Category Archives: Live Action Movie Reviews

They Live By Night Review

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It’s time for a noir title with a lot going on but it does not execute as well as it could have. It’s not super out of the ordinary for the main character to be unlikable in a noir title like this but at the same time you still need to have some kind of redeemable quality to really let the film go through smoothly. Mix that in with the underwhelming romance and this is not really one for the books. It can keep you entertained but the characters tend to get you annoyed more often than not which throws you right back out of the title.

The film starts off with Bowie and two other inmates escaping from jail. Bowie supposedly murdered someone which is a pretty big charge so he needs to lie low. The other two criminals are hardened veterans so they find a safehouse with people they know. The next challenge will be to rob a bank so they can free another criminal but this time doing it legally. Bowie is really just along for the ride but he ends up falling for the girl who lives there. Her name is Keechie and she doesn’t know a whole lot about the world. Bowie’s out of his depth as well so this could really work well as a match. Can Bowie get out of this crime circuit though?

Okay so I don’t really sympathize with Bowie because of how far this goes. At the end of the day it may be peer pressure but he was still doing everything. Robbing a bank is a crime no matter how you slice it after all. I do think he at least made the right call in skipping town with Keechie when the stakes were getting real high but at the same time he played it sloppy once one of the other criminals, Chicamaw caught up to him. You have to take the guy out of the picture. The longer you keep him around the worse things will get.

Yeah, taking someone out isn’t easy but this guy’s a villain through and through so you can’t really feel bad about that. Bowie also has Keechie to think about at this point so that really means he has to go all in. Ultimately things don’t go great for Bowie and you weren’t expecting them to considering what happened throughout the film. Right through to the end he was outplayed and that’s why he was not meant to be in the criminal game. In a way you could say it’s probably a good thing when you aren’t cut out for the competition but of course it’s even better to not even get involved in the first place.

Now why was the romance so bad? Well I think they overplayed the naive angle for Keechie. She just didn’t seem to know much about anything and so she wanted to take things slow but Bowie was the one always getting upset and trying to speed things up. It’s hard to see what she saw in the guy. From her perspective he’s another crook and someone who is trying to move rather fast instead of getting to know her. Yes, you can say she is desperate because no other guys have wanted her and that definitely throws a sad element into this but it doesn’t make the romance itself any better. In fact you could make the case that it makes the whole thing worse.

Keechie isn’t properly developed at the start of the film. I would argue that she gets a little development later on as she stands up for herself more and makes decisions. It’s not as if it’s a bad relationship all the way through but the start is just way too rocky to buy into. At least it was a way to escape the villain base which was really just a powder keg for a while there.

Also Chicamaw isn’t the best main villain. He’s jealous of Bowie for getting all of the credit for the latest crime but that means the cops won’t be looking for him as hard. That’s almost objectively a good thing from his point of view in every way. The fact that he is so petty that he would put all of this in jeopardy for clout is absolutely crazy. The guy also gets drunk quite a lot so I wouldn’t call him the biggest threat. It’s why Bowie needed to take him out a lot sooner. Yeah he can’t win a straight fight but he could absolutely do something from the sides using trickery.

I will say that the writing is solid as always though. The dialogue between each of the characters is on point without a doubt and the pacing isn’t bad. The film moves from plot point to plot point well, the problem is really that the plot itself wasn’t good enough here. You need to really rewrite large sections of it for the film to be better. It just isn’t the most entertaining film and with so many other better titles to check out, this one just ends up fading into the background.

Overall, They Live by Night is not a film that I would recommend as much as the average noir title. It could have used a mystery or something. Just watching the main guy making various mistakes doesn’t really do anything for me. The main part of the film is also about a romance that I just didn’t care much about either so there was no real saving that part of the film. I was just shaking my head by this point. I do think you could make an interesting story here about the heroine changing a villain from his old ways but you’re not really going to find that here. If the film was aiming for the ending to be a solid book-end to the subplot of Bowie not being ready for these stakes then I do think that was really clever tho.

Overall 4/10

Time Without Pity Review

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Time Without Pity is definitely a very interesting movie. It’s one of those stories about trying to stay within the realm of the law for as long as possible and only really moving to vigilantism once the options have dried up. It’s a suspenseful mystery and definitely one that has good replay value. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of murder mystery.

The film starts with a girl getting murdered and so David flies over because his son is the primary suspect. Unfortunately it took a very long time to find David because he was off being drunk. There is a lot of tension here because David was never really around when it counted. Even now, he has only arrived when there are 24 hours left before Alec is to be executed. The reason David didn’t find out sooner is because he was stuck in a treatment facility after being super drunk again. David may have failed Alec in the past but he swears to do right by him this time. He will find the actual killer and save Alec.

The interesting thing about this film is that we see Robert as the murderer in the very first scene. So we know the whole time who the killer is and we’re just waiting for David to put the pieces together. The film allows Robert to look real crazy the whole time since there’s no pretense for trying to make him look even remotely likable. That might sound like maybe David should suspect something but honestly I don’t think that would be enough. The fact that the guy is crazy and abusive doesn’t automatically make him the murderer or anything. Lots of jerks out there after all but they’re not going around sticking it to people.

You are definitely rooting for his downfall the whole time though. This is definitely the kind of film where nobody is perfect though. While we know that Alec didn’t murder the girl, it doesn’t help matters that he didn’t have the best reputation. He also likes Robert’s wife Honor which isn’t good. Keep in mind that his girlfriend his dead but he is still excited to see Honor and have a moment while in jail. I don’t think that should be a priority when you only have a few hours left to live. Or if he’s thinking it doesn’t matter since he’s so close to death that’s arguably just as bad. Alec panics a lot and everything too but I suppose since he’s about to die I’ll cut him some slack there.

