AllMovie

Here's the joke: Cigars are like illegal drugs to these characters, who will torture (fingers in cigar cutters -- ouch!) and downright kill for a verboten smoke. Everything in this zany parallel universe revolves around cigars. It's amusing for a few scenes, but once you've accepted the gag, the rest is a somewhat confusing thriller with a rather convenient ending. The low-budget production values are admirable -- particularly the billowy, maze-like hideout made from parachute material where the final gun battle takes place -- and the performances are up to B-movie thriller standards, so it's not all bad. Lillo Brancato handles the leading man chores with the kind of forced comic charm you'd expect from a young character actor in a starring role; he works very hard to bring energy to his scenes, so much so that you wish he'd just calm down. There's also an uncomfortable cameo by Dick Clark as a paranoid cigar customer. The best thing about Sticks is the constant Latin swing music, which is fresh and energetic. Be warned: The sexy box art, with the come-hither woman and seductive smoke swirls, has nothing to do with the cartoonish goings-on of the movie.