Writers: Thomas Berger (novel), Chris Fisher.
Stars: Luke Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson and Leslie Bibb.
Review :
Firstly I must say that the entire first half of the film kept reminding me of Collateral just with a switch of Tom Cruise to Samuel L. Jackson. Now as far as the film is concerned the plot was very familiar to me, I have seen it before but then again what haven't I saw before. For it's rather simple plot basis you come to expect some pretty good acting throughout, if you are looking for a complex thriller with twists & turns you may not like it, it's all about the acting. Now for the action and basic thrills of the film, they do enough to deliver the viewer a decent portrayal of good guy(Wilson) caught in the web with a very dangerous man named RICHIE (S.L.Jackson). As the film starts Wilson's character named JOHN is literally having THE WORST DAY of his life, his career has gone down the toilet & if that isn't bad enough he comes home to see a foreclosure note on the front door of his beautiful dream home plus he also has two young children to take care of. Then right about when I would be downing a handful of Valium he gets on knock on his door and there stands good old Samuel L. on his door step dressed in a nice suit & hat to boot and his evil presence is felt immediately, plus we know him from his lengthy film career as one real bad son of a @itch. His power and presence is tremendous for every minute.
Sadly, what happened to him earlier is just the starting point of an even worse day for this poor devastated man John. Then with a hard knock on john's door stands Jackson's character Richie arriving at his house complaining of car trouble, asking for a push to pop the clutch because he said it was running on fumes. One thing led to another & before you know it Wilson's character is barreling down the highway with Jackson at the wheel. The events that occur for the rest of the film let's say are pretty interesting to say the very least. Though he doesn't know it yet John is in for the ride of his life. I know that a lot of viewers have seen this plot before, it's been done countless times over the years, but with the right writing and convincing characters you could provide the needed electricity to entertain you for the run time
The acting from Jackson was what made this a good film, I couldn't think of another actor I would want to take his place It's a solid 7/10 partly because the production & cinematography were excellent, I enjoyed the camera work quite a bit. As for the conclusion of the film I was slightly surprised at the end though there was many subtle hints thrown at the audience all throughout the film. I am guessing that this isn't going to have a theater showing, due to the plot & not enough beef for Hollywood to embrace. So many films during 2011 that I thought were amazing went to VOD, I would like to see exactly what criteria they use, whether it's private screenings or what? Anyway again I call this a 7/10.
Credits by J. Davis.
Source image : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1810697/
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