Jessica Francis and Martin Clarke on the set of 'Desperate Decisions'. - Contributed

Desperate Decisions, the latest Jamaican feature film to be presented to the public, is an interesting drama which bucks the stereotype of what a modern-day-Jamaica film portrays and examines to good (though short of stunning) effect.

It premiered to an about half-capacity audience at Redbones the Blues Café last Saturday night and will be on there again on Saturday.

So the film, which holds one's interest from it opens with 'Patrick' (Martin Clarke) putting on his Bob Marley shirt with cut-off arms to head to the local socialising spot in his rural community to its closure with Patrick and Verona (Jessica Francis) driving away from their parents' home with their baby, is as notable for what it omits as what it contains.

No gangsters, no ghettoes, no guns

There are no gangsters, no ghettoes, no guns, no central figure struggling through the rough music business, guitar in hand (although Patrick wants to and does become a producer). Instead, Desperate Decisions is mainly in a rural setting (CASE in Portland figures as the college Verona is attending when she gets pregnant, and there are scenes of Patrick trying to farm). Patrick is a man who does not define his manhood by violence, outside and in the bedroom (he is hounded and humiliated by his babymother, Rose, who turns over the money he gives her to her current boyfriend, Daniel (Junior Williams). Verona is not a 'bashment' girl or a hottie-hottie.

He is also strikingly loyal to his lady despite his success, and cautions his pal Digo, who goes wild with the ladies and is eventually killed by his mute, jealous girlfriend, Ellen (Victoria Powell).

Desperate Decisions follows Patrick as his life disintegrates in his village from being evicted by his landlord (a bit overplayed by Owen 'Blakka' Ellis, on whom the attempt to make older with dabs of grey in the hair does not work, as he injects humour) to having to fight an aggressive Daniel. This after he starts a relationship with an 18-year-old Verona (it has not yet become sexual). During the fight, Daniel falls and hits his head on a stone; thinking he is dead, Patrick flees for the hard hustling of Kingston, working his way up from washing cars to becoming a successful salesman in a matter of months and encountering a kind prostitute, who takes him in, on the way.

That quick success is one of the film's incongruities.

Pregnancy

At CASE, Verona is tempted, but resists the overly smarmy charms of a popular student (his 'lyrics' are jarringly stilted and constructed like rehearsed lines). She gets pregnant, there is an emotional 'abortion or not' discussion on the beach and the telling of the parents, Mr and Mrs Bolton (Winston 'Bello' Bell and Rosie Murray, respectively). After the inevitable rancour, there is reconciliation (Desperate Decisions introduces another excellent element as it's revealed Mr Bolton cannot father children and Verona was a test-tube baby) and all's well that ends well.

Desperate Decisions gives the newer faces more on-screen time and a stronger role in the development of the drama than the older, more established and clearly better actors to good effect. The shots of rural life are good in their glorious greenery and Kingston is introduced with Patrick walking along Spanish Town Road.

However, there are some striking incongruities in Desperate Decisions. Jamaican audiences will find the steady diet of Standard English from all the characters and in all settings, jarring and unnatural. Writer Paul O. Beale explained to The Gleaner that this was deliberately done to get Desperate Decisions to an audience outside the Jamaican market, at home and abroad.

Good line

One of the better lines is the landlord telling Patrick to "be like the good shepherd. Get the flock out of here!"

Rose, the hottie babymother, wears a wonderfully clinging brown number that keeps the eyes glued on a wonderful figure on one of her trips to harangue Patrick. However, the outfit is out of place for the community and time of day. The dilapidated exterior of the house Patrick rents is in contrast to a decently turned out interior, and in an editing glitch, Digo's motor vehicle rolls downhill during a car sex scene (there are two other sex sconces in Desperate Decisions).

Too many time leaps

Patrick's transformation is too quick (in mere months he is a suave, tie-wearing car salesman) and, coming closer to the end, the time leaps are too many. The babymother disappears from the story, resurfacing only at the end when Patrick tells Mr Bolton the baby wasn't his. Plus there are no, absolutely no legal repercussions from the fight with Daniel, although we are told soon enough that Daniel did not die. It is hard to believe that the couple is so forgiving as to not press charges.

In addition, the Desperate Decisions soundtrack is remarkably foreign, Sam Cooke, R. Kelly and Akon getting good play before there is a reggae note. Nanko is introduced with his Loco Amor, one of Patrick's productions.

Flaws and all though, the Kamall McLean production is well worth seeing, providing not only good entertainment, but a view of Jamaica where hard work and honesty are lauded and 'hustling' isn't glorified.