Central Intelligence (2016): Saving the World Takes a Little Hart and a Big Johnson

After an embarrassing incident in high school, Robbie Weirdicht disappears from contact for 20 years, with only a moment of kindness from Calvin “The Golden Jet” Joyner serving as a glimmer of positivity. Calvin’s life took a roller coaster, as he married his high school sweetheart but never seemed to reach the professional success he appeared destined to achieve. Right before his 20-year high school reunion, Calvin gets a Facebook message from Bob Stone, who he comes to learn is a reinvented Robbie Weirdicht and a CIA agent. His life is about to take a turn for the exciting as he has to navigate whether Bob can be trusted.

Hart & Johnson FTW: There have been a lot of comedy duos that have stepped up in recent years. While this duo is a little more slapstick than some of the other great combinations, both actors have proven their range and willingness to put it all out there. Kevin Hart may seemingly stretch himself thin with the number of films he stars in, but there is no shortage of energy from the man. He is willing to play the fool to pull the laughs out of the crowd. For Dwayne Johnson, he has proven himself both as a comedic and dramatic actor. The range helps emphasize the goofier side of his personality.

Double Secret Spy Games: The film centered around the idea that a confidential list potentially was going to end up in the wrong hands. While Bob initially promoted a version of the story of being framed and trying to do the right thing, Calvin was quickly approached by CIA agents highlighting a very different description of past events. While Calvin had no interest in getting caught up in the chaos in the first place, he struggled with Bob’s kindness and the conflicting stories balanced against his own safety as to whether he should continue to stay involved.

Physical Comedy Versus Comedic Themes: The comedy was twofold in this film. On the one hand, there were the physical elements, such as Hart’s flips and attempts at combat. What made the film funnier was actually Johnson’s awkward character development. While Calvin was a man who was focused on his failure to meet expectations after high school, Robbie was a man who never seemed to actually emotionally or culturally develop after high school. Wearing unicorn t-shirts, obsessed with Calvin’s letterman jacket, and always equipped with the fanny pack, Robbie was just as likely to break a jaw as he was to break into a John Hughes movie reference or make a sexually-suggestive reference without realizing it.

Final Verdict: While not necessarily a breakthrough comedy, it also still feels like it could be the first in a series of potential sequels. I would definitely enjoy watching more of this duo.

Dan’s Rating: 3.0/5

The Nice Guys (2016): They’re Not That Nice

Jackson Healy is the type of guy you call when you’re in a little trouble and need someone to use a little force to get the job done. Holland March is not someone anyone should call, but he works as a somewhat crooked PI just trying to make it. The two get caught up in the same case when Jackson realizes that he is protecting the same girl, Amelia, that Holland is seeking. They both lose track of her but discover that there is a bigger problem. The girl is the daughter of DOJ representative Judith Kutner. Now working together, they start to put the pieces together of why Amelia is constantly on the run and what Judith is actually in uncovering by getting her daughter back.

Sophisticated Slapstick: Russel Crowe has had an up and down career in terms of the range of his acting, but an area where he can definitely play to the role is quirky action comedy. As a hired muscle, his stature and fighting abilities served him well in the actions sequences of the film, but the delivery somehow also maintains a lightness to raise the entertainment level. Gosling boosted the comedic element to a greater extent as an often lucky but still clumsy detective who allowed self interest and alcohol to commonly cloud his judgment. Rarely can someone have multiple pratfalls in a film and flow between the hilarity of the situation and transitions into more serious plot points.

Corruption in 70s Hollywood: With Judith Kutner serving as a champion against moral depravity, her interest in retrieving her daughter and fighting against the growing industry of sexual media seemed to be a great cause for a government official. As Jackson and Holland fell deeper down the rabbit hole, they discovered that everyone in their situation had ulterior motives beyond their involvement in pornography. Even when they finally find Amelia, they discover how little they know about what they got caught up in and what they would have to do to get out of it. Eventually, someone was going to tip their hand, which was when Jackson and Holland had a chance to strike.

Relationships are Central to Success: While not a main theme of the film, one of the important side products of the story was the importance of having people you care about. For the Kutners, Judith seemed less concerned about her own daughter than the situation with which she was involved. More importantly, Holland’s daughter Holly was a clear fixture in their investigation. While he made constant attempts to keep her out of the fray, she forced her way back in to help wherever she could. She saw that her father was still suffering from the loss of his home and his wife, and she did not want him to loss his way.

