I'll kick off by saying any film with the Anglo-Australian actor Guy Pearce in it will always draw me toward watching. He's that rarest of things - an actor who can act. An actor who is a bona fide film star. A bone fide film star who has achieved his status by rejecting Hollywood. In short, hats off to Guy Pearce.
This film is a slow burn. Indeed, it's a bit of a tiresome slow burn. Contrary to most films which move at this slow a speed but which make sure they reveal some depth to the characters, we come to learn less about the characters in this movie as it progresses. Or, rather, and perhaps more accurately, we care less. Their 'inner turmoil' and 'hurting' are all self-inflcited and, were we to meet people like this in real life, we may very well be tempted to give them a kick in the behookey and tell them to get a grip.
The ridiculously named Cobie Smulders plays the ridiculously named 'Kat'. She's a fitness instructor who possesses an excellent physical appearance but a sour and bitter emotional one. She works for Trevor (Pearce). She's also his ex-lover who becomes his lover again. That's what 104 minutes of this film tells us. Not much else that interests us happens.
In the middle of this is Danny (Kevin Corrigan) a 'got-rich-quick' pot smoking no mark of a man. The plot stumbles for a short time around a flash in the pan sexual contact between Kat and Danny. It was never going to be interesting and resulted in exactly that.
In addition, there's some Soviet weight-lifting guy, Grigory (Anthony Michael Hall - who was great in Aftermath [2013]), who appears to have nothing to do with anything which comes before his appearance in this movie, and precisely zero to do with all that follows it.
In short, the script is rambling and was clearly written from the point of view 'Hey, we got nothing to lose'. And, doggedly, it stays on that road - chasing after imaginary shadows with nothing to lose because there was nothing there to start with. The direction is average. The cinematography sufficient. Locations anonymous. Supporting cast immediately forgettable.
So, what are we left with? We're back where I started - Guy Pearce. And it's to his credit that this film keeps the viewer watching from the beginning to the end. Because he's the talent here. He adds the clever guitar solo to a dull, lacking in melody B-side of a movie.
6 out of 10 - thanks Guy.
This film is a slow burn. Indeed, it's a bit of a tiresome slow burn. Contrary to most films which move at this slow a speed but which make sure they reveal some depth to the characters, we come to learn less about the characters in this movie as it progresses. Or, rather, and perhaps more accurately, we care less. Their 'inner turmoil' and 'hurting' are all self-inflcited and, were we to meet people like this in real life, we may very well be tempted to give them a kick in the behookey and tell them to get a grip.
The ridiculously named Cobie Smulders plays the ridiculously named 'Kat'. She's a fitness instructor who possesses an excellent physical appearance but a sour and bitter emotional one. She works for Trevor (Pearce). She's also his ex-lover who becomes his lover again. That's what 104 minutes of this film tells us. Not much else that interests us happens.
In the middle of this is Danny (Kevin Corrigan) a 'got-rich-quick' pot smoking no mark of a man. The plot stumbles for a short time around a flash in the pan sexual contact between Kat and Danny. It was never going to be interesting and resulted in exactly that.
In addition, there's some Soviet weight-lifting guy, Grigory (Anthony Michael Hall - who was great in Aftermath [2013]), who appears to have nothing to do with anything which comes before his appearance in this movie, and precisely zero to do with all that follows it.
In short, the script is rambling and was clearly written from the point of view 'Hey, we got nothing to lose'. And, doggedly, it stays on that road - chasing after imaginary shadows with nothing to lose because there was nothing there to start with. The direction is average. The cinematography sufficient. Locations anonymous. Supporting cast immediately forgettable.
So, what are we left with? We're back where I started - Guy Pearce. And it's to his credit that this film keeps the viewer watching from the beginning to the end. Because he's the talent here. He adds the clever guitar solo to a dull, lacking in melody B-side of a movie.
6 out of 10 - thanks Guy.