Antiviral (2012): What If You Could Feel Like They Do

The following of celebrities has reached a new low. Obsessed with wanting to experience what celebrities experience, people have begun to want celebrity illnesses and are willing to pay high price tags to get them. While Syd March is one of these people, he also works for the company that develops and sells these illnesses. Sneaking around and injecting himself with different viruses, he transports many of these to piracy groups for a price. He is originally obsessed with Aria Noble but turns his attention toward Hannah Geist when the opportunity presents itself. Injecting himself with her blood, he quickly feels the effects of her virus but is shocked when he learns that she is close to death. Being one of the last people to see her alive, he must fend off the piracy groups and protect himself so he can survive the illness and find a cure.

Starring: Caleb Landry Jones (Syd March), Sarah Gadon (Hannah Geist), Lisa Berry (Lucas Clinic Receptionist), Douglas Smith (Edward Porris), Nenna Abuwa (Aria Noble), Salvatore Antonio (Topp), Matt Watts (Mercer), Dawn Greenhalgh (Jane), Katie Bergin (Talk Show Host), Nicholas Campbell (Dorian), Lara Jean Chorostecki (Michelle), Reid Morgan (Derek Lessing), Elitsa Bako (Vera)

The overall tone of the film was rather bleak and depressing, and the acting definitely mirrors that tone. Jones was a bit of a confusing character. While his character’s obsession was clear from his performance, it was rather unbelievable that he would be able to avoid suspicion as long as he did considering how deathlike he looked throughout the middle of the film. The other actors seemed to ignore that his illnesses were much more severe than a head cold or the sniffles. Everyone else was rather calm and unassuming, even the more aggressive characters.

This film by Brandon Cronenberg was meant to serve as an intense and exaggerated representation of the obsession that many people have over celebrities. It was not enough for people to worship and idolize their favorite celebrities, but they had to experience even the horrible sides of their celebrities’ experiences. Illness was just one part of this obsession. Cannibalism seemed to be an additional accepted practice within this society. People would go to markets where people were growing steaks made of artificially-growth biological material from celebrities’ cells. Syd was the focus of this film, but his experience was a more extreme version of the obsession of the rest of the population. He used his access to go deeper than anyone else could achieve while avoiding getting caught for a long time.

This was a very challenging movie for its presentation and its premise. The point was clear but the way that it was conveyed was not very digestible. Graphically, the film was able to portray from extremely challenging material. The flesh and artificial tissue elements were lifelike and easy created a visceral reaction. The illnesses were also very well acted. The problem was that the tone was so sullen that it ruined the enjoyability of the story. Syd was not a likable protagonist, and everyone in the film was flawed and underdeveloped. While he was not the only one who was obsessed with celebrity illnesses, it was just presented as fact that this was the way of the world for these people and Syd lacked explanation for why he was more entangled than others. Cannibalism is reinforced throughout, and particularly at the end of the film, presenting a very scary extreme of the future of humanity.

The film lacked cohesion, likability of the characters, and any tone other than dystopian, so this would only be a film for a very select group of fans.

Dan’s Rating: 1.5/5

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012): He’s a Force of Nature

Cindy and Jim Green have a beautifully quaint life, but are given unfortunate news when they discover that Cindy is unable to conceive a child. Devastated by the news, Jim tries to cheer her up by brainstorming all of the things they would want in a child. Writing all of them down on paper, they place all of their dreams in a box and bury it in the garden. A freak storm explodes in the middle of the night, waking up the Greens and everyone else nearby. They go downstairs to investigate and find that the garden has been destroyed and dirt has been tracked into the house. In the kitchen, they find a young boy with leaves growing from his ankles. Timothy calls Cindy and Jim his mom and dad, changing their lives immediately. As they spend more time with him, they learn that he is everything they had wished for and they begin to live the life of their dreams.