As for David, well he’s trying hard to get to the truth of the matter which is great. Full points there of course but then you also have to consider the fact that David being drunk all the time didn’t help matters. He drinks several times during the movie as well and breaks down in a few instances. He was still able to come up with a good plan though which helps. Ultimately he ends on a high note which makes up for a lot of his issues early on. How you finish the race is a big part of how likable a character is after all.

His friend the attorney was also really good. The guy really did everything he could and postponed the execution multiple times. Without him, David would have absolutely been too late so he definitely owes him a whole lot of credit. There are also a few other suspects in the film from David’s point of view like the secretary Vickie or Alec’s best friend Brian. Brian in particular always appears to be hiding a whole lot and playing both sides of the field. It’s why us knowing who the murderer is makes things interesting as you are forced to watch David bark up the wrong tree at times.

There technically isn’t a whole lot of action in this film which makes sense because why would the murderer want to take any chances right? It’s mainly a battle of words with Robert being the only one who is panicking the whole time. David knows deep down that the odds are stacked against him because without any fingerprints or witnesses at the scene of the crime, his only real chance is a complete confession from the murderer. Why would the murderer do that though? There would be no benefit to him, particularly when he knows that the case can’t be solved.

So the film actually addresses this and does it better than I anticipated. I thought we’d have a lazy moment where the villain admits to the crime in front of a bunch of people or something like that, but this doesn’t happen. The villain is caught without confessing to the crime and the way the movie does this is really creative. It goes back to the vigilantism part I referenced earlier. The plan is certainly not legal and actually relies on a lot of deception. It’s a plan that involves a heavy price so most wouldn’t do this even if they thought of it. So the plan worked well here in showing just how far David would go to save his son and it’s also a plan that is realistic enough to work. The villain didn’t really have an out by this point and was completely outplayed.

Overall, Time Without Pity is a really fun film. It’s also a super clever one that tackles what would otherwise be a standard plot in a new way. The first of course is the fact that we know who the murderer is. It’s not the first film to do that of course but the vast majority do not so it’s still a fresh take. Additionally you have the fact that the main character has to solve this case in under 24 hours or Alec will be executed even if he is innocent. So you’ve got the time factor there to make things even more urgent. It’s a really solid set of parameters to fit the film into and it works out really well. The ending is very satisfying and so in the end I would definitely recommend watching this film. It has aged extremely well.

Overall 7/10

Sabotage Review

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It’s time for a very old film but one that definitely executes well and ends up being a fun picture. It’s a fairly short movie so it definitely ends quickly but still gets the full story across. Needless to say, there will always be traitors around trying to cause trouble and if you don’t find them first then it’ll get rough. I definitely can’t say I felt any real sympathy for the villain here.

The film starts with another terrorist attack as the power grid is knocked out. There have been many such events lately and it seems like they are possibly building up to something massive. The cops are having detective Ted look into a lead. They think that Karl Verloc may be one of the traitors helping the villains out but there is no proof. So Ted looks into it but along the way he starts to fall for Karl’s wife. (I had actually thought she was the daughter but at least according to Wikipedia they were married which makes Ted’s romance plot a lot more dicey) Can Ted stay focused on the mission?

The romance plot is pretty bad either way but for sure it gets worse depending on the heroine’s status. Either way Ted shouldn’t be messing around here. He’s got a mission to complete right? He spends a whole lot of time flirting but it’s not like the girl even likes him all that much. In the opening scene he is even trying to defend her when a bunch of people want refunds and she tells him to get lost/threatens him with arrest. Not very charitable right? I dunno if I was him I would have been rather discouraged after that. Ted is a good agent despite this but there’s just not a whole lot for him to do.

Throughout the movie he is still trying to dig up evidence and back in those days this could be really difficult. The ending isn’t exactly happy for him either due to how things play out. Meanwhile the heroine was nice enough. I would usually say she was oblivious in not noticing what Karl was doing but not this time. I don’t see any way that she could have found out the truth so as far as I’m concerned she is innocent there. So the whole thing is just a really rough experience for her.

As for Karl, yeah there’s not much positive to say about him. At the end of the day he sold his soul for a few bucks. You’ll always have an extremely hard time convincing me that there could be any possible way to redeem him after that. It’s just not happening, he knew the risks and made his choice. By the end he does the classic move of trying to say he didn’t know this would happen but that’s really a lie. He knew this was going to happen, he just didn’t know about the specific victims. So yeah no sympathy from me here.

The masterminds don’t actually appear much but that’s by design. Early on the police chief admits that there’s no way the heroes are going to find the top brass. Their job is to find the local traitors working with them but beyond that it gets more to the FBI level. It’s why this is such a hard job because you don’t even know how many villains are out there. A lot of them to be sure but an exact count? You’re just not going to have that kind of information on hand, nor as you likely to get that at any point in the future. It can feel like an endless journey but one that you have to keep going through anyway.

Part of what works well in the film is keeping the whole thing very confined. We have a very small cast of characters and most of the film takes place around 1 block. You know bad things are happening around the world but the only focus is on what’s happening locally. Most people aren’t scared about the local terrorism going on but the fact that it has yet to be stopped is certainly lingering in the backs of their minds somewhere.