Final Verdict: In some slight ways, the comedy of this film felt like Lethal Weapon and it truly worked. Crowe and Gosling made an interesting and entertaining pair, with a solid story of corruption and deceit framing their character development.

Dan’s Rating: 3.5/5

Money Monster (2016): #FollowTheMoney

As the host of a major stock market program, Lee Gates boasts all sorts of claims on the air. Sometimes, he calls locks for major opportunities to buy or sell. His advice is not always accurate, but one particular tip bankrupted one of his viewers and left him desperate for answers. When Kyle Budwell sneaks into the middle of a program and fits Lee with a bomb vest while holding the host at gunpoint, time seems to stop and the world begins to watch the incident as it unfolds. The longer Lee remains in the crosshairs, the more questions seem to pop up about the questionable practices and situation over at IBIS.

Star Power Goes to the Small Screen: Bringing together George Clooney (Lee Gates) and Julia Roberts (Patty Finn) immediately made for opportunity for a great film. Clooney projected his big personality in a perfect match as the host of a money management show similar to Mad Money. Julia tends to play more metered characters at times, and she served as the voice of reason during an extremely tense situation. Jack O’Connell (Kyle Budwell) also seems like a star on the rise, playing a character at the end of his rope.

An Issue of Pride v. Desperation: For Lee, his program was less about truly digging into the truth of the market trends and incidents but rather focusing on simply trying to make finances more interesting. As a man of wealth, he took little concern for what his advice actually meant for his viewers. When Kyle showed up and created the sense of panic, it knocked Lee off of his vantage point and forced him to think about the significance of his televised guidance. At times, his conversation with Kyle and his gimmicks were more about protecting his chance of survival. Once the questions seemed to get exponentially greater, Lee’s purpose shifted from survival to curiosity and he actually started to feel for his captor.

Questionable Corporate Practices: Kyle’s whole reason for entering into his dangerous hostage situation was related to his major money loss after betting on IBIS. He attacked Lee first because he saw his best opportunity to get both Lee and IBIS CEO Walt Camby in the same room was through Money Monster. As time passed and questions began to be asked, it became clear that something shady was happening surrounding the company’s $800 million glitch. To make matters worse, Walt decided to cancel at the last minute and then could not be found by the producers of the show or even the people within his own company.

Final Verdict: While the film simplifies corporate corruption and plays a little too much to the Mad Money-style antics, it still has a few humorous moments at the start to intensify the beginning of the standoff. While the hostage situation is a little pedestrian, there are some truly enjoyable dramatic moments and twists to make this a very entertaining film.

Dan’s Rating: 3.0/5

Brick Mansions (2014): Undercover and Never Outgunned

With Detroit falling into the category of most violent, crime-ridden city in the US, the most dangerous section has been walled-off and segregated. Within its borders, unrest is brewing with the surrounding city and its politicians. After Brick Mansions leader Tremaine Alexander pulls off a heist to steal a bomb, the city sends in Officer Damien Collier to try and shut it down. To help him with his mission, he is partnered up with a convict, Lino, who has incredible physical ability and agility to get close to Tremaine. With thoughts of revenge a desire to bring him to justice, Damien’s focus on Tremaine serves as both a motivation and a potential challenge toward the success of his mission.

Review: While the tribute to the late Paul Walker (Officer Damien Collier) was certainly a nice touch, this felt like a film without clear direction or development. For Walker, his character had a basic obsession for revenge and flashes between moments of overconfidence and out-of-nowhere anger. David Belle (Lino) had nearly no character development at all, with the exception of his clear desire to rescue his girlfriend. He played the character recklessly and with a brutish demeanor. RZA (Tremaine Alexander) was a mixed bag. As the advertised villain, he wavered between aggressiveness and tempered cunning. He felt less like a maniacal villain than a more complicated antagonist. Unfortunately, there was little more to the actual character than what was presented initially.

This film promoted strong action sequences that mixed together free-running with some martial arts. While the scenes themselves were well choreographed, the story was weak and none of the characters were all that interesting. The plot mixed together a kidnapping, a bomb, a missile, and a lot of corrupted activities. The film essentially taught that politics are corrupt and everyone is at least a little dirty. While Tremaine may have seemed like the villainous center, his minions seemed to be quite aggressive without his direction and the corruption within the Detroit police and government systems appeared to be the bigger threats. The conclusion also seemed to try to hard to finish the story with a nice neat bow without actually explaining how the events actually got the city to that point.