Starring: Jennifer Garner (Cindy Green), Joel Edgerton (Jim Green), CJ Adams (Timothy Green), Odeya Rush (Joni Jerome), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Evette Onat), Rosemarie DeWitt (Brenda Best), David Morse (James Green Sr.), M. Emmet Walsh (Uncle Bub), Lois Smith (Aunt Mel), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Reggie), Dianne Wiest (Ms. Bernice Crudstaff), Ron Livingston (Franklin Crudstaff), James Rebhorn (Joseph Crudstaff)

As a Disney movie, the acting is a little more light-hearted than it could be for a potentially dramatic topic. Both Garner and Edgerton play their roles with quite a bit of energy and mystery. CJ Adams is similar in a lot of ways but his character also unfortunately lacks a bit of depth. The mystery over Timothy’s life leaves him lacking the opportunity to show more than base desires that were put in the box. Rush also seemed a bit underdeveloped as the “love” interest and seemingly disappeared at the end of the story.

Taking this story and crafting it into a film was Peter Hedges. Disney has highlighted infertility in the past (think Up), but this film took a more mystical approach with a wish becoming a dream come true. The Greens struggled with their news, and even the dreaming activity was not enough on its own to help them cope with their sense of loss. Timothy’s arrival was an incredible shock, but they quickly realized that they did not have everything figured out about how to take care of a child. Regardless of their level of preparedness, they seemed to figure it out as they went and treasured every moment with him. As the leaves on his ankles started to change and fall off, Timothy prepared to leave them but did not alert them to his coming departure. In the end, he had prepared them for what it would mean to take care of a child and opened their eyes to the prospect of adoption.

For all of the fun and positivity in this film, there are some gaps in this story. When they got the bad news, they did not even consider adoption as a viable option. Instead, they went with dreaming, though they never imagined that they would have a kid appear out of the garden. This was not so bad, but his arrival brought no questions from the family, who never really seemed concerned with this sudden surprise. Moving forward in the story, Timothy made an unlikely friendship with Joni, but the purpose of their relationship seemed weak at best. She appeared to be his opposite, but she also seemed to somehow understand him and his situation. At the end of the story, she just faded into the background, leaving her storyline a fleeting memory in the greater story.

This is a fun, family-friendly movie that is still meaningful even with its flaws. Timothy appeared to be the type of son that many families would be happy to have and the story ended with a great warm feeling of family.

Dan’s Rating: 3.0/5

The Central Park Five (2012)

In 1989, five teenagers were surprised to get caught up in a rape and assault case. A young, white woman had being jogging in Central Park at night when she was attacked and left for dead. After she was discovered and taken to the hospital with serious injuries, the police jumped to action to track down the assailant(s). Five young men were identified and taken into questioning by different police units. Each of them were pressured and held under custody until they were coerced into ratting out the other suspects in the case. All five of the men were detained and taken to trial under the pressure of a scornful media and public looking for justice for the young woman. While there were also supporters for the convicted young men, the justice system appeared to be misguided in its decisions to find these men guilty in the face of evidence to the contrary.

The Central Park Five: Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Kharey (Korey) Wise

Other significant members of the story: Matias Reyes, Jim Dwyer, Angela Black, Ed Koch, Craig Steven Wilder, LynNell Hancock, Raymand Santana Sr., Calvin O. Butts III, Natalie Byfield, Michael Warren, Saul Kassin, Michael Joseph, David Dinkins, Ronald Gold

This documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon explored the tragedy of misguided justice in the case of the attacked Central Park jogger. The Central Park Five started with the attack but was quickly about the manhunt, interrogation, and conviction of the five teenagers. The film included video of the interrogations and the reactions of the convicted years later. Their families were devastated by feeling left in the dark about their involvement in the case and the subsequent convictions, and the convicted struggled with reflecting back on their experiences. These coerced confessions were never challenged in the courts, as the officers were able to deny that they forced the young men into their confessions.

Transitioning to the trial, the reflections highlighted the challenges of the legal teams and the veracity of the prosecution. Three of the men were taken to trial first and were subsequently found guilty. The other two followed suit several months later and also given the guilty verdict. Even though they had minor status, their prison terms ranged from 6 to 13 years. Some of the challenges that were identified against these men during the trial were the inability of the victim to recall the events of that night, the lack of questioning about the coerced confessions, the lack of attention to their involvement in other chaos that happened the same night in a different part of the park, and the seemingly public acceptance that these men were guilty based off their appearance/race and media influence. Highlight as one of the most challenging moments of the experience and the documentary was just after the verdict. Each of the men reacted at different moments, but all of them appeared to break down following the decisions.