The film also doesn’t have the jolly ending that you might expect. Sometimes the heroes just aren’t fast enough and it’s by no fault of their own. You just can’t prevent every possible tragedy from occurring no matter how hard you try. That’s just not possible, nor has it ever been possible. So the film really tries to push that message through and it makes sense. At the same time, the movie never gets super depressing or focuses on this for too long which is why it hits the right balance. I feel like a modern remake would not have the same level of restraint and subtlety.

Overall, Sabotage is a pretty good movie. It’s short and to the point. For that reason there isn’t a ton of things to say here but not every movie needs to be very long. The writing was good and the pacing was always fast. I enjoyed all of the dialogue here even from the villains. The romance may be on the weak side but at least since it’s a very old fashioned one, it’s not like much is happening. It’s really just a lot of flirting the whole time, rather unsuccessful flirting at that. The movie itself is rather timeless as there will always be traitors out there. People desperate enough for some money that they would betray their fellow friends and colleagues. It’s a shame but at the end of the day it’s human nature and so you have to do your best to just stop them all and keep things moving as smoothly as possible. I would definitely recommend checking this title out and again, it’s fairly short so it won’t take long.

Overall 7/10

Escape Plan: The Extractors Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

Another Escape Plan? Hey some characters have a hard time staying out of jail but at least you know they have a lot of experience by now. This one really goes back to the original in a lot of ways with the main character getting more screentime and doing a lot of fighting. I would even go as far as to say that it’s definitely the most intense one. It has its moments but you can definitely tell that the series is faltering somewhat.

All right so the film starts with reminding us why a bunch of bodyguards just aren’t worth it. Daya’s group is immediately defeated and she is kidnapped. Always better to have one all star than a group tbh. Her father is a big time criminal who operates a lot of prisons and so Ray has decided to take him down. It won’t be easy though because Ray’s group isn’t all that great and they are defeated along with Abigail getting kidnapped. Ah well…looks like Ray is gonna need to do a lot of the heavy lifting here. He’s fairly used to it though. Can he murder all of the villains before they execute the final hostages or is it already too late?

One thing you can definitely tell about this film is that it’s quite a bit edgier than the first two. Gone are the more sci-fi type prisons in place of a very dusty, sand type of area. It looks more like a prison you would see in real life which in a way is good for realism but by film 3 it’s not like that should be a huge consideration right? That’s already all done with by this point. Even the fights are more on the realistic side without all of the big choreography. You just have people getting shot and stabbed.

The fight scenes aren’t bad but they do tend to end with rather violent finishers. You may think Ray is a little too old for all of this but he definitely handles himself well in a fight. you can expect him to typically dominate in the ring. Of course he does have a lot of rage due to the events of this film. There is definitely a body count to be had here and with films always needing to top themselves and elevate things to the next level, you could say that this film took the next logical step. Can’t say it’s one that I’m a really big fan of but hey….that’s how it goes. It’s a big spoiler to say much more than that but one character ends up biting it and I would say this was unnecessary.

I feel like it could have set up some sequels since the dynamic is different but I suppose they didn’t have enough fuel in the tank to squeeze out a 4th one of these. It would definitely be nice if Ray’s teammates could hold their own a bit better. Yeah they each have their specialties like we have the jokester hacker, but at the end of the day it doesn’t feel like he will come through when it counts. You actually want to have someone inside the jail with you taking down tons of opponents.

Ironically the best assistant Ray has is DeRosa who isn’t actually part of the main team. When he shows up the villains start falling like dominoes but his role isn’t quite as big here. He shows up a few times and then at the very end but this is not really his film so think of him more like a guest star. He would do pretty well in continuing the franchise if you had to switch main characters I would say.

The film does give the main villains a connection to the first film so that helps in terms of connecting everything together. I can appreciate that as a writing strategy even if you don’t really need to do it. I understand how you want to end things on a bang and that makes everything feel more personal. It reminds you that you really can’t trust anyone in the prison breaking game. At the end of the day everyone is out for themselves and will mess you over if given half a chance.

If we did get another film we’d have to see how they force Ray back into a prison. Are we going with the ole hostage routine again, some kind of challenge like a mega prison? The latter would look bad for Ray while the first would feel lazy. I dare say the best thing to do is ditch the prison theme. It’s not called prison break after all. Have Ray be on an island where a coup happens and now he has to escape or maybe put him on an airplane that gets hijacked. This franchise could have really expanded in a whole lot of ways but instead it just ended.

The writing here isn’t bad either. Perhaps a bit on the generic side but I had no real problems with it. The setup is decent and the film’s pacing is good. If you just take away some of the excessive violence and grit here then this would really be fine. It may be hard to avoid all of that in a prison film but I would say the first two films did a better job of this. It all just feels a little less hopeless with how things are going. You feel like there really is something worth fighting for while by the end of this film things are a bit too far gone. Still not pointless by any means as there are people to save but it doesn’t hit in quite the same way.

Overall, Escape Plan 3 is probably the weakest one here. It goes a bit far at times to be sure. I don’t think the plot itself was bad. The supporting cast may be a bit annoying in how they hold Ray back but realistically he is the leader for a reason. It makes sense that he would be the strongest after all. Maybe they can just make his teammates a bit stronger next time, I liked the main fighter in film 2 after all and DeRosa is solid. Put them as the main trio for a whole film and then we’re talking. Still, unless you absolutely need to watch the whole trilogy I would say to watch the first two films and then call it a day.

Overall 4/10

Warrior Review

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It’s time for an action film that was really solid. This one had some great fights in there and a story that actually succeeded in being really emotional. Definitely great stuff all around and the only issue I’d have here is that there is a significant amount of plot armor near the end. As the film goes on you wonder more and more how the final fight will be anything close to even and the movie is ultimately unable to come up with an answer to this. You know who needs to win narratively but the problem is that it doesn’t fit who would actually win realistically. Ideally you want the answer to both of those questions to be the same.