While not his best work, Paul Walker was able to notch another action film to his resume. There was plenty of activity…just no substance.

Dan’s Rating: 2.0/5

Nightcrawler (2014): The City Shines Brightest at Night

Louis Bloom is not the most honest man. Stealing items to sell in scrapyards and pawn shops, he gets by on these devious actions. While driving late at night, he sees an accident, stops, and observes the emergency personnel and the camera crew documenting the scene. Living by his motto “if you want to win the lottery, you gotta have the money to buy a ticket,” he picks up a camera and a police scanner and begins to roam the streets at night for footage to sell to Channel 6 News. Eventually striking a deal with producer Nina Romina, Louis expands his business by adding an intern, upgrading his equipment, and seeking out the deadliest stories in the Los Angeles area. As he starts tracking more serious incidents, he begins to put himself and his intern into murkier and more dangerous waters.

Review: This gritty, dark thriller boasted a team of unlikeable characters that were difficult to stop watching because of the compelling nature of the storytelling. Jake Gyllenhaal (Louis Bloom) turned in a very unlikeable but remarkable performance as the thief turned nightcrawler. As Louis, he is nothing but dedicated to his craft, and quite the quick learner. Rene Russo (Nina Romina) provided an essence of the seedy side of the news, focusing more on sensationalism over substance. Riz Ahmed (Rick) was also the surprise of the film. While he was a supporting character and was meant to help elevate the sleaziness of Gyllenhaal, he was able to make Rick the only character that you would want to connect with and see succeed.

The theme of the film was about that attraction to sensationalism of which people cannot get enough. While Louis was doing less harm (at least initially) with his transition from thievery to nightcrawling, he was still dealing with the underbelly of LA. Fighting for position amongst other established nightcrawlers, he studied and showed tenacity to wedge his way into the crowd and start to establish himself above the rest. In order to win out, he pushed the envelope to get the edge, even manipulating scenes and putting himself and Rick in danger to get the perfect footage.

The tension is gripping and compelling. The characters are seedy but impossible to ignore. The film may not be a revelation, but it is a great story.

Dan’s Rating: 4.0/5

Focus (2015): Never Drop the Con

While having dinner, Nicky is approached by a young woman asking for him to save her from a man at the bar by pretending to be her boyfriend. They spend the entire night together, ending with a trip up to her hotel room. Once inside, their time together is interrupted by her husband, but Nicky immediately makes the con and foils their plans. Jess is devastated but gets her chance for redemption as Nicky is open to teaching her some methods of conning. While it appears that he leaves her to her own game, she follows him to New Orleans to beg for chance to join his team. Allowing her into the game as an intern, she quickly tries to prove herself and fight her way into the big league. While Nicky has his eyes on amassing a fortune through a lot of individual cons, Jess has her sights on racking up the big one.

Review: While having a bit of an Ocean’s 11 vibe, Focus aimed to entertain through trickery, double-crossing, and moments of sensuality. While the overall film was enjoyable, the surprises were not completely surprising and the sensuality was relatively mediocre. Will Smith (Nicky) certainly had a better showing in this film than his past several, having a few deeper moments and quite a few more humorous ones. Margot Robbie (Jess), on the other hand, was actually a more enjoyable on-screen presence. She showed better range and energy. Adrian Martinez (Farhad) was actually quite enjoyable as well.

While the themes of the film were about slight of hand and trust, it left viewers questioning everything (for good or bad). With each of the cons presented throughout the story, you were left to guess what the double-cross or real motive behind each action was. For the first con, Nicky had already made Jess before she even approached him. When she arrived in New Orleans, he was already aware that she would attempt to follow. When he bet the farm on a bet at the Super Bowl … you get the picture. The film makes the concept of conning seem very cool, but it also felt a bit repetitive in the way. As the film attempted to shift gears toward the romantic relationship between Nicky and Jess, it felt like the big con was more of an inconvenience to the question of whether they were truly meant to thrive.

While not a perfect film, Focus is still a fun one. See if you can guess if any of their plays are ever as simple as they seem.