The story also covered the experience following the trial, from serving their sentences to the eventually discovery of Matias Reyes’s confession for the crime. Including the pressures politically to take a hard stance on crime, the public believed that justice had been served. It was not until most of them served out their sentences and only Raymond Santana remained in prison that Reyes’s confession caused the review of the court decisions. Finally at this point, the courts reviewed the evidence and discovered the significant discrepancies in the justifications for the verdicts. The charges were vacated and Raymond was given the news that he would be released as well. The emotion experienced by these men in the film was tangible. They had suffered through a horrendous experience. No decision or other offerings would ever be able to relieve the years lost through this case, but the announcement was joined by a strong sense of release.

This film is detailed, emotional, and calls into question the battle between justice and prejudice. It explores, though only on a surface level, the impact of race and stereotyping in the pursuit of justice. Overall, this was a solid retelling of this intriguing criticism of the police, media, and legal systems.

Dan’s Rating: 4.0/5

The Attack (2012): Do You Ever Really Know the One You Love?

The day after being the first Arab to win a prestigious Israeli medical award, Amin is working at the hospital when a bomb goes off elsewhere in Tel Aviv. As the bodies come charging in, he ends up working a late night and returns to an empty house. In the middle of the night, the phone rings and he is called to return to the hospital. Upon his arrival, he learns that his wife was in the blast that killed 17 people and he is asked to identify her body. Collapsing from the sight of her, the Israeli police begin their investigation, with his wife as the primary suspect in the suicide bombing. The police aggressively question him, believing that he is withholding information. He becomes detached after getting released. Only his friend, Kim, stays with him to support him in his time of need while he seeks the truth of his wife’s death.

Starring: Ali Suliman (Amin Jaafari), Evgenia Dodena (Kim), Reymond Amsalem (Siham Jaafari), Dvir Benedek (Raveed), Uri Gavriel (Captain Moshe), Rubeh Salameh (Faten), Karim Saleh (Adel), Ramzi Makdessi (Priest), Nisrin Siksik (Leila)

Ali Suliman was fantastic throughout this film. Starting from a state of disbelief in the news about his wife, he traveled through the stages of grief in a somewhat chaotic manner. He made it easy to feel for him and desire closure. Uri Gavriel was a scary police officer, willing to push Suliman’s character to the limit to get the answers he craved. Evgenia Dodena’s performance was reserved but also balanced to give Suliman’s character just enough support. Amsalem and Benedek also gave moving performances.

Ziad Doueiri’s drama asked questions about how closely one can truly know their partner and how far will one go to learn the truth. Amin’s life was at a high point, with success at work, a beautiful wife, and close friends. The attack on a Tel Aviv restaurant was surely a shock for Amin, one which drove him into a dark and dangerous place. Traveling through the stages of grief, he started from a place of disbelief, then became angry and detached, and eventually determined to seek out answers. While he received proof that Siham had committed the act, Amin had to go back to Palestine to track down the terrorists responsible for pulling her in. The answers he found out may have brought a sense of closure to his question of why but they did not bring a sense of relief along with finally knowing.

The interesting conflict of this film is that it takes a different approach to the Israeli-Paletsinian conflict. He had suffered through a challenging existence living in Tel Aviv prior to the attack, but he had also slowly earned the respect of his peers. While he had adjusted, Siham had not and she still felt a continued connection to her Palestinian homeland. In an effort to get redemption for Amin’s lost connection with his roots and integrating into Israeli life, Siham felt obligated to take action. She became a martyr back in Palestine, but Amin returning home was not seen as a supportive visit. Other than his family, he had been shunned and his refusal to support Sahim’s actions had left him disconnected with the Palestinian nation. Rather than feeling obligated to turn over the evidence to the Tel Aviv police, he decided that he was no longer attached to anyone, with no sense of home anywhere.

This film is complex and an impressive piece of storytelling. Suliman gave a strong performance and brought life to this tragic story.

