A action/thriller where the South is full of hillbillies and meth addicts/dealers. Nice. Directed by
Gary Fleder. Screenplay by
Sylvester Stallone, based on a book by
Chuck Logan. Movies stars:
Jason Statham,
James Franco,
Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Rachelle Lefevre,
Frank Grillo, Clancy Brown, and Izabela Vidovic.
The story: an undercover DEA man moves to his wife's Southern, rural hometown with his daughter after his wife's death. There he gets on the wrong side of a local meth dealer who sets out to get rid of him and his daughter.
Was it good?
Almost. And what I mean by almost is there's a lot of good stuff here and it's worth watching, but it also gives hints of how good it really could have been, so while you are watching it the movie manages to be entertaining and disappointing at the same time.
The problem is the way pieces connect and grow. For instance, I'm not real sure why Statham moves from the city to his wife's hometown. His wife is dead, she doesn't seem to have any relatives there -- so why move there? It's almost random. Then once there, the build to his confrontation with Franco is all odd. It starts with a confrontation between his daughter and a boy at school that somehow keeps building until it gets to Franco who happens to be a meth dealer. Of course, his being a meth dealer doesn't really add to the direct conflict (even after Statham finds out he is a meth dealer he isn't trying to get him busted really). Then Franco pulls in the drug dealers from the beginning of the film, but the father is in jail so it really is just random people that come down to kill Statham and his daughter. There also is a side note between Statham and a school staffer his daughter likes, but that doesn't really add anything or go anything. Eventually the conflict between the daughter and boy (and Statham and that family) seems to fall away for these random people from the drug lord.
The story just lacks the clear focus that a good action movie needs, making it feel muddled and emotionally flat. That said, there is a lot here that works. Statham and Franco played their parts very well. Statham is the stoic tough guy (as always), but seen as a father helps give him more than more of his action movies. Franco as the meth dealer plays against the tough guy, he is more of a thinker, a plotter and schemer, and it makes the movie much more interesting.
This is a good movie with some nice acting and pieces, but suffers from a muddled core and lack of compelling direct conflict between the two main characters. An action movie with some heart (for Statham) and a smart villain (Franco) could have been intriguing. This was entertaining, but didn't quite get to intriguing.
*** RENTAL ***
Watch also: DIE HARD (a classic), MOMENTO (Christopher Nolan's breakthru), BANK JOB (a very good Statham movie).