Dan’s Rating: 3.0/5

Runner Runner (2013): Play or Be Played

As a Masters student at Princeton, Richie Furst is struggling to play for his college bills but tries to manage the debt through online gambling. Making a commission on getting his students to sign up to play, the dean catches wind of his ventures and orders a cease on all gambling activities. Richie decides to play out all of his luck on an all-night bender. He loses it all but believes that something greater than chance was at play. With his friends, they discover that the site was cheating players by changing the odds. Desperate to reclaim his money, he travels to Costa Rica to find Ivan Block and report his scandal in hopes of recovering his losses. Instead, Ivan respects his tenacity and offers him a job with his organization. Quickly, Richie gets in deep with all of the money and benefits but learns that there is a major dark side to the lifestyle. With threats from within and the FBI pressuring his involvement in the investigation, Richie needs to find a way out.

Starring: Justin Timberlake (Richie Furst), Ben Affleck (Ivan Block), Gemma Arterton (Rebecca Shafran), Anthony Mackie (Agent Shavers), Michael Esper (Billy ‘Pet’ Petricoff), Oliver Cooper (Andrew Cronin), Yul Vazquez (Delegate Herrera), John Heard (Harry Furst), James Molina (Esteban), Louis Lombardi (Archie), David Costabile (Professor Horstein)

In this thriller, Timberlake serves the role as the protagonist who goes from being a little sure of himself to scrambling for a plan. Given his polished appearance, he tended to reduce the believability of his character’s plight considering the lack of funds to travel. Affleck was not overly compelling but filled the role as the villain decently. Mackie’s character seemed a little overzealous at times. Arterton felt like no more than eye candy, as her character was underdeveloped with her lack of a more comprehensive backstory.

Brad Furman’s thriller was set in Costa Rica and explored the dangerous world of gambling and criminal activity. Richie was a smart kid and had a lot of opportunity in front of him. While he had participated in a gamble in the past with Wall Street, he was unable to maintain his involvement and required further education to reenter his dream job. He did not know that he could get involved in a gambling organization and Ivan was able to convince him to abandon his old life to take on a new one. The money and status kept him in the business for a while, but his friends (who he brought down to work with him) began to hit their limit. The sleaze and the illegal activity had become too much for them. Even Richie realized he was in over his head, but he was forced to get a little too close to death before he devised his plan to release himself from the burden.

The movie had some twists and turns, but a lot of what was portrayed was flash with little substance. The thriller element was mostly displayed through scenes like the crocodile feeding and the attempted breaking point when Richie was short the bribe money. The plausibility of someone throwing their life away for a huge gamble was both the point of the movie and a very weak plot point. Finding the right type of ending to the film was going to be tough, and it just seemed like it was wrapped up with a bow a little too easily (except, of course, for the getaway for the hero and his love interest). Weak emotional connections with the characters and hazy action hurt the actual thrill elements of the film.

Runner Runner could have been a more intriguing film, but several other gambling films have already proven themselves more engaging, intriguing, and emotionally investing.

Dan’s Rating: 2.5/5

Machete Kills (2013): Trained to Kill, Left for Dead, Back for More

At the Arizona-Mexico border, Machete and Sartana Rivera confront a group of weapons dealers and break into an all-out gun war. Just before falling to the gun of the cartel leader, a group of masked men show up in helicopters and take out the remaining cartel members. In the fray, Sartana is killed and Machete is captured and delivered to Sheriff Doakes. While in the process of being hung in the sheriff’s office, President Rathcock calls and requests Machete join him for a mission to stop a madman aiming a missile at Washington. Machete heads to Mexico with the help of his friend, Blanca Vasquez, to take out the revolutionary Marcos Mendez. Upon arrival and meeting with Marcos, Machete learns that the revolutionary has rigged the missile to his heart, which will automatically launch it if his heart stops. Machete changes the plan and takes Marcos on a trip back across the border to get the maker of the device disarm the missile.

Starring: Danny Trejo (Machete Cortez), Mel Gibson (Voz), Demian Bichir (Mendez), Amber Heard (Miss San Antonio/Blanca Vasquez), Michelle Rodriguez (Luz), Sofia Vergara (Desdomona), Charlie Sheen (President Rathcock), Lady Gaga/Antonio Banderas/Walton Goggins/Cuba Gooding Jr. (La Camaleon), Vanessa Hudgens (Cereza), Alexa PenaVega (KillJoy), Marko Zaror (Zaror), Tom Savini (Osiris Amanapur), William Sadler (Sheriff Doakes)

This is not the type of movie that boasts strong acting. To be honest, it lacks the charm of the characters from other films from a similar vein, like Sin City or Kill Bill. Danny Trejo is a man of few words. His performance was much more about looking menacing and lethal, which he technically was able to achieve. Gibson was a bit of an off character, as he appeared sophisticated but primal when put under pressure. The strongest characters in the film were the women, Rodriguez, Vergara, and Heard, but even their development was minimal. The most entertaining character was Bichir and his bipolar rage.