Dan’s Rating: 4.0/5

Killing Them Softly: In America, You’re On Your Own (2012)

Frankie and Russell are a couple of criminals looking for a break. When offered a chance to hit up a poker game, they choose to go for it. At Markie Trattman’s poker game, the two criminals get their money but do not escape the wrath of the mob. Sending in their hitman, Jackie goes on the hunt for Frankie and Russell. Meanwhile, suspicion remains for Markie because of the stunt he pulled during a previous poker game. Jackie hunts down each of the men one by one to resolve the conflict and restart the local mob economy.

Starring: Brad Pitt (Jackie), Scoot McNairy (Frankie), Ben Mendelsohn (Russell), James Gandolfini (Mickey), Richard Jenkins (Driver), Vincent Curatola (Johnny Amato), Ray Liotta (Markie Trattman), Trevor Long (Steve Caprio), Max Casella (Barry Caprio), Sam Sheppard (Dillon), Slaine (Kenny Gill), Linara Washington (Hooker)

The cast for the film was pulled together to bring to life a representation of the challenges of real world economics in the smaller world of the mob. Pitt is a bit direct in his violence and talks with a smoothness that helps to balance out the drama created by some of the other characters. McNairy serves as more of the brains of the operation while Mendelsohn is the reckless one. The bigger comparison falls between Gandolfini and Jenkins. Gandolfini is somewhat of a complainer and overtalker, while Jenkins is more stoic and inscrutable. Liotta is also a bit of a reckless person but represents what happens when you tempt fate too much.

Andrew Dominik channeled a bit of Martin Scorsese in the process of making this intelligent glimpse into the dirty world of the mob. The robbery of the poker game was seen as an easy for the criminals because they could just take advantage of Markie’s previous attempt to rob his own game. When Jackie was sent on the trail, he took out Markie’s recklessness first, though a couple of other guys shook him down first. He then went after Russell, getting him sent to jail. Finally, he convinced Frankie to join him in a killing and then finished the job by taking Frankie out. Jackie represented the American taking hold of his destiny.

The point of this movie was to merge together the dealings of the mob with some elements of the American economy. Driver was meant to represent the mob boss, or the American government. His conversation at the end of the film representative the complex and inscrutable nature of the government. Mickey was the negative image of the American people: greedy, weak, and opportunistic. Jackie, on the other hand, was the equalizer. He represented, though in a dark, non-heroic way, the type of America that we would hope to see with taking hold of what people want. While he cleans up the mess of the criminal underground, he also does so to restore order and get paid what he believed he had earned.

While the action was not as grandiose as one would imagine and the speed of the film can drag at times, the images and conversations created in the film make for an intriguing experience.

Dan’s Rating: 3.0/5

Battleship: The Battle for Earth Starts at Sea (2012)

With the navy tied up in the activities of the RIMPAC, they are unprepared for the upcoming events that will affect everyone on Earth. For Alex Hopper, his rashness and questionable actions land him in hot water and he becomes preoccupied with his personal failures. None of that matters once a cluster of space debris crashes through the Earth’s atmosphere, with much of the debris ending up in the Pacific Ocean near the naval games. Upon investigation of the structures sticking out of the water, they discover that the structures are actually alien ships, which immediately active a force field and divide the naval ships from access to their own ships. Left behind are three naval vessels, which quickly falls to one when their attack fails to make any impact. While Hopper’s girlfriend, Samantha, and her rehab client quickly discover that the aliens want to communicate with their home world using human technology, they must devise a plan to stop the aliens before they could potentially call for reinforcements.

Starring: Taylor Kitsch (Lt. Alex Hopper), Alexander Skarsgard (Comm. Stone Hopper), Rihanna (PO Cora ‘Weps’ Raikes), Brooklyn Decker (Samantha Shane), Tadanobu Asano (Capt. Yugi Nagata), Hamish Linklater (Cal Zapata), Liam Neeson (Admiral Shane), Peter MacNicol (Secretary of Defense), John Tui (Chief PO Walter ‘The Beast’ Lynch), Jesse Plemons (Seaman Jimmy ‘Ordy’ Ord), Gregory D. Gadson (Lt. Col. Mick Canales), Jerry Ferrara (Sampson JOOD Strodell), Adam Godley (Dr. Nogrady)

While there was much to pick apart with the mechanics of this movie, the acting was definitely not one of the stronger points either. Kitsch’s performance is remarkably better than his attempt in John Carter, but this was more because he was required to do less and could channel the type of character he portrayed in Friday Night Lights. Skarsgard was solid with his sense of responsibility, but his role was significantly shorter. Rihanna’s dialogue was very weak, but she at least lacked in the amount of audible dialogue the way that Plemons should have. Neeson was also limited but maintain the stoic nature expected of an admiral.

