Movie Review - Killer Obsession

Killer Obsession

AKA:  Crossfire

2016

The Cast

When National Guard soldier Samantha Harrison (McKee) returns to her hometown after a tour in Iraq, which has left her with a pending "Friendly Fire" charge, she finds "Normal" life is harder than serving in a war-zone.  Graydon (Rozon) is the sole survivor of the team Samantha supposedly gunned down and he's looking for both justice and revenge.  Unable to remember the night in question, Samantha has to rely on the testimonies of her squad; Billy (Koensgen), Bobby (Thebaud), and Jimmy (Lund)...  However, after both Billy and Bobby take their own lives it becomes evident to Samantha there's something darker going on and she sets out to solve the mystery.

This is a very well thought out mystery with strong believable characters that are portrayed respectfully by the actors and actresses.  McKee makes a good lead role and is so subtle in her portrayal, never going overboard on the emotional side, to make Samantha very believable.  I could relate to her outburst of anxiety when she tries to seek law advice.  She just cannot fill in the forms.  You can see all the raw emotion on her face.  Then after she takes flight, back in her car, you can see the relief flood over her along with the sadness and anger at not having been able to complete a simple task.  This is pretty much spot on, as a sufferer of depression and anxiety, I can relate.  Lund too is great in his portrayal.  His character also has as many different flaws that he brings across to the audience in a believable way.  The only thing I would have liked would have been a little more structure and drive to Rozon's character, Graydon.  This could have been used to create a little more unease and suspense, especially revolving around the inevitable twist.  This, however, could have been down to writing or direction, rather than acting.  I must also pay respect too to Thebaud's character, Bobby, who injects the idea of a conspiracy theory into the storyline.  He does this so well, you can see that he's worried about his and his families life.  There are no small parts in this film.

The story, on the whole, is good and flows well.  It does have a few slight flaws.  If you're a fan of mysteries then you'll have solved this one pretty quickly as it's not a great twist.  As I said before, it could have been made better.  The other is the constant bombardment of "getting councilling".  Don't get me wrong, I believe therapy can be a good thing but it's pushed too much within the run of the movie.

The direction is well above standard for a TV Movie and helps to keep the audience's attention, as well as creating atmosphere.  Though I do believe there was a chance missed to make Graydon appear more ominous and driven.  I particularly liked the use of colourisation.  Muddy browns for a melancholy moment and greys for sad and depressing scenes.  Even the flashbacks to the combat looked realistic, even though they weren't on a large scale, which I think actually helped their power.

If you like a war drama with an interweaving mystery to solve this is the film to watch.  I really enjoyed the film and would be happy to watch it again at some time...

I give this a cold and calculated 6.75 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Last Chance Cafe

Last Chance Cafe

2006

The Cast

If there were ever a time there was the last chance for you to watch this film I'd advise on missing it.  Unless you like slow and laborious, go nowhere stories, with next to no storyline, that is.

The only real saving grace this film had were the actors and actresses as they really did try.  Though they never quite appear to save the film as there's just too much wrong with it.  There's bad dialogue, worse camera shots, inactive action sequences, and a storyline that appears cobbled together.  If you took out all the unnecessary scenes for the pivotal ones, you would lose over half the film.

This to me is a waste of a decent cast.  I've mostly enjoyed everything Kevin Sorbo and Samantha Ferris have been in, but not this.  I cannot lay the blame at the feet of the cast at all because they all do a decent job with their characters.  It's just that there's not much for them to get their teeth into.  Which is a shame as the synopsis should allow for a multitude of interesting scenes.

Hallie (Vernon) used to be married to the District Attorney, even though her stepfather was against the marriage and had misgivings about her husband Paul (Novak).  At her stepfather's funeral, she learns that he might have been silenced.  An old friend of his passes across some evidence to Hallie at the graveside.  She is shocked to see photographs of her ex in the company of corrupt cops.  When her suspicions are confirmed she packs her daughter and herself into the car and off they run.  The car breaks down but luckily for them, they're in one of the friendliest and littlest towns in America.  She quickly gets a job in the cafe, a house on Chance's (Zorbo) ranch, and she doesn't have to worry about the car repairs - until she can afford it... where is this small town I wanna move in(?)