The film starts off by introducing us to our two leads. The first is Tommy who hasn’t had an easy life. He had to escape with his mother from the abusive Paddie and she died in a very rough way. Then he went to the army where some rough stuff happened and while everyone considers him to be a hero, for some reason he seems to be ashamed of what happened. He’s hiding some thing there and so when Paddie shows up to apologize, Tommy doesn’t want to hear anything of it. Tommy does hear about a massive boxing tournament that is being started though and the winner will be receiving millions. Tommy decides to win and give all of the money to the widow of his best friend who died in the army. To that end, Tommy allows Paddie to train him but on the condition that they don’t become friends.

Then we have the other main character Brendan who is Tommy’s older brother. He is a teacher but that doesn’t do much to pay the bills since one of his kids is super sick. His wife doesn’t approve of Brendan’s fighting in the ring but he is convinced that this is the only way to get the money that he needs. So when the big tournament shows up, Brendan really wants to join. The problem is that he was never quite the boxer that Tommy was and he’s going to have to improve dramatically in a super short amount of time to even have a chance of winning this big tournament. Does he really have what it takes here? He also has issues with Paddie but didn’t realize that Tommy heavily resents him for not coming along when the household broke. This tournament is definitely going to be very personal and both combatants have strong reasons for wanting to win.

Brendan definitely has the healthiest home environment at least. The others are dealing with past sins and military crimes while Brendan’s biggest issue is really just getting suspended from school for his part time job as a fighter. Considering it’s not like the guy is doing drugs or anything like that, I don’t really see the harm in being a part time boxer. If it is explicitly against the rules then of course that’s a bad thing but I’m pretty sure the film addressed this and it was not.

Brendan is the underdog fighter here but for that reason it can be a stretch to see him doing well. He is extremely good at grappling which is how he pulls through but he has trouble against the weakest fighters, let alone world class athletes. Any pro will tell you that the gap between an amateur and an elite is absolutely massive. To even think of bridging that divide in such a small amount of time is definitely a stretch to say the least. So I like the guy and he’s a solid character overall but I do think he should have been knocked out of the tournament early.

Meanwhile Tommy is someone who has a lot of experience. He’s been physically fit as he was active in the army until not to long ago and has been in a ton of fights. He is absolutely built for combat and has a lot of power. Throw in the fact that he has a massive chip on his shoulder causing him to be angry at the world and he knocks out most opponents in one move. The gap between these two in the movie is absolutely crazy. Very few fighters in the movie look to be even close to his level. Tommy breezes through the entire tournament up through to the final round. A key thing to keep in mind here is that this should have a good effect on his stamina.

Tommy takes almost 0 hits throughout the film while Brendan was getting the stuffing knocked out of him in every fight. He’s already incredibly injured by the time the battle starts. So that’s another thing to keep in mind. It’s good that Tommy is ultimately able to move forward with his emotions but you do fully understand why he would have such a hard time forgiving Paddie. Realistically it’s very likely that he never would forgive the guy in most scenarios. After someone has died it’s usually past the point of return. Any redemption just feels like it was too late.

Paddie also has a relapse later on in the film which was unfortunate. It’s a rough situation since it is hard not to sympathize when you see a character going through a lot in the present. It’s why I say the film does a good job on the emotional beats here. Everyone is hurting both physically and emotionally throughout the movie. They each have their own reasons and it’s hard to really say that one is worth more than the other. The widow really needs the money right now and Brendan’s daughter is still super sick and so they need a steady income. Both fighters might be able to find alternatives if they lose but this is clearly the best way to get out of the troubles all at once.

Overall, Warrior is definitely a great film. When a film executes the dual main characters strategy well it definitely pays off in a really big way. It’s hard to replicate this as you either run out of time leaving one character underdeveloped or you mess up in trying to set up the contrast and one just ends up being really unlikable. This doesn’t happen here and so I’d definitely recommend watching it. The fight scenes are all super solid as well and the film has great atmosphere throughout. The scene where the brothers finally meet during the rainstorm was definitely really intense. You could feel the tension all the way through there as we almost got an early fight. Whether you are a fan of boxing or just want to watch a film with a great story, this is one you don’t want to miss.

Overall 8/10

Devil in a Blue Dress Review

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This review is based on the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

This is definitely one of those films that is noir all the way to the core. Prepare for a lot of characters, a lot of moving parts, and a lot of inner monologuing. It really manages to nail all of the elements here and there’s even a good amount of dry humor/light banter. Once the main guy’s friend shows up the movie definitely gets real lively. All in all I’d say it did a good job here.

The movie starts by introducing us to Easy who is a man that is rather down on his luck. He’s trying to do things the right away after making a mistake once in his past. He owns a house now but the problem is that it’s very hard to get any kind of job. A rather shady individual shows up saying he has a job and it won’t even be that tough. Dewitt is a private investigator who has been having trouble finding a girl who went missing named Daphne. Her disappearance was strange and her husband Todd was forced to drop out of the mayor race. The whole thing sounds dicey right out of the gate, but unfortunately Easy is quite desperate at this point and needs the money. So now begins a mission that is even more dangerous than he could have ever expected.

Right out of the gate nobody is being very helpful. In fact, you could say everyone is trying to get in his way. He goes to the club where Daphne is supposed to frequent and people conveniently don’t remember anything. One girl named Coretta claims to know about Daphne but after using Easy for a while, doesn’t really prove to be super helpful and ultimately withholds her info a bit too long.