Peter Berg’s attempt to turn a Hasbro game into a full length movie channeled Michael Bay but without the flare and explosiveness. Aliens had found their way to Earth and wanted to achieve communication with their home world but there was no sense of why. The aliens seemed to avoid conflict with mortal lifeforms (for the most part) but had a severe aggression toward anything mechanical. Since they did dive into combat and were the aggressors, it can be assumed that they wanted to call in reinforcements, but there was no actual proof of this. With little explanation for the purpose of the attack and their purpose (if there was one) colliding into Earth, the alien invasion feels like the writers were confused or indecisive about the direction of the film.

Now for the attack on the idea of basing a movie on a board game…what are people supposed to be looking for in the future? A movie based on Don’t Wake Daddy or Checkers? What makes this movie even more confusing is that the creators took a a board game, tossed in an alien invasion and somehow failed to even capture the essence of the game. There was a forcefield that kind of resembled the division of the board but it had no purpose other than to keep most of the ships out of the contest. The tracking of the enemy ships by use of the buoy system somewhat resembled the attack system of the board game but it was a tracking system and not just a game board. It is also impossible to ignore that aliens were used to represent the opposing combatant.

The film had elements that may be considered enjoyable but had virtually no heart and mediocre acting. There really should be no reason to ever consider a sequel.

Dan’s Rating: 1.5/5

For a Good Time, Call: Lose Your Hang-ups (2012)

Brought together by unusual circumstance, Lauren Powell and Katie Steele are stuck trying to find a way to coexist in the same apartment. As Lauren tries to sort out her life that has fallen apart so quickly and unexpectedly, she becomes more curious about Katie’s unusual number of jobs and odd behaviors at night. Eventually, she discovers that Katie is actually a phone sex operator but hardly makes any real money from the calls. With a lack of options, she makes some suggestions and decides to help Katie start her own private line. The experience brings the two of them closer together, until they are officially working the business together and searching for someone to help extend their calls. With dreams to get her dream job at a publishing company, Lauren begins to get lost in this exciting new experience.

Starring: Lauren Miller (Lauren Powell), James Wolk (Charlie), Ari Graynor (Katie Steele), Justin Long (Jesse), Lawrence Mandley (Henry), Steven Shaw (Morty), Mimi Rogers (Adele Powell), Don McManus (Scott Powell), Nia Vardalos (Rachel Rodman), Kevin Smith (Cabbie), Seth Rogen (Jerry), Ken Marino (Harold), The Legend of Zelda Miller-Rogen (Zelda)

Lauren Miller is quite the fun character, as she transforms from a somewhat plain and uptight spurned lover into someone who craves more adventure and excitement. Ari Graynor’s character started as a more flirtatious but slowly gets revealed as someone withholding a few secrets. Long is simply a character to help push the story forward, as opposed to adding to the comedic element. Between the couple guest star callers and the awkwardness with Rogers, McManus and Vardalos, there is a solid supporting cast to help lift up the drama between the main characters.

Miller co-wrote the script and Jamie Travis found a way to bring out this story of women in an unusual situation finding friendship and themselves in the process. They seemed like they were opposites, especially with their past in college. Katie was always the partier, while Lauren was all about sticking to a plan. When she decided to give in to the phone line, her organization helped them both at the beginning but spending time with Katie began to loosen her up. Once the truth came out about Katie’s actual lack of sexual experiences, it turned the tables between the two of them but began to lead Katie toward actually experiencing love for the first time.

While the film takes a dive into learning to accept yourself for who you are and striving to move forward in life, the relationship between the two women was one about trust and respect. Since Katie played the role of the phone sex worker to its extreme, Lauren took a lot of time to release the image she had of her from college and accept her as someone who was just trying to compensate for something that made her feel incomplete. For Lauren, she played the safe and planned route for so long that she caused Katie to be cautious about letting her in, even after they started to work together. As their relationship allowed them both to drop their guards and with Lauren flustered about the minimal possibility of getting her dream job, the interview with the publishing company offering her the position caused them both to reevaluate their friendship and trust in each other.

