Michael's Movie Grade: B
Review: Effective offbeat dark comedy/thriller is a lot of fun.
This movie is far from a straight thriller. It is often more of a dark comedy as it is an action movie. There are very little of the explosions or cases one might expect from a Liam Neilson thriller. True there is quite a bit towards the end, but there is even a bit of slapstick to these scenes. The movie starts off in a way that would make one think that what will be proceeding will be dead faced serious, but that is not the case here. This does not mean that this movie is fast paced jokes proceeding another. Instead this movie is a rather delightfully leisurely paced. This works perfectly as the jokes are much more unexpected when they come up, making them much funnier. This movie isn't all humor though as it is extremely atmospheric. The leisurely pace only makes this atmosphere feel more real. The look of this movie is fantastic and there are many scenes which exist to make this atmosphere much greater. This small town feels perfectly real and like one we could visit anytime. Our main character is also extremely fun to watch making the movie all the more delightful. The main villain is just as delightful and many of the funniest moments come from him. The story never goes in the direction you expect it to. This is maybe one of the most unpredictable thrillers to garner a mainstream release in quite a while.
This movie is not perfect by any means though. The two cops are not very interesting characters and too much time is spent with them. Whenever the movie turns to them, it can become rather boring. Most of the side characters are seemingly uninteresting. Many of them just movie character stereotypes we have seen a million times. There also at times feels like there is too many characters and too much going on. This can make the movie seem unfocused and make it drag at times.
Overall this is a very enjoyable and very offbeat movie.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Review: Effective offbeat dark comedy/thriller is a lot of fun.
This movie is far from a straight thriller. It is often more of a dark comedy as it is an action movie. There are very little of the explosions or cases one might expect from a Liam Neilson thriller. True there is quite a bit towards the end, but there is even a bit of slapstick to these scenes. The movie starts off in a way that would make one think that what will be proceeding will be dead faced serious, but that is not the case here. This does not mean that this movie is fast paced jokes proceeding another. Instead this movie is a rather delightfully leisurely paced. This works perfectly as the jokes are much more unexpected when they come up, making them much funnier. This movie isn't all humor though as it is extremely atmospheric. The leisurely pace only makes this atmosphere feel more real. The look of this movie is fantastic and there are many scenes which exist to make this atmosphere much greater. This small town feels perfectly real and like one we could visit anytime. Our main character is also extremely fun to watch making the movie all the more delightful. The main villain is just as delightful and many of the funniest moments come from him. The story never goes in the direction you expect it to. This is maybe one of the most unpredictable thrillers to garner a mainstream release in quite a while.
This movie is not perfect by any means though. The two cops are not very interesting characters and too much time is spent with them. Whenever the movie turns to them, it can become rather boring. Most of the side characters are seemingly uninteresting. Many of them just movie character stereotypes we have seen a million times. There also at times feels like there is too many characters and too much going on. This can make the movie seem unfocused and make it drag at times.
Overall this is a very enjoyable and very offbeat movie.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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