In a noir conspiracy like this you basically have to be super careful when you use your cards. Hold them too long and they become useless but use them too quickly and you have tipped your hand. It’s all about the mind games here and a lot of strategy. Fortunately for Easy he is a quick thinker and good at adapting. The whole first half of the film he gets messed over by pretty much everybody. Every faction from the PI, gangsters, cops, and independents are trying to scare and beat the fight out of him.

It’s why in the second half it feels good when Easy finally has some leverage. Mind you he never really gets to take it easy in this film. It’s one of those adventures where he has to stay ready at all times because things can change at any moment. He works really well as the lead even if he’s not the most heroic character. The affair with Coretta for example wasn’t a good move no matter how her current relationship was going.

Easy does make his share of mistakes but often times there’s really nothing he can do. He’s in the middle of such a large operation that at times all he can really do is wait for his chance to get in on the action. I do remember there were quite a few times Daphne would run off and I feel like he could have done more to prevent her from escaping.

Considering the title of the movie and that Daphne is wearing a blue dress, you probably don’t want to trust her very much at all either. Of course you can’t trust anyone here. Daphne is an interesting character though and just being in the middle of this already shows that she has a lot of courage. I don’t think very many could stay alive and keep on making moves as easily as she did in this situation.

Joppy was the most annoying character in the film by far though. The guy’s supposed to be one of Easy’s best friends and a little money gets to him real quick. I know he tries to talk his way out of it but when the stakes are this high that doesn’t mean much. Betrayals are nearly impossible to come back from when your life is at risk.

Dewitt makes for a solid villain. I do think he falls for the trap of getting his plan so convoluted that it works against him though. In a way that happens to most of the characters here but that’s where those mind games come back into play. Everyone’s got their own ideas of how to come out on top here. Even the mayor candidates get involved.

The simplest character here is Mouse and that’s also why he is a standout. When he shows up the villains either talk or get blown away. He doesn’t exactly take no for an answer and he’s also not the most patient character. He racks up quite a body count considering how late into the film he’s introduced. Without Mouse Easy would have definitely been doomed. Now that’s a fact and Easy really needs to thank him some more.

All in all it’s definitely a fun thriller though. The movie’s pacing is always good from start to finish and it is a movie where you really have to be paying attention or you will absolutely get lost. It’s also a title where you don’t really get the answers until the end so you can have fun building up the case in your head for most of it. See if you can figure out who is the true mastermind and what’s actually going on here. Props if you can assemble the pieces even before Easy does.

Overall, Devil in a Blue Dress is a pretty good film. The heroine herself doesn’t actually have as big a role as you might have expected though. She is still crucial to the plot of course but definitely more as a plot device than a main character. She is still fast enough to nab a car before Easy can get away though. The film can be rather intense at some points but never really goes over the top. I could easily recommend this to any fans of the noir/thriller genres. It’s a satisfying movie all around and it’s a fairly long one so it definitely doesn’t end too quickly.

Overall 7/10

Anatomy of a Murder Review

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It’s time for a very long courtroom drama. This one definitely has the length of an epic but it allows the movie to really go in depth on every piece of evidence. The movie is based on a book based on a real case but wit the names and everything switched I figured it should still get the full review and score treatment. It is definitely an intense case all the way and should keep your attention all the way through. It’s dealing with some pretty severe subject matter but actually shows enough restraint not to have any of it on screen so I can really appreciate that.

The film starts with Biegler relaxing. Business has been slow but that’s all about to change. He is asked to represent Laura’s husband Manny in a rather big case. Manny murdered someone but he did it to avenge his wife who had been attacked and Sword Art Online’d by another guy. So Manny’s murder was righteous justice. At least that’s the way he sees it. Biegler has to point out that no matter how awful the other person was, this would still be considered pre mediated murder as it didn’t happen immediately. It’s not self defense or anything as the act had already happened after the guy violated Laura. They could try for temporary insanity but it doesn’t seem like that will hold up. Biegler’s going to really have to fight hard to win this case..but should he win it?

There is a whole lot going on here and so one of the themes is really about just looking ahead and doing your job. It’s the toughest part about being a lawyer to be honest as it means you will sometimes need to defend crooks and people that you know are guilty. You can’t let your personal feelings sway your judgment and have to trust in the jury and the courts system to come up with the right verdict. Manny’s no saint by any stretch of the imagination. For starters he is a domestic abuser who is always hitting Laura and the guy gets insanely jealous. He has a full on violent streak which doesn’t help his case at all. If Biegler is able to get him off, then Laura’s life is about to get a lot worse.

Meanwhile for Laura, she continues to live it up at the clubs. She doesn’t act in the way one would be expected to after such a traumatic experience. It could be the way she is coping but as Biegler says, that doesn’t matter right now, they need the good optics. So he tells her to stop looking so beautiful all the time which is a rather difficult demand for her. Throughout the movie everyone keeps commenting on how beautiful she is and she loves flirting nonstop. That’s basically her gimmick and it doesn’t do wonders for Biegler here. After all, she told the group what happened and there was circumstantial evidence to support it but it’s not like anyone else was there and the cleanup crew could find no evidence.

Thing is, they weren’t likely to find evidence since they didn’t show up until the next day. The movie never actually confirms what happened one way or the other as you are meant to come to a decision on this just like the jury. Personally I do think it happened. Going back to the coping part, I think that’s exactly what happened here. She could have froze up and completely broken mentally but instead she tried to just move past this and use her beauty as a weapon. Her history of flirting and going around started even before the event so most likely it is an event that went sideways. She doesn’t intend to change her ways after one bad outing and either way it doesn’t excuse the guy who got murdered in any way. He got what was coming to him and that’s that.