This is not a superbly acted film and lacks a sense of modesty, but it is a fun friendship comedy that gives a couple female leads a chance to reach a wide market of movie-goers.

Dan’s Rating: 3.0/5

Spring Breakers: Time to Experiment (2012)

With dreams of getting to their big Spring Break party in Florida, Candy, Britt and Cotty refuse to let their lack of money prevent them from getting down there. Brandishing a fake gun and a couple of mallets, they dress in masks and rob a local restaurant. Picking up their friend Faith, the group of girls head down to Florida and live it up. Taking things a little too far, the girls are busted for partying with drugs. After getting bailed out by an unknown friend, the girls find themselves in some new places among a number of sketchy men. This becomes too much for Faith, who decides to go home but cannot convince the others to follow her. The other three girls become infatuated with their new friend, Alien, and begin to wreak havoc among the other spring breakers, attracting the attention of former friend of Alien, Archie.

Starring: James Franco (Alien), Selena Gomez (Faith), Vanessa Hudgens (Candy), Ashley Benson (Brit), Rachel Korine (Cotty), Gucci Mane (Archie), Heather Morris (Bess), Ash Lendzion (Forest), Emma Holzer (Heather), Lee Irby (History Professor), Jeff Jarrett (Youth Pastor)

The performances in this film were interesting but not spectacular. Franco played a bit of a loose cannon who’s whole goal in life involved a combination of money, women and causing chaos for others. Gomez served as the slight bit of moral authority but departed a little early in the film. For Hudgens, Korine and Benson, they play their roles as the impressionable and reckless college students with a devious edge. Mane played only a small role but he still did not do much with the time he had.

Harmony Korine’s film had an interesting flair to it, taking a different approach to the idea of a college party adventure. The four young women decided that they wanted to get to spring break but did not have the money. Unclear of where their decision to rob people came from, the film introduced that element to both allow them to get to spring break but also to begin their descent toward violence and thievery. Once down in Florida, they truly went “girls gone wild.” Alien entered the film as a conduit for Candy, Brit and Cotty to truly explore how deep into the mess they were willing to go.

  

While the basic story of the film was intriguing, the presentation was not. It felt like half of the dialogue in the film was Alien repeating the words “spring break” over and over again. There were a number of semi-psychadelic scenes that felt like they were on repeat from earlier in the film. In the end, the 90+ minute film could have easily been reduced to a half-hour short movie. From a message standpoint, there does not seem to be a real sense of what is supposed to be the point. The women rob locals from their town and find themselves caught up in the crime in Florida. They partner up with Alien and end up betraying him and killing his competition. So the film ends with a feeling of confusion. How were they so easily able to kill all of Archie’s crew without getting hurt? What was the point? Why even betray Alien? None of it really made any sense.

This is a film that had a lot of intrigue and the possibility of being something of a younger and somewhat more dramatic Bridesmaids, but it just feel flat on its repetitive and underdeveloped script and presentation.

Dan’s Rating: 2.0/5

The Collection: Every Great Collector Has a Vision (2012)

Having been captured by The Collector, Arkin finally gets his chance to escape while The Collector wreaks havoc on the another group of people. After the traps at the rave exterminate nearly everyone in attendance, partygoer Elena is captured alive and thrown in a trunk while Arkin dives out a window and heads for safety. While recovering in the hospital, Arkin is confronted by a band of mercenaries hired by Elena’s father to save her. Needing his help, Lucello keeps pushing Arkin to take them further into The Collector’s lair. With each step further into his dungeon, more and more traps spring out and cause the group to begin to dwindle. With The Collector’s attention diverted, Elena is able to escape the box and the room to search for her own way out.

