message or pushing an agenda, one particular scene in the film stood out as being premonitory. At the shooting range, Officer Russell Barnes' (Dustin Doan) fellow officer and friend, Jake Allen (Fabian), tells him Texas' new open carry law will not be fairly enforced against African-Americans. Though filmed before the murder of Philando Castille, this particular scene presented a timely discussion about African-American men being unable to openly carry to the extent Caucasian men can.
The film followed Barnes as he was sent undercover to infiltrate the circle of Daemon Miller (Ron Clemons), a drug dealing music executive. Barnes is also the single father of a high school senior, Kasey Barnes (Ali Stolar), who has recently been accepted into UC Berkeley. And he reports to a cocaine sniffing sergeant, Sgt. Dunn (Carl Bailey), who apparently is working with Miller and/or his supplier Cesar Sandoval (Eduardo Gomez).
With it taking 2 years to cast a film that took 30 days to shoot and 6 months to complete, the level of chemistry between the cast is not surprising. The relationship between Barnes and his daughter was believable, as was his relationship with his fellow officer, Jake. For the most part the acting was believable, though Sandoval's character seemed a bit over the top in the way he spoke.
There were also a few plot holes. It would have been great to have more details about the extent of Sgt. Dunn's involvement, and it wasn't clear whether he was murdered or committed suicide in the end. Also, I questioned how an undercover police officer would allow the person he's trying to take down to find documentation about his daughter and openly share that the letter that was found was for his daughter. This of course came back up, as Kasey was kidnapped by Miller later in the film. I also found it interesting that the undercover cop would have the Feds saved in his phone as "Agent Kinsler." It all seemed a bit sloppy for an undercover cop. There was also an attempt to bring in a romance element between Barnes and Agent Kinsler, but it really just came down to a random hook up, with no build up or real continuation into anything. And the final scene leaves a big question mark regarding just who is keeping an eye on Kasey in college. Is it one of Caesar's men? Is it a fellow police officer? We don't know, and Dotson wants to leave it that way, at least for now.
Overall, it was a good film, and I look forward to seeing the next film Dotson has in the works.