Robert Rodriguez has had success directing violent, dark thrillers before, but this film ended up simply being a cheesy story with poor acting. Machete, a man who appeared to be invulnerable, had his heart ripped out by the sudden death of his partner and love interest Sartana. When he agreed to take the case to go after Mendez, he allowed himself to ignore his pain over losing Sartana and have a tryst with Vasquez. Even after capturing Mendez, he seemed to develop a sense of trust and respect for the revolutionary’s crazy, destructive ways, potentially feeling for the guy’s lack of self-control. Double-crossed and nearly left for dead, he discovered that Vos was the one behind the threat on Washington and was using Mendez as his delivery method. The battle left Machete betrayed, Luz blinded, and the story with no clear ending or closure, other than the prevention of the missile and the escape by Vos.

The film never took the time to develop any character. Sartana was the most innocent of them all and she was out in the first 10 minutes. Desdomona went nuts going after Machete but there never seemed to be a reason for her rage other than how he decided to take Cereza out of the brothel. La Camaleon also did not seem to have a clear motive for his pursuit. While the $20 million reward would make sense for La Camaleon, Desdomona was in pursuit before the announcement and it was a rather weak plot point to serve as filler action between the entrance of Mendez and arriving at Vos’s lair. There was also a strange intro with Machete in space, with a follow up to the intro at the close of the story with Machete agreeing to go track down Vos in space.

The film is relatively gory violence with a hint of a storyline. Nothing more and possibly less.

Dan’s Rating: 1.5/5

R.I.P.D. (2013): To Protect and Serve the Living

Having been double-crossed by his partner, former Boston police officer Nick finds himself trapped just beyond the world of the living. After meeting the Proctor, he is presented a deal: join the Rest In Peace Department and hunt the lost souls refusing to leave the world of the living or be put up for judgment and possible damnation. Thrown into the mix with an Old West marshal, Nick struggles with the idea of losing his wife and being stuck defending a world in which he no longer takes part. Encountering the first of many undead creatures, he nearly falls once he lets his guard down. Nick quickly learns that his life, or afterlife, will never be the same. Meanwhile, Nick and Roy begin to discover that the undead appear to be collecting pieces of gold but cannot figure out what their obsession might be. All Nick can determine is that his former partner is somehow entangled in the mystery.

Starring: Jeff Bridges (Roy), Ryan Reynolds (Nick), Kevin Bacon (Hayes), Mary-Louise Parker (Proctor), Stephanie Szostak (Julia), James Hong (Nick’s avatar), Marisa Miller (Roy’s avatar), Robert Knepper (Stanley Nawicki), Mike O’Malley (Elliot), Devin Ratray (Pulaski), Larry Joe Campbell (Officer Murphy)

Though Bridges may have first billing on the film, Reynolds was actually the star. That said, neither of them turned out significantly impressive performances. Reynolds was a little more reserved than would be expected, but it actually worked out to his advantage slightly (considering the failure of The Green Lantern). Jeff Bridges was like a cartoon version of himself, boasting of greatness and lacking likability. Bacon and Szostak are the only two that seem to have any range but both of their characters are underdeveloped. Parker suffers a similar one-dimensional issue, only being a stone cold administrator.

Robert Schwentke has directed a number of decent films, but this fails in comparison. The story, being a little too predictable, focused on the concepts of acceptance and justice. Nick was caught up in something that was too much to handle. When he and Hayes took the gold from one of their crime scenes, he felt the guilt too strongly and decided that he could not bear the weight. When he was double-crossed, he found his choice to be a simple one, as it gave him the possibility to return to the world of the living and try to see his love. Failing to be able to make true contact with her, he buried himself in his work with Roy and instead turned toward a mission to uncover the truth about the undead and their connection to Hayes. In the moments that he finally was able to enact revenge against Hayes and prevent the end of humanity, he found peace with his fate and was able to let go of his wife to let her live.