Starring: Josh Stewart (Arkin), Emma Fitzpatrick (Elena), Christopher McDonald (Mr. Peters), Lee Tergesen (Lucello), Tim Griffin (Dre), Andre Royo (Wally), Randall Archer (The Collector), Shannon Kaene (Paz), Brandon Molale (Lin), Erin Way (Abby), Johana Braddy (Missy Solomon), Michael Nardelli (Josh)

While there was nothing really wrong with the cast, the feeling of the story really failed the ability of the actors to develop their characters. Besides the connections that were made between Mr. Peters, Elena and Lucello, each of the actors simply play to the basic themes of the film. Stewart was a man who struggled with him inability to act, and was still stunned by the events of the previous film. Fitzpatrick plays the role well of the frightened captive and McDonald appears to be appropriately frozen out of fear.

Having experience with the Saw franchise, Marcus Dunstan followed up his 2009 film with a larger scale killing spree. The Collector decided to expand his reach and his efforts with more often and larger scale killings. The rave was a complete blood bath, but he was able to keep up his desire to capture one person alive. Arkin was resistent, but he became the hero once the chaos started in The Collector’s dungeon. Between coked out captives and traps at every turn, the mercenary team had no idea what they were getting themselves into. The Collector also let himself get a little in over his head when he took his time with each of the intruders and allowed for fail-safes with each trap.

The film’s traps have a little less of the intricate Saw designs and are a little more crude and quick. Regardless of the gore factor, the story is truly lacking in a big way. The first film did not explain the motive behind The Collector’s purpose for trapping and torturing people. There is actually still no explanation as to why he went down this path. Arkin’s ease at the end of the film to seek out revenge seemed a little too big of a jump for a man who barely made it out alive from the rave and was close to death throughout the dungeon. The lack of story also meant that there was a lack of care for the characters.

The film tried to replicate the success of the Saw series without the sense of purpose and story. Not the best way to recreate the horror. On the bright side, there were some decent surprises and deviously disgusting traps.

Dan’s Rating: 1.5/5

Playing for Keeps: What Do You Really Want? (2012)

After his remarkable international career was cut short due to injury, George decides to move to Virginia to be closer to his son, Lewis. Without a job and without many options, he is just scraping by until a public display of skill at his son’s soccer practice causes the parents to ask him to take over as the coach. Though he begrudgingly agrees, he quickly starts to reestablish a relationship with his son while catching the attention of a number of the mothers of the other players and one really high-energy dad. As the friendships begin to evolve into interesting experiences, he realizes that his relationship with Lewis will continue to be underdeveloped unless he can make some serious changes in his life. The more he spends time with his son, the harder it is to resist his feelings for his ex-wife and reconcile the possibility of moving to Connecticut to take a job with ESPN.

Starring: Gerard Butler (George), Jessica Biel (Stacey), Noah Lomax (Lewis), Dennis Quaid (Carl), Uma Thurman (Patti), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Denise), James Tupper (Matt), Judy Greer (Barb), Abella Wyss (Ally), Iqbal Theba (Param), Sean O’Bryan (Assistant Coach Jacob)

Though the film had elements of a higher energy sports film, the cast kept the actual energy fairly low-key. Butler attempted to take a more dramatic approach but lacked a bit of the allure of a man struggling to find his way. Biel seemed a bit too passive during the film, but that may have also been how she appeared in contrast to the wilder, imbalanced performances of Quaid, Thurman, Zeta-Jones and Greer.

Gabriele Muccino’s film is one that focused on the choices that people make for the sake of their families. When George’s career was taking off, he abandoned his wife and son to pursue international success. When all of that went away, he was left to pick up the pieces and ended up in shambles. He had all the recognition but none of the earnings. The chance to coach his son’s team was a double-edged sword. He was confronted by desperate parents wanting to get a chance to get to know the handsome bachelor more but the extra exposure to his ex-wife caused him to long to return to their once happy relationship. Lewis also started to get confused by the presence but continued feelings of disappointment from his father. While the ESPN deal and the women throwing themselves at him was attractive, he realized that he was looking for something else.

While this film has moments of heart and an occasional laugh, it really struggles from a lack of chemistry and lackluster overall performances. Some of the characters, particularly Dennis Quaid’s, is just a bit too eccentric and only added to the story with his last scene. Theba only added a few moments of awkwardness. The story seemed to not know if it wanted to focus on the family relationship of George, Stacey and Lewis or just on George’s struggles with his conscience.

This is an easily forgettable film, but was not without its couple moments of entertainment.

Dan’s Rating: 2.0/5