Best Laid Plans (5/10): Bad planning

“Who's created this problem? Someone is gonna get hurt, Bryce. It's just a question of who.”

There’s nothing really special about Mike Barker’s Best Laid Plans, but somehow it manages to remain slightly interesting during its short runtime. There’s something about 90’s neo-noir thrillers that manage to captivate me and although this film isn’t up to par with some of the better movies in the genre (the best example that comes to mind is the Wachowski’s Bound), I still appreciated it for its nostalgic value and some decent performances. Alessandro Nivola delivers a solid lead performance and I don’t think he’s ever been better than he was here. It’s a shame he didn’t get more opportunities to star in better films and has only gotten mostly supporting roles. Reese Witherspoon wasn’t that big of a star as she is now, but you could tell by her work here that she would get places. It would be nice to see her in more roles for thrillers like this one. The greatest flaw of the film is that it relies on one too many twists and once you get the feel of what the screenwriter was trying to do you can basically guess what the next twist is going to be. Ted Griffin’s script still managed to entertain although it’s not a story that will stick with you after you watch the film. It keeps you engaged throughout most of the first half of the film, but then it begins to unravel up to the climactic scene, that’s just way too silly even for the 90’s.

The film opens with a diner scene between two old college friends that are getting together for the first time in years. Bryce (Josh Brolin) is in town for a few days house sitting for a wealthy family, and so he has decided to phone Nick (Alessandro Nivola) to meet up with him. While the two are having a couple of drinks together a beautiful girl named Kathy (Resse Witherspoon) walks in. Nick receives a call from his girlfriend and says he’s got to go, but Bryce stays and ends up taking Kathy home with him. Later that night Nick receives a desperate call from Bryce asking him to come over to his house. He says Kathy has threatened to go to the police claiming he has raped her. He has absolutely no recollection of what happened, but after going through her purse he discovers she’s only 16. Bryce didn’t know what to do so he handcuffed Kathy in the basement and is hoping Nick can help him. He wants to talk to her alone so Bryce lets him and that is where we discover that everything was a setup and that Kathy’s name is actually Lissa and she’s Nick’s girlfriend. The film then shifts four months into the past where we are introduced to how Nick and Lissa met and the predicament they get into after making a deal with some small time local criminals (played by Terrence Howard) which gets them in even more trouble as the twists begin to pile along the way.  

For all the twists and turns that Barker takes his audience through, the film ends up disappointing by trying to wrap things up a bit too nicely at the end. You get so used to the dark atmosphere and the betrayals that it becomes pretty evident what direction the movie is going to take at the end. I still enjoyed the ride although I wasn’t pleased with the destination, but the performances are engaging enough to still make the experience worth the while. There’s just something about the 90’s neo-thriller vibe that always seems to engage me. There’s not much more to add about this film, give it a try if you’re a fan of the cast or the genre, otherwise skip it because it’s pretty forgettable.   

St. Vincent (7/10): Bill Murray makes it worth your time.

“I honestly don’t remember.”

If you happen to look at the poster for St. Vincent you might go into it expecting a full blown comedy, but you would be surprised because this film takes a much more dramatic and sentimental approach. There are several funny scenes of course because Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy are involved, but it’s also touching and emotional. There are many comparisons in tone with Jack Nicholson’s As Good As it Gets because the lead character is a grumpy old jerk who the audience is forced to sympathize with. It is a very fine line that an actor has to walk through when portraying a character such as this because the performances can seem cartoonish and forced at times, but Bill Murray pulls it off in a very authentic way. His character actually feels real in this movie despite all the flaws with the script and the overly familiar plot. St. Vincent follows pretty much all the cliches in the genre where you have this grumpy man being softened by a kid in need of a father figure (think Up, Big Daddy, Bad Words, Bad Santa, among others). Even Michael Douglas starred in a similar role this year in And So It Goes. The difference however with that film is that Bill Murray was able to make his character feel believable. St. Vincent is worth the watch because you get to see one of the greatest comedic actors in a lead role, and that is something rare these days. The film may be formulaic and sentimental but Murray makes up for its flaws and turns this into an enjoyable experience. I have no idea where the Oscar buzz came from because it isn’t even close to being a groundbreaking film. It is way too familiar and full of cliches, but Bill Murray gets to do what he does best and that for me is a good enough reason for recommending this film. Director and screenwriter Theodore Melfi’s greatest asset is Bill Murray; without him this film wouldn’t even be talked about. 

