For at least its first half, this fun little thriller kept one step ahead of me. Why has a guy (Sam Worthington) about to step out the 21st-story window of a New York City hotel wiped off his glass and silverware? Why has this ex-cop been sentenced to 25 years in prison (from which he escapes in an early sequence)? Why does he ask for a particular officer (Elizabeth Banks) to be the one to talk him down? What’s going on with the brother he fought with at his father’s funeral? And what does a rich real-estate mogul (a deliciously nasty Ed Harris) have to do with it?
By the time a crowd gathers on the street below, it’s clear that this is not an ordinary suicide threat, but not what it is. Only when that’s all clear do things slightly unravel, when action gets substituted for smarts, the hero pulls a couple of unlikely superhero moves, and weapons are discharged, though the violence quotient stays low. I could talk about a couple of plot holes, but I hate to spoil things, and they don’t mar the main plot, which maintains the tension even though, of course, the guy’s not going to jump and ruin the whole movie.
viewed 1/4/12 at Ritz East [PFS screening] and reviewed 1/4/12
Showing posts with label cop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cop. Show all posts
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Guard (***1/4)
“What a beautiful fucking day,” exclaims Brendan Gleeson at the start of this Irish comedy-drama, and few actors can muster such depth of feeling in uttering such a sentiment. The paunchy actor plays Sergeant Gerry Boyle, who finds himself temporarily partnered with an FBI agent (Don Cheadle) when some international drug smugglers, and a murder victim, wind up in his ordinarily quiet hamlet.
There are elements of a mismatched buddy comedy. When Boyle, speaking of drug smugglers who use submarines to avoid detection, says you have to admire their ingenuity, the agent says drily, “No, you don’t.” Quite a lot of the humor is dry here, as when the one of the smugglers, who’s English, corrects the others, who are Irish, on the matter of the nationality of philosopher Bertrand Russell.
The story also has the fish-out-of-water element, as one character actually points out. The FBI man’s introduction to Boyle involves racial insults, and his attempt to do some sleuthing on his own—it’s the sergeant’s day off, which even a murder investigation won’t impede—finds the locals pretending to only speak Gaelic. It’s unclear whether his race or his being an outsider has more to do with this.
The action element is also not neglected, although it’s saved for the ending. But, more than anything else, the film is a character drama and a vehicle for Gleeson. Boyle can seem like a bumpkin one moment, then show another side in the next scene. The agent tells Boyle, “I can’t tell if you’re mutherfuckin’ stupid or mutherfuckin’ smart.” In quoting this, I may falsely suggest that this is a rather broad film, but in general it’s understated and realistic. Boyle, a single man, is prone to insulting coworkers and committing certain victimless crimes from time to time, but has a soft spot for his dying mother, Croatian widows, and Disney World. It takes the length of this brief movie to reveal his true nature, and writer-director John Michael McDonagh (brother of playwright Martin McDonagh) lets the character percolate until the satisfying conclusion.
viewed 9/8/11, 7:15 pm at Ritz 5 and reviewed 9/8/11
There are elements of a mismatched buddy comedy. When Boyle, speaking of drug smugglers who use submarines to avoid detection, says you have to admire their ingenuity, the agent says drily, “No, you don’t.” Quite a lot of the humor is dry here, as when the one of the smugglers, who’s English, corrects the others, who are Irish, on the matter of the nationality of philosopher Bertrand Russell.
The story also has the fish-out-of-water element, as one character actually points out. The FBI man’s introduction to Boyle involves racial insults, and his attempt to do some sleuthing on his own—it’s the sergeant’s day off, which even a murder investigation won’t impede—finds the locals pretending to only speak Gaelic. It’s unclear whether his race or his being an outsider has more to do with this.
The action element is also not neglected, although it’s saved for the ending. But, more than anything else, the film is a character drama and a vehicle for Gleeson. Boyle can seem like a bumpkin one moment, then show another side in the next scene. The agent tells Boyle, “I can’t tell if you’re mutherfuckin’ stupid or mutherfuckin’ smart.” In quoting this, I may falsely suggest that this is a rather broad film, but in general it’s understated and realistic. Boyle, a single man, is prone to insulting coworkers and committing certain victimless crimes from time to time, but has a soft spot for his dying mother, Croatian widows, and Disney World. It takes the length of this brief movie to reveal his true nature, and writer-director John Michael McDonagh (brother of playwright Martin McDonagh) lets the character percolate until the satisfying conclusion.
viewed 9/8/11, 7:15 pm at Ritz 5 and reviewed 9/8/11
Friday, March 3, 2006
16 Blocks (***)
Bruce
Willis is a booze-addled cop trying to protect a witness (Mos Def) in this
fairly intelligent thriller set in Manhattan.
Bruce Willis is a booze-addled,
sleep-deprived cop who gets a chance to redeem himself when someone tries to
kill a witness he’s escorting to the courthouse. Mos Def, as the witness,
adopts what must be the most irritating voice since Philip Seymour Hoffman’s
Truman Capote, but, like Hoffman, he’s interesting. The witness needs to
testify by ten, so the usual formula would be that at 9:59, Bruce, having blown
up half of Manhattan in the chase, shoots the bad guy, who has idiotically
whipped out a rifle instead of surrendering to police, and whisks Mos (Mr.
Def?) into the room with one second to spare. I suppose some people will be
disappointed not to see that. Director Richard Donner gives the proceedings
some of the qualities of his Lethal Weapon--a mismatched black-white duo
(Mos Def is the optimistic one), a mix of suspense, action, and
character-driven humor, though less of that. Willis gives a nice, low-key
performance, and David Morse is good as his former partner, even if his
character’s pretty standard issue. This one probably won’t win any awards, but
as 2006’s first decent Hollywood thriller, it’s worth a look.
posted 9/9/13
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)