Nearly all movies are derivative in some fashion, and that's not always a bad thing. Some concepts are so good, they beg for updating.
Take Peter Weir's made-for-Aussie TV classic, "The Plumber," about a psychotic maintenance worker with a huge classist chip on his shoulder who makes the lives of two government-funded eggheads a living hell. And then there's the classic "Cape Fear," about an ex-con out for revenge against the posh-living lawyer who wronged him.
Both good ideas.
Unfortunately, "The Contractor," seasoned editor Sean Wilson's first foray into features, has a script which continually sets-up potentially suspenseful scenarios and then just doesn't deliver anything worth biting your nails over (when it delivers at all).
It's a solid premise, given that even mentioning the word "contractor" is enough to set most people's teeth on edge. Liz and Paul Chase are the golden couple living in an almost ridiculously plush Malibu mountain home. Liz needs a contractor to finish a few relatively small projects and a link to Javier's (Danny Trejo) Web site winds up forwarded to Paul at just the right moment. Shortly after hiring him, Liz begins to suspect something's up: Javier is not the most subtle sociopath and she quickly busts him for a few suspicious antics. Paul fires him, but (of course) not before he subtly vows revenge.
Actually, this last scene is really the only time Trejo appears remotely menacing --- he's not a bad actor but he always seems to do more with less, at least when not backed up by a "Machete" sized budget.
Many scripts have problems but this one has a multitude of them: the action is very slow to start. When the threats against the Chases do start, they're almost laughably benign. Several acts of vandalism against their home occurs that are almost immediately shrugged off...another script problem. The actors never seem to get beyond being "annoyed" --- perhaps because they're so stinking rich that nothing seems to really shake them up. Well, fine....but it doesn't make for a good suspense film. Contrast that with "The Plumber," where the psycho and the heroine are jammed together in a flat the size of the Chases' master bathroom with pipes exploding all around them...well, that's a bit more jarring.
The weakest part of the film is the last third, which falls back on a hackneyed abduction plot, a misplaced asthma inhaler, and a wheezing Trejo trying to voice ominous threats ("McKenzie...I got another Spanish lesson for you!") and you get the general idea. The Contractor becomes about as terrifying as a visit from the roto-rooter man.
It's a shame, because Wilson is not a bad director. His set-ups are good, his framing unobtrusive, and (of course) his editing is sharp. And damn it, the shots of Malibu are appropriately drool-inducing. The acting is "OK" with Christina Cox performing gamely and Brad Rowe giving his best Greg Kinnear impersonation. LA fave Ari Zucker provides a few non-vanilla bright spots as Cox's best friend.
But the script is just nothing special. It should have been torn down and renovated before all the producer's (and our) money was wasted. It's typical direct to VOD, in far, far too many ways.
Take Peter Weir's made-for-Aussie TV classic, "The Plumber," about a psychotic maintenance worker with a huge classist chip on his shoulder who makes the lives of two government-funded eggheads a living hell. And then there's the classic "Cape Fear," about an ex-con out for revenge against the posh-living lawyer who wronged him.
Both good ideas.
Unfortunately, "The Contractor," seasoned editor Sean Wilson's first foray into features, has a script which continually sets-up potentially suspenseful scenarios and then just doesn't deliver anything worth biting your nails over (when it delivers at all).
It's a solid premise, given that even mentioning the word "contractor" is enough to set most people's teeth on edge. Liz and Paul Chase are the golden couple living in an almost ridiculously plush Malibu mountain home. Liz needs a contractor to finish a few relatively small projects and a link to Javier's (Danny Trejo) Web site winds up forwarded to Paul at just the right moment. Shortly after hiring him, Liz begins to suspect something's up: Javier is not the most subtle sociopath and she quickly busts him for a few suspicious antics. Paul fires him, but (of course) not before he subtly vows revenge.
Actually, this last scene is really the only time Trejo appears remotely menacing --- he's not a bad actor but he always seems to do more with less, at least when not backed up by a "Machete" sized budget.
Many scripts have problems but this one has a multitude of them: the action is very slow to start. When the threats against the Chases do start, they're almost laughably benign. Several acts of vandalism against their home occurs that are almost immediately shrugged off...another script problem. The actors never seem to get beyond being "annoyed" --- perhaps because they're so stinking rich that nothing seems to really shake them up. Well, fine....but it doesn't make for a good suspense film. Contrast that with "The Plumber," where the psycho and the heroine are jammed together in a flat the size of the Chases' master bathroom with pipes exploding all around them...well, that's a bit more jarring.
The weakest part of the film is the last third, which falls back on a hackneyed abduction plot, a misplaced asthma inhaler, and a wheezing Trejo trying to voice ominous threats ("McKenzie...I got another Spanish lesson for you!") and you get the general idea. The Contractor becomes about as terrifying as a visit from the roto-rooter man.
It's a shame, because Wilson is not a bad director. His set-ups are good, his framing unobtrusive, and (of course) his editing is sharp. And damn it, the shots of Malibu are appropriately drool-inducing. The acting is "OK" with Christina Cox performing gamely and Brad Rowe giving his best Greg Kinnear impersonation. LA fave Ari Zucker provides a few non-vanilla bright spots as Cox's best friend.
But the script is just nothing special. It should have been torn down and renovated before all the producer's (and our) money was wasted. It's typical direct to VOD, in far, far too many ways.