Beyond the Trophy

This is a strange movie that had loads of chances to get me really involved with the characters but it didn’t happen as well as I’d hoped. First time writer/director Daniel J. Gillin has steered this production of $2 million a bit shakily but certainly no more than most rookies. Perhaps if he’s fortunate enough to raise a budget again he’ll have learned from working on ‘Beyond the Trophy’. He has gathered a rather mixed bag of talent and some of them are nobody’s first choice but amongst them are some battle hardened pro’s like Eric Roberts. Eric seems to be attempting some kind of record attempt in making the most ‘mainstream’ films in a single year, and I have to say, I think 2013 might be his year, lol. Take a look at how many films he has planned.

I am a fan of ‘some’ of Michael Madsen’s work, I mean Reservoir Dogs made him a household name for a while, but he’s had so many misfires it’s unbelievable and the rate he’s making films is also unbelievable (a massive 15 for 2012!). Anyway he does this decent narration through the film that I quite enjoyed but there wasn’t much else ‘to’ enjoy. As I already hinted, the story isn’t original in the slightest and the characters are so over the top, cheesy, corny … caricatures of themselves that we just cant find them believable or likable. Because of the mixed bag of talent, even when one actor is giving a decent performance, it gets wasted when another delivers a wooden one. There really are a few decent actors but no one gets to shine in this poor mans The Departed but even so I actually settled into it.

The bottom line is, unoriginal story, in some cases poorly acted, looked rushed at times, shaky direction and the pacing didn’t help matters but for a first outing, it held it’s own.