From the same screenwriter of The Usual Suspects comes this film about a kidnapping
gone more or less horribly wrong. It stars a number of talented actors, some of whom
we've seen before, others we haven't. It's got a twisty-turny kind of plot, and
it's definitely the kind of movie which you never know what's going to happen next
or where it's going.
That's good. I enjoy watching a movie that constantly makes me wonder about its
direction and its intentions. Do I like to anti-heroes of the piece? Do I dislike
them? Or do I like one and not the other? How about the villains? Which are the
true pricks and which are likeable?
It's in this movie where you'll find all these questions. No one character is
completely straight-forward. There's no black-and-white in them. The entire movie
is like that, as motives are guessed and second-guessed. As true with The Usual
Suspects, the movie keeps you guessing until the end.
This is not Usual Suspects, though. It's a completely different movie that can't
seem to decide what kind of movie it is. Is it a crime-comedy? Is it a crime-drama?
Is it a suspense movie? An action movie? Or is it all of the above?
Answer: All of the above. And that hurts this movie.
It would have been an excellent movie. It has that much potential, especially with
the plot and the characters. But the fact remains that it appears to be too many
things at once. The atmosphere of the movie doesn't help much, either. It's quite
perfect for a black comedy, but instead it takes many a twist and many a turn. The
movie can't decide what it is, and that bothered me some. Perhaps it's because I was
hoping for more of a comedy.
This isn't to say that it's a bad movie. It's actually pretty decent. And the
constant guess-work you go through while watching it is fabulous fun and actually
forces you to think. I guess it's just a very dismal movie, is all, which is too
many different things in one.