The film acknowledging that optics are important is a realistic move. Most things are about optics which is why PR is so important. Even if the facts haven’t changed, it does make sense that more people will be sympathetic to Laura’s plight if she looks really homely. It’s a huge bias to be sure but one that does track when you take data samples. In a perfect world she should be able to dress and act however she likes without it affecting her case but nobody lives in a perfect world just yet. I am glad that Biegler stayed strong when she was flirting with him though. That would definitely have been a whole mess and someone has to stay professional. She was really goading him on too but he didn’t take the bait. It is a dangerous game because eventually someone might make a move but at least that day was not today.

One thing that’s always tricky here though is when a film is trying to present someone as super beautiful. A lady so gorgeous that every guy falls for her immediately. There are standards of beauty and people who will immediately be found attractive by most but it’s never to this kind of exaggeration. I would have liked at least one character to have not appeared to be interested just to keep it from being this one sided. Like Biegler admitting she wasn’t his type or something. It’s a super mild nitpick though and I suppose anyone reviewing the film who does think she is super beautiful may disagree on that point. It’s just a pretty large generalization but maybe everyone in the area grew up with roughly the same standards and she would meet all of their criteria each time.

I’d say the only weak part of the film is how people in the courtroom couldn’t really stay professional. The fact that talking about underwear in such a serious case would have people laughing was just weird. I know cultural norms change over time but that felt like a bit much. For a case this serious I wouldn’t expect very many smiles to be had at all, let alone full laughter. Based on that I would assume Laura had already lost the whole jury if they weren’t taking this seriously.

The ending was rather unexpected I have to say. I just wasn’t prepared for things to go in that direction but it’s an interesting way to end things. Sort of like the cycle continues and it also makes you rethink how the case ended one last time. This is really a movie that did not end until the very last moment. I don’t see things going well for the two characters who vanished at the end but maybe things will be better this time. Who knows in the end…..

Overall, This was definitely a very intense movie. There are a ton of characters and supporting evidence that show up at different points in the film. Different twists, half truths, and new developments that recontextualize everything before it. You really have to be paying attention at all times or you might miss something. I’d have preferred the case was about a different topic as the gravity of this one does lower replay value to an extent but you will want to watch it at least once to see what was really going on here. It’s super well known for good reason after all. I doubt you will find very many titles that are quite as detailed as this one. Of course whether or not the law would agree with this, I would say Manny made the right move in taking the guy out. Manny was a terrible character overall but you can’t let that guy live after what he did to Laura. That would really have been the wrong move.

Overall 7/10

A Holiday to Remember Review

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Oh nooooo, it’s a romance film that focuses on a rebound? And we’ve got a love triangle going? This one definitely gets real dramatic and while most of the film is still decent enough, it takes way too long for the characters to make any decent decisions. Additionally, I felt like the main guy was getting gaslit throughout the entire film so that was a bit annoying at times. He has some valid points here.

The movie starts with Carolyn deciding to leave the big city to go back to the small village she grew up in. It’s a humble existence but you know…it was a fun one. Now her daughter Jordy can have a good time here as well. The only problem is that her ex-fiancé is here. Uh oh….this wasn’t part of the plan. Clay is still upset over what happened in their past and so he’s not thrilled to see her but what sucks for that guy is he basically has every job in the village. He’s the cop, handyman, etc. Looks like they’re going to have to try and get along but is there still a flame between them?

Obviously there shouldn’t be since they have been apart for so long and they left on bad terms. Instead of any spark there should just be animosity here. Lets get into exactly why they broke up. Carolyn panicked…and left him at the alter. She just dashed out of town and never even said goodbye to him. Carolyn has a daughter so she already met someone else but I forget what happened there. I’ll assume they just broke up but either way Clay is at best going to be the rebound guy. Things aren’t going great for her economically and now he can help out. Clay should want no part of this.

I think the roughest part is how Clay talks in depth about how upsetting the whole thing was. He was super embarrassed and humiliated in front of the whole town. It’s not something you just forget you know, that’s a huge deal. He must have felt awful for years wondering what he did that was so wrong. Then you want to know the worst part? Nobody is all that sympathetic to him. They say he should get over it, to stop being a wimp, etc. Even Carolyn has that same energy of “That was so long ago tho” and it’s absolutely crazy. Putting so much of the burden on Clay to just move on makes no sense.

So I was not rooting for this romance at all. It never felt like it made a lot of sense or was even a reasonable one. Too much time has passed and Carolyn really lived her life at this rate. It’s too late to turn around now. Then in the village there is also another girl who likes Clay. She’s been dropping tons of hints and making moves on the guy but none of them have been all that effective. She is less than pleased to see that Carolyn is back and of course her fears are completely justified. That said, why continue to pursue a guy who doesn’t actually care about you right? That’s my main problem with the whole thing. I guess you don’t have to stop until you’re rejected but it won’t be the basis of a great relationship. I can definitely guarantee that.

I should mention there is another aspect to the plot. There’s a homeless kid wandering around the village who steals food to survive. He steals from Carolyn but the main heroine has pity on him and decides to let him stay at the house. She intends to adopt him but the village has a strict policy on this. So Carolyn wants Clay to break the rules and gets upset when he doesn’t. This is also rather unfair because it’s not like he created the rules. As always, everyone takes Carolyn’s side and makes Clay feel bad for literally upholding the rules. Cmon now, that’s just not cool. He really didn’t deserve all of the hate here. Sure, the rules may seem harsh but you can’t break them just because you don’t like a rule. How would there be any law and order at that point?

