Neo Ned (2005)

Charming lil' unseen flick made in a tight budget, tells a story of young neo-nazi skinhead, Ned Nelson, caught in a mental ward after he was involved in a murder of an African-American. There he meets & befriends a young single mother, a black girl that thinks Adolf Hitler reincarnated on her. The apparently impossible relationship between the two comes to live when the reckless & intolerant Ned starts to develop a feeling of caring for her... "Neo Ned" is a nicely watch for a Sunday afternoon film, in the vein of Johnny Depp's "Benny & Joon" where two misfits find love in their own wicked world full of disillusions, violence and abuse. The director tries to not be preachy as usual in a movie involving skinheads, just showing us a modern days' fairy tale oscillating between melodrama & comedy but always with an upbeat feel.Two times Academy Award nominee, Jeremy Renner, one of the best actors working today, delivers an honest, committed and often naive performance as Ned, a skinhead with a heart of gold suffering for lack of parenthood that just wants to belong. The scene in the bus stop when he was kicked out of the Mental Ward it's downright emotional and beautiful played that may drop a tear on the audience (i cried...). A funny fact is that Ethan Suplee who played the neo-nazi Seth in "American History X", here plays the benevolent and comprehensive guard at the Mental Ward. In short, "Neo Ned" needs do be rediscovered, a movie made after the Renner's breakthrough role in "S.W.A.T.", but before his critical & commercial success in Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker". Renner may be a bit too old for the role (the actor had almost 34), but he delivers, for sure. Recommended !!

Heard of Neo Ned? Not too many have. I, in fact, discovered it last night while I was working the closing shift at the movie theater in my town. As it turns out, the producer of the film is from here and decided to offer a free showing with a Q&A at the end. My opinion: this movie should not have been free. In fact, I wouldn't have minded paying $10.00+ to view it. I would even dare to say that it far surpassed every other film in our theater, and possibly every film that we've had for the last six months. So, to shorten and conclude my rant: It was amazing.Neo Ned is a story about love, or as a previous audience member mentioned "anti-hate". Ned is a neo-Nazi who grew up in an array of torn homes and who witnessed his father's arrest, which tore him away from his son for many years. As an adult, he ends up in a psych ward, only to meet a black woman, whom he falls in love with.This is certainly not your traditional love story. In all actuality, it quite possibly breaks many, if not all, of the rules of tradition. But who really cares? Overall, the writing, directing, and acting were superb. Hollywood: stop giving us your half-baked movies and start putting real movies with real stories in our theaters. Neo Ned would be a great way to start.

I saw this movie at the San Diego Film Festival. It was absolutely incredible. Neo Ned is a romance-drama-comedy wrapped up all in one. It offers unique ideas on racism, love and making choices that are revealed through the talented actors in this film. Jeremy Renner and Gabrielle Union put their heart and souls into this film and their breath taking on-screen chemistry is captured. This is a movie that can be appreciated by people of all shapes and sizes (except children, there is profanity). The director, Van Fischer, did an awesome job with this film. His plot style is disarrayed characters who wind up in odd situations, a dynamic duo that results in entertainment. During the film festival he answered questions from the audience. We shall be expecting to see more of his movie magic soon. He did a lot with his budget that was so small. I give it five stars(*****)! I also recommend getting familiar with the independent film festivals.. you might just find a diamond in the rough!

I just saw Neo Ned at the Newport Beach Film Festival. I had no idea what the movie would be about before I went in, I had heard it was something about Nazis. But as soon as the character of Ned hit the screen, I was captivated! The acting is awesome, and the story is simple and unique. PLEASE SEE THIS FILM. I walked out of the theater wanting to buy a copy of it on DVD. IT NEEDS TO BE DISTRIBUTED.The director was at the event and he spoke of how they need to establish their audience so that distributors will attach themselves to the project. Definitely go see this film and become a part of the ever growing fan base. He mentioned that every time they screen the film, they get great responses. But those good responses don't mean for the filmmaker much unless they lead to distribution deals. Please support these guys. They make great movies.