I know that I’m being unfair with the rest of the cast by giving Bill Murray all the credit, but there are also some very interesting performances from them as well. It was a pleasure to see Melissa McCarthy playing a hard working single mother. For the first time she didn’t get a character that was screaming all the time (she is funny doing that but she was getting typecast). She gives a genuine and toned down performance and I hope she gets more roles like this. Naomi Watts played a Russian hooker (a lady of the night is how Murray’s character explains it to the kid) and I actually enjoyed her performance as well. I thought she nailed the accent and had some funny scenes. Chris O’Dowd shines as the teacher of a Catholic school and Terrence Howard makes a couple of screen presences as well. The sweet kid is played by Jaeden Lieberher and he also delivers a believable performance and shares great chemistry with Murray. This is the sort of sentimental film which audiences will love, and thanks to a strong cast many critics may be won over as well despite all the flaws. In the end my major complaints are that everything is resolved a little too tightly and some of the subplots could have been explored a lot better (like Murray’s relationship with his wife). It is a feel good movie which Murray sells really well despite being mean spirited throughout most of the film.

My Review: Sabotage (5/10)

"Some of us are getting paid, the rest of us are just getting dead."

Two thirds through Sabotage I was actually enjoying this action film thanks to some authentic performances and a decent cast, but the final third act messed up really bad by following generic conventions and feeling a bit too choppy. I was actually enjoying the direction in which this mystery thriller was going, but somehow it lost its way in the end and simply became another familiar action film with conventional characters. The film centers on an elite DEA squad that seems believable at first considering these are undercover agents that have their own unique macho language. They are not sympathetic characters or people we would really like to meet, but somehow their behavior seemed authentic for an underground world in which they were part of. The film seems to be going into an interesting direction and I was engaged with the mystery behind the opening act, but the resolution of the film is incredibly generic and it kind of ruined the entire experience for me. David Ayer is a director whose films I have enjoyed for the most part so I really had some expectations for Sabotage despite the weak word of mouth it was receiving. I believe the failure of this film relies on the studio who decided to cut Ayer's film in order for it to follow basic generic conventions because several scenes do feel forced and chopped. Ayer's version of the film was meant to be almost 3 hours long, but this film is less than two hours long. I can't help but feel there was a much more interesting film underneath the surface despite the fact that these characters aren't people we would like to be around with for too long. End of Watch was one of my favorite films of 2012 so I was really disappointed with Sabotage despite enjoying the first half of the film. I am still looking forward to Fury and hoping the studio doesn't interfere too much with Ayer's work this time. The other thing that hurt this film was the screenplay co-written by Ayer and Skip Woods. Woods hasn't really written a satisfying screenplay, his work in A Good Day to Die Hard being an example of this claim. The film also seems to struggle with its identity whether they want to portray the characters as villains or anti-heroes. 

The film does seem to have its own unique style at first with some gruesome and bloody action sequences and an interesting mystery going on. Unfortunately the mystery doesn't have a good resolution and the twist fails to deliver any surprises. Some of the action scenes do suffer from shaky camera movements and quick edits as well. It is a gritty film, but somehow it loses its identity halfway through and erases that gritty edge Ayer was establishing at the beginning. Ayer has written some interesting films dealing with a similar subject matter in Training Day and End of Watch, but somehow this film never quite reaches that same quality. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made some decent films during his post-governor stage, and this seemed to be another one, but things got out of hand and his performance wasn't enough to save this film. Sam Worthington was almost unrecognizable in this film and the rest of the DEA team including Joe Manganiello, Josh Holloway, Terrence Howard, and Mireille Enos really go out of there way to make these characters unlikable. I actually thought their risk was paying off as I was interested in the mystery involving the stolen money and how they were being eliminated one by one. These weren't your typical characters from an ordinary action film. The film really had potential to go to new places, but it ended up navigating in familiar territory and never managing to come to a satisfying or believable conclusion. This loss of identity ultimately hurt this film which  wasted its potential and gave the violence no sense of purpose whatsoever. It doesn't reward the audience either for sticking with these unlikable characters.

My Review: Prisoners (8/10)

"Pray for the best, but prepare for the worst."

Prisoners is a dark thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat during almost the entirety of the film. It was a very intense experience. It is hard not to compare this film to Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone because those two movies set the landmark for modern thrillers dealing with abduction. Prisoners almost lives up to the standards that those two films set. Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve, follows up his Oscar nominated film, Incendies, with this intense thriller that manages to capture the audiences attention once again. Incendies was one of my favorite films of 2011, and despite Prisoners not living up to the perfection that film achieved, I still thought this film was highly entertaining and satisfying. There were a few minor plot points that didn't work for me, but that didn't take anything away from this great film. It is a more mainstream film, but it manages to follow a similar approach as Fincher reminding us of Se7en or Zodiac thanks to its dark and haunting atmosphere. I am a huge fan of this genre and really had a fun time trying to solve the mystery through the small clues that Villeneuve masterfully presented in the story. Prisoners was without a doubt one of the most gripping and intense experiences I had all year. Unfortunately it is a little too intense and at times I felt the film could have used some moments to release such tension. Anyways Prisoners is a highly recommended film and a must-see. 