Also I would say Jordy looks pretty bad here. She gets along with the kid well enough but messes him over near the climax by taking the role he wanted. That was a big blow and there wasn’t really a way to come back from that. Ultimately they get along and we have the wholesome ending but this is one minor subplot that we probably didn’t need. There was already plenty of drama among the main characters by this point.

Look, basically what I’m saying here is that Carolyn should have taken way more responsibility for what happened earlier. That wouldn’t have saved the romance plot but it certainly would have helped. It’s also just annoying to see them do the whole “We’re just gonna be friends” and then immediately go further. At this point they’re both adults and they’ve been around each other for a long time so why would they even assume it wouldn’t happen again? Just feels rather cheesy here.

A romance film is only as good as its romance and that’s where this one falters. Aside from that, it’s always hype to have a film that takes place around Christmas. The snow was really fun to see and I liked the sets in general. Everything looked nice and the writing was good when it wasn’t just everyone dunking on Clay the whole time. Poor guy’s own mother never took his side in any of this.

Overall, This in a way feels like one of those classic Hallmark Christmas movies but without the wholesome energy of it. This one feels a bit more jaded and it’s also just a bit more mean spirited. I would have liked if the dynamic could have been more pleasant. Honestly not having them already be each other’s ex would have been a good way to start that off. It’s just hard to recover from that and especially when you give such a tough backstory. Look I’m just gonna say it one last time, I don’t think how you can ever forgive and forget when you’re left at the alter like that. There are plenty of other romance films to check out so check one of those out instead.

Overall 4/10

Cash on Demand Review

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It’s time for a bank heist film that’s actually handled with no real fights here. The thief is a bit of a gentleman after all who wants to win with his cunning and wits as opposed to his fists. It’s definitely a bold approach of course since a whole number of things can go wrong but this is his plan and he’s sticking to it. We’ll have to see how he fares on this mission.

The film starts by introducing us to Fordyce who runs an incredibly tight ship in his bank. A single mess up is enough for him to really lash out at people. He doesn’t attend the Christmas staff parties or anything of that nature. He does his job and then he heads out. Well, one day he is visited by a senior executive from the insurance agency who wants to make sure that the funds are kept secure. Fordyce wants things to go perfectly so he works with the guy, but it turns out that this Gore fellow is actually a thief. Now that he is inside the bank, he intends to make a clean getaway. He won’t need to even fire a shot. As for Fordyce, he can’t make many moves right now because his family is being held hostage and the villains even got his wife on the phone to prove it. What can this guy do?

I should note that Fordyce is fairly old so fighting is probably out of the question. You already know that he wouldn’t be able to knock the guy out too quickly and additionally, he would need to act quickly because fi the accomplices don’t see Gore go to the window at certain intervals for the hand sign, his family will be gone. Another issue here is that Fordyce has no friends on the job so nobody would notice that he is acting irregularly at all. The day didn’t start out great for him either with how he treated his right hand man Pearson. Yes, things are looking particularly bad for the main character.

The film is rather short as it is barely over an hour so as you can expect the plot details come in fast and hard. This works well for the film because you can’t really have this cat and mouse game going on for too long at this point. Either the guy will get away or the cops will catch him but it’s difficult to have anything in between that. I will give the rest of the staff a good thumbs up here because they did end up calling the cops when they saw that Gore’s name was fake. That was good heads up thinking. They maybe could have also done something to quickly secure him before the cops arrived but I know they were trying to also keep things normal. So all in all it was a good move.

I have to dock some points for Fordyce though. I can’t go into details on this because it involves a twist near the end but he made a huge error and the whole plan falls apart if he doesn’t do this. It involves the whole reason that he is humoring these guys which is that they have hostages. I know things can be tough in the heat of the moment but it was a really bad mistake to make. It could have cost everyone at the bank rather dearly.

I’m giving the police some props to for being very proactive here. They did their jobs and they did them well. They weren’t waiting around to see what the characters were saying, they captured the immediate threat and took it from there. It was one of the better portrayals I’ve seen from them so I definitely appreciated that. Pearson was also good for continuing to do his job despite all of the insults. He was a good second in command.

Finally you definitely have to give Gore props for his performance. The guy was basically involved in a very high stakes gamble on himself. If he made any kind of mistake then he would have been taken down. The guy’s plan could have failed in dozens of ways and yet he didn’t let that scare him from continuing to move forward. That’s what makes him a good villain. He’s also a very charismatic fellow and that’s how he was able to easily ace the human engineering part of the plan. If he was acting shady or crooked from the jump then the plan would have failed immediately from there.

It’s like the scam where someone pretends to be a McDonalds manager to get behind the counter. It’s actually worked several times so these plans do have a real track record of succeeding. That said, it still takes a lot of guts. Also, while Gore was using this as an excuse to mess with them, he did have a point that the bank should have some kind of a true plan. They need better security measures since at the time anyone could walk into the bank and see the manager. That doesn’t make much sense and it is certainly a big liability. At least this experience will help them improve.

Overall, Cash on Demand is a fairly simple film but a fun one. You definitely will have a good time here. The writing is very strong as is common for old time films like this. The character cast is also small so most of the film is really about the banter between them. The actual heist is handled really well and I do applaud the fact that the film was able to handle so much tension without having the villain even fire a shot. It shows just how solid the writing was and while one of the twists may not have been the strongest, it is something that you could find believable in real life as well. So definitely hunt this film down as soon as you can and check it out for a classic bank heist experience!