This all happens in the first fifteen minutes of the film, so the rest is going to be packed with the dirty cops and bent DA chasing her down... well... no!  They'll kidnap the daughter to trade her for the evidence?.. no!  There'll at least be a big shootout between the bad and good guys?.. no!  The rest of the film is pretty much filled with mushy stuff, which could be forgivable if it were done well.  This film had so much scope but you can push the storyline through the eye of a sewing needle it's that thin.

The only reason I'd recommend this flick to anyone is to show them how not to make a film - or how to make a boring film, especially if they're involved in trying to cure insomnia.

I give this snoozefest a 3.5 out of 10.

The Film Clip

Movie Review - Deadly Paradise

Deadly Paradise

AKA Dark Paradise

AKA Remote Paradise

2016

The Cast

  

Badly scripted lines delivered badly and captured badly on film... This is a bad film. What's your price to sell off your morals and beliefs? For Tamara, played by Boti Bliss, it's 8.3 million dollars. Right from the start, this story starts hitting the cliche list. Tamara is a woman whose life was ruined by her father. What did her father do to ruin her life, you ask? He walked out on her and her mom... and being the weak women that they were they let this incident affect their entire lives forward - this is "cliche three" ("cliche one" is the bad boyfriend we see before this incident and "cliche two" is the cat she owns because she's a sad and lonely woman (and we never see the poor old puddywack again)). She tells the estate lawyer that she wants absolutely nothing to do with her absentee father or anything he may have left her, she is venomous to the extreme about this - "cliche four". Then the lawyer tells her it's 8.3 million and boy you can see that she climaxes in her pants on the spot - "cliche five". And of course there are no thoughts about not excepting her Daddy's generous gift - "cliche six"... and we're only ten minutes into the story.

From here on in it gets worse, much worse. There's nothing worthy within this story or film to save it and make it worth a viewing - I wasted an hour and a half so you don't need to. I mean, even the direction is so bad that the continuity errors actually scream at you. There are a couple of times when Tamara waves from the front of the villa at Dario (Sabato Jr) on his yacht. In front of the villa are nothing but open sea and a couple of distant islands - though when we see Dario wave back he's in a harbour with trees behind him. If he's in a harbour on one of the distant islands then Tamara has better eyesight than an eagle or a hawk. There's even a wonderful binocular scene where the image actually gets closer. Binoculars are fixed and do not zoom. Then there's a wonderful scene where the director uses a fisheye lens which has the effect of giving the audience actual seasickness.

Though the worst thing is towards to the end of the film when we get the reveal. This is so unrealistic and implausible to be completely stupid. 

Even though there's a lot going on in the film nothing is properly explored or utilised to its best advantage. This is such a waste of a story - even though it's not a particularly good one.

Just for the dearly departed pussycat, I give this a badly constructed 1.75 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Closed Circuit

Closed Circuit

(2013)

Focus Features / Working Title Films : Universal Home Entertainment

6.75 / 10

This movie tries to work on the audience's paranoia by showing them that the government, or a greater power, has control over everything and sees everything... you are nothing but a pawn in their game... should you try to challenge them then you are expendable.

It comes close to succeeding until you realise the amount of manpower surveillance on this scale would take.  It's just not feasible.  Though forget that and you have a pretty decent conspiracy theory movie about a bumbled MI5 operation and the lengths they will go to correct their error.

Eric Bana proves his acting talent once again by giving a good portrayal of a lawyer dropped into the mess.  Scared and worried about the outcome, not just for himself but ex-girlfriend and colleague, Claudia Simmons-Howe, and the child of the suspected terrorist whose lives are at risk.

Though Eric Bana gives a good performance as Martin Rose, along with Jim Broadbent as the Attorney General, it's Rebecca Hall as Claudia that lets the story down.  I'm not sure if it's her acting or the director's vision of this character.  I like the idea of Claudia not fully understanding the situation she's gotten into and later having to rely on Rose for help and to keep her alive as he is the savviest of the pair.  She comes across as too weak and I cannot believe she achieved the position she holds.

The story is a little convoluted at times with twists, hints, and allegations being brandished about.  The concept of Trust No One is very evident in this film and you have trouble figuring out who to believe and who not to.  This hinders the story somewhat because you know what the story is about right from the start it's just the journey to a satisfactory ending you're on and you better fasten that seatbelt... it sure is a bumpy ride.

This one is a must for the conspiracy theory nuts, of which I am one, though be warned it's not a smooth ride.