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is a family man who is always prepared for the worst. He is a survivalist with a basement full of provisions and is teaching his older son, Ralph (Dylan Minnette), how to hunt. He's married to Grace (Maria Bello) and they have a daughter named Anna (Erin Gerasimovich). One afternoon, Keller's worst nightmare comes true while they are hanging out with their friendly neighbors the Birches. Franklin (Terrence Howard) and Nancy Birch (Viola Davis) have two kids about the same age as Ralph and Grace, Eliza (Zoe Borde) and Joy (Kyla Drew Simmons). While the two families are having a lovely time together, Joy and Anna decide to go back to Anna's house, but when the Dover's come back home they are horrified to discover that the kids never made it back. Ralph remembers that they were playing next to a strange RV that was parked up front which is now gone. Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is appointed as the lead investigator in the case and the first thing he does is locate the RV. The driver is a disturbed young man named Alex Jones (Paul Dano) who has the IQ of a 10 year old and with no evidence to incriminate him Detective Loki has to let him free. His Aunt (Melissa Leo) comes to pick him up and explains how naive and innocent he is. As hours pass, Keller begins to get more desperate and convinced that Alex was involved he decides to take matters into his own hands. From here on the tension begins to escalate as they try to solve the mystery.

Prisoners succeeds as a neo-noir thriller building up a lot of tension with a very dark atmosphere which is perfectly captured by cinematographer Roger Deakins. It adds to the mysterious mood of the story which on its own is already pretty intense. The screenplay, written be Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband), is very well written with a very interesting premise and some great twists. My only complaint with this film has to do with the lack of a strong female character. With such a strong cast, I thought that Maria Bello or Viola Davis could have been given a stronger role, but the film focuses mostly on Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. They both give very strong and convincing performances, and Gyllenhaal has surprised me over the last three years with very good films (Source Code, End of Watch, and now this one). I guess he has been choosing his roles very wisely lately because his next film also looks interesting (Enemy which is also directed by Denis Villeneuve). Paul Dano also gave a strong performance as his character's motivations were very hard to decipher. The strong cast and the interesting story make this a very entertaining film despite some minor flaws involving character motivations. It is one of the best recent thrillers coming out of Hollywood and I doubt you will be disappointed.

My Review: Dead Man Down (5/10)

¨We're not meant to be alone. You know what she said to me? She said that even the most damaged heart can be mended. Even the most damaged heart.¨

Dead Man Down isn`t your typical revenge film; despite using a common plot device, the way the story is told makes it stand out from other familiar revenge plots. This is Niels Arden Oplev`s first english language film, but it is nothing compared to his wonderful Swedish film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It might not be a fair comparison because that film was adapted from a great Swedish novel so the story was much more engaging than this one. In Dead Man Down, Oplev reunites with Noomi Rapace who gives another solid performance here despite not having such a powerful character. The film slowly builds up until the climatic final 20 minutes combining action with a decent -albeit strange- love story. Dead Man Down could`ve been so much more entertaining, but the pressure from Hollywood producers got to Oplev who had to rush the shooting and the editing. The major problem this film has is really the editing considering there are a lot of pacing issues going on. It takes too much time to build up and certain scenes felt out of place. I still think that the chemistry between Farrell and Rapace as two tortured souls drawn to each other is what makes this movie more bearable. The screenplay was written by J.H. Wyman (from the Fringe TV series and The Mexican). There were several twists here that caught me by surprise, and others which didn`t work too well. The trailer for Dead Man Down made us think we were going to get an action thriller, but in reality it is more of a neo-noir film mixing romance with action. This isn`t a bad movie, I really liked the final 20 minutes, but I felt several things were forced at times which didn`t help the overall pacing of the movie. The less you know about this film going into it, the better.

Plot: Victor (Colin Farrell) is working for a kingpin named Alphonse (Terrence Howard) in New York City. Alphonse has been receiving threats and strange messages so Victor and the rest of the crew have been on the lookout. One of their own appears dead with another message for the kingpin. Surprisingly, Victor is the one responsible for these threats. His family was murdered a couple of years ago when they arrived from Hungary by Alphonse's men. After leaving him for dead, Victor quietly climbed up the ranks and has become Alphonse's right hand man. None of these men actually know anything about his past as he has changed his identity but he is waiting for the perfect moment to have his revenge. In the midst of his revenge plan he meets a troubled neighbor, Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), who he begins going out with. At first they each have a hidden agenda, but they will realize that they may have more things in common than they thought they had.  

I think this film could have had much more potential if Oplev had worked with his European crew, but things are more difficult in Hollywood and the producers usually have the last say (as they did with the trailer which completely marketed this film for a different target audience). Farrell and Rapace had great chemistry together and this isn't your usual romantic action flick. The romance here slowly builds in a rather realistic fashion as they both find a connection through their hurtful and resentful pasts. The action scenes are nothing out of the ordinary, but Farrell has an onscreen persona as an action star. Dominic Cooper has a supporting role and is probably the stand out in that category since so much is centered on Farrell, Rapace, and Howard. Dead Man Down had a decent story somewhere down the line, but the messy editing and weak pacing hurt this movie and makes it feel too fragmented.