Overall 7/10

Max Dugan Returns Review

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All right Max Dugan is finally back! Now this is gonna be a real hype sequel, I can feel it! Wait, this is the original film? Pretty odd title I have to admit. The film is fairly solid but the romance is definitely on the unbelievable side and I also think the main characters tend to make the wrong decisions. I know that nobody likes a handout but sometimes you just gotta say thanks, accept the gift and move on.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Nora who is completely exhausted working as a teacher and trying to make ends meet, as well as her son Michael. He isn’t doing very well in Baseball right now. Their day gets worse when someone steals Nora’s car but her police friend Brian lets her borrow his motorcycle. He has had a crush on her for a long while but never has the guts to ask her out. He’s thinking about changing that. Everyone’s lives are thrown upside down though when a man named Max Dugan shows up. He’s Nora’s father who vanished when she was still a kid and so she holds a massive grudge against the guy. He explains that he is dying with a terminal illness so he has no use for money. Nora doesn’t want things to get any more complicated so she allows Max to stay but he can’t tell Michael his true identity. Will the kid figure it out anyway?

I would call this a slice of life film as its core to be honest. Drama could also work but this is a very low key film. Even the drama we do get isn’t about a lot of characters yelling at each other or anything like that. They all tend to handle things rather calmly but at the end of the day Max is officially a criminal so he really needs to tread lightly. If he makes any moves too quickly then he could get arrested which will interfere with trying to make amends with his family.

It’s definitely nice that he wants to be a good person and spread his wealth. He’s certainly got a lot of it after all and at the end of the day you are free to do with your money whatever you want. If he wants to spoil his grandson and his daughter then so be it. Unfortunately this is where the main two can be rather annoying. He gets them all kinds of cool stuff like a new TV, appliances, a car, etc. Now I will say that getting presents from someone you know is a criminal can be dicey but as long as you know the products themselves are good then there is nothing to really worry about right? Also Max did explain the situation and the casino stole the money first. So he’s not really a crook. Legally he is, but it was his money in the first place.

What Nora could have done was instead of bad mouthing the presents and throwing them away, talk with Max so they could coordinate what would be good gift as opposed to him throwing the items all around. At the end of the day this was all to get Celia’s attention and it did work. At that point Max could have switched up his approach a bit. I do think not being able to tell Michael the truth was a bit annoying though and led to some very avoidable problems. Telling him upfront would have been a good idea and Michael was old enough where I don’t think he would end up turning to a life of crime just over it.

Look, being rich is fun. I’m not gonna front on that, everyone says it is not but I guarantee if I ever became rich it would be a blast. There’s just so much you can do with some good money after all and so long as you don’t forget the things that are important, it will only enhance your lives. Because Nora was fighting this every step of the way they didn’t get as much as they could have. I do want to be clear though that Nora doesn’t have to forgive him on account of the lavish presents. You can’t buy love or forgiveness just like that and if it was ever implied that Max was trying this then it would have backfired completely.

It’s why a lot of people don’t like accepting gifts because they feel like this could all just be a trick to make them owe something. I would say for this you just have to be firm. If they didn’t mention anything at first, they can’t suddenly say that you owe them right afterwards. That’s where you would just have to call them out on that. I shamelessly accept gifts when they’re given to me. That’s the whole point of receiving gifts after all right? Max still did need more tact so he didn’t make them the talk of the town but his heart was in the right place.

He’s a good guy and has changed a lot from his older days. At least for Michael it’s nice to meet Max and of course he never got to know the guy from before he changed which helps him out a lot. For Nora, this is at least a big help since she was struggling so much before. Of course the big thing here is really the romance which doesn’t go well for most of the film. Brian really wants to impress Nora but he is just very low confidence and she’s always super busy. I don’t see how he stayed in love with her when she keeps brushing him off.

She’s never mean about it or anything but it’s not like he knows the context. Then with the situation involving Max, he naturally has to bring the guy in which causes more friction. I thought Nora was a bit unreasonable when she was mad at Brian for doing his job. Ultimately of course he would have to go after this guy because Max seems incredibly shady and has way too much money. What else would you expect the guy to do right? So that was annoying the whole time and another reason why I could not get behind the romance. It’s hard to get past all of these issues that they were having. It’ll just be the beginning considering Brian’s line of work. He has to go and stop the villains each time and can’t worry about who they are or hurting anyone’s feelings. I don’t see how their relationship could survive this as they both said some very hurtful things. It’s not so easy to forget that.

There is a random scene in the movie where one of Nora’s students starts cheating and she is eventually caught. It turns out that she wanted to help her cousin because families stick together. It’s a nice story but cheating is still cheating. It’s not exactly the best reason to engage in this so I remember being rather dubious. I think Nora let her off rather easily. You can’t cheat for a reason like that. Everyone has a reason like that if you look hard enough after all. So yeah just don’t cheat is the real lesson.

Overall, Max Dugan Returns is a fun film. In some ways it reminds me a bit of Mary Poppins but it’s definitely still a bit more serious. I liked the themes and who wouldn’t want to have a super rich grandpa like this right? I can already tell you that I would be accepting all of the gifts real quick. Just The romance with Brian is not all that impressive but fortunately the film is able to get past that. At the end of the day the strength here is that the film is fun. The pacing is on point and I enjoyed the characters well enough. It’s just a peaceful kind of story in a small town. Like I said even the drama isn’t super crazy or anything like that. It works as well as you’d imagine. I’d be game for another Max Dugan film at some point.

Overall 7/10