What a shock that was. A Uwe Boll film I thoroughly enjoyed, even though it had a sloooow middle act, the first and final were rather a pleasurable experience, as we see some payback for everyone who has or even is, suffering in this financial global meltdown but Mr. Boll had his sights firmly in the good old US of A, where the rich get richer and the poor watch Uwe Boll flicks.
This film is riddled with inconsistencies and plot holes like no other but there are times when one simply shouldn’t let it get in the way of a good story. Uwe Boll has borrowed rather heavily from some fairly recent Wall St. movies like Margin Call to name but one, in fact, there’s this little nod to Taxi Driver too that I loved (nice one Uwe) but our director doesn’t mind doing a sort of mash-up of several successful movies and incorporating them into his own, but in all fairness, he at least doesn’t try to hide it; he embraces it. Boll is normally a director I run from when his movies come out, but needs must and reviews must be written so I sat expecting to be bored shi… out of my mind but alas, it was not to be. I instead was only a bit bored by the middle act but it redeemed itself with a peach of an ending.
*****
Jim (Purcell) and Rosie (Kurpluk) are a loving couple who appear to live for each other but sadly, Rosie has a curable brain tumor that must be treated aggressively but “regularly” above all else. Jim is ex-military who works in security but is having to do loads of overtime as Rosie can’t work. We see the bankers all scurrying about trying to save themselves as hedge funds and portfolios have become worthless and Jim loses all his savings and can’t pay for anything any more, then he suffers his final painful setback and snaps. Boll took far too long pushing poor Jim around, he was relentlessly throwing every imaginable loss a person can suffer but it did serve a purpose I suppose.
The cast were all known to me and every single one of them put in solid performances, but big bad Dom was really good, showing a surprising range for this being a Boll movie, but he pulled it off with ease and has given me confidence in watching his films again, as indeed has Mr. Boll, who both wrote and directed this. The story was absolutely nothing special but it speaks to everyone who is feeling this recession but it’s also a good movie. Again, the pacing is a let down and there are some gaping holes but I think this will be popular with a lot of people. I certainly had fun watching it being “put to the man” with much ‘gnashing of teeth’ and grenades.
Score: 8/10
Boll is very hit and miss. Well, mostly miss. I haven’t seen this but I did like RAMPAGE. Have you seen Rampage? It was released under the radar, but it is a brutal and timely movie, all things considered. And, yes, gaping holes there as well!
I did indeed see it Gordon. It was one of his better one’s and I agree that he’s hit and miss but this time round he’s got almost everything right. I thought I was watching the wrong movie, lol
Let me know what you think of it when you do see it.
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