While the story was a little too derivative, the presentation of the story was actually even worse. With little care for any of the characters and the oddity of how it felt like the movie was a poor ripoff of Men in Black, the gimmicks seemed to be where the movie tried to find its niche. The first gimmick was the images that Roy and Nick presented to the world of the living. With bad discriminatory jokes and gratuitous sexuality, this angle was barely even used, particularly considering how it was used in the preview to promote the film. The undead creatures also were a little odd. Each one was simply a monstrous and deformed version of their human form and there was no point that their mutation was explained in the film.

This is a clear pass in comparison to the more entertaining and better designed films out there. This film should definitely be put to rest.

Dan’s Rating: 1.5/5

Pain & Gain (2013): Their American Dream is Bigger Than Yours

Having felt like there is more to life, Daniel Lugo begins to seek out his next venture after serving time for fraud. He attends a seminar hosted by Johnny Wu and gets excited about the idea of transforming Wu’s concept of being a doer to extorting his new trainee at the gym. Alongside his new friend, Adrian Doorbal, and a recently released cocaine addict, Paul Doyle, he schemes to kidnap Victor Kershaw and force him to sign his life away to the trio. While their plans do not go so smoothly at first, they are successful at eventually capturing and entrapping Kershaw in a warehouse. It takes some time to break him, but Lugo eventually gets Kershaw to start signing over his savings and possessions to the three bodybuilders. While everything seems to be going their way, little mistakes start to intensify and their plans begin to unravel quicker than they can react.

Starring: Mark Wahlberg (Daniel Lugo), Dwayne Johnson (Paul Doyle), Anthony Mackie (Adrian Doorbal), Tony Shalhoub (Victor Kershaw), Ed Harris (Ed DuBois), Rob Coddry (John Mese), Bar Paly (Sorina Luminita), Rebel Wilson (Robin Peck), Ken Jeong (Johnny Wu), Michael Rispoli (Frank Griga), Kelli Lefkovitz (Krisztina Furton), Emily Rutherfurd (Carolyn “Cissy” DuBois), Larry Hankin (Pastor Randy)

In an attempt to get the right actors to play these roles, it seemed that Wahlberg, Johnson, and Mackie fit the bill fairly well. Wahlberg had just enough of the gym rat personality balanced with the scheming element to make his ringleader role believable. Johnson has stretched himself in several films, but this one combined a need to be “saved” and fall back into drugs at the same time. He was able to appear devout at times, while desperate at others. Mackie was a little more reserved in comparison but still was able to step up a bit in his more significant moments. Shalhoub was a standout as well, with a larger than life personality and easily hatable identity.

While Michael Bay is usually on-board with more action-oriented films, this was a nice opportunity to create a more acting and story-oriented film. Lugo may not have been a complicated man but still had wherewithal to set up a plan to make it big, even if it was illegal. Doyle and Doorbal did not seem to contribute as much to the planning process but were vital for putting the pressure on Kershaw and providing the extra muscle needed to pressure him into turning over his wealth. Kershaw may have been a bad person, but he also seemed to be lucky and survived quite an ordeal when the trio tried to kill him to prevent any backlash after establishing their new lives. With Kershaw surviving the attack, he was able to mount a counteroffensive that seemed to only add to the self-destruction created by the overspending and irresponsible behavior between Doyle and Doorbal.

This story was based on real events. With his name changed for the movie, Marc Schiller was actually kidnapped and tortured for about one month in an effort for the bodybuilders to take him for everything he had. While the film included elements that lightened the mood in many ways and turned the story into more of a dark comedy, the real captive described his captors as much more menacing and deadly. The real Daniel Lugo was a “lethal manipulator” and suffered from wild mood swings. The real Adrian Doorbal was also not as rational and calm as played by Anthony Mackie. He was actually much more combative with Lugo and much more violent. Paul Doyle does not exist, but rather was a combination of the other three men who were part of the Sun Gym Gang. The biggest departure from the truth was the portrayal of Marc Schiller as Victor Kershaw. Schiller was never a criminal or a drug lord. Instead, the film intended to make the gang seem somewhat deserving of some redemption and to make the victim seem like they somewhat deserved bad things to happen to them.

If you take away the truthfulness of the portrayal of the story, the film is entertaining. While it fails to accurately represent the real crime, it was an interesting combination of actual and dark humor to provide a platform for Wahlberg, Mackie, Shalhoub, and Johnson.

Dan’s Rating: 3.0/5