Traitor

First Hit: I liked the subtle tension this film creates as it moves along but, in the end, it wasn’t really satisfying.

Don Cheadle plays Samir Horn a Muslim terrorist who was previously a US Army Special Forces hero. He was traumatized as a boy of 6 when his father, a religious teacher, was blown up in a jeep right in front of his eyes.

The film subtly lays out its hand by giving you a slight hint that Horn is still associated with the government, however watching his actions, one could believe he has become a traitor. Guy Pearce plays FBI agent Roy Clayton who is after Horn because Horn is supplying the terrorists with explosives for suicide bombings.

For Horn to prove his commitment to the Muslim terrorist organization he stages a bombing of a section of a US Embassy by remote control and people are killed although we learn it this wasn’t the plan.

Additionally, Horn is a devout Muslim and during the film he prays often and he expresses the peaceful nature of Islam. It is Horn’s faith that gives you the notion he doesn’t believe in killing. Additional religious ties in the film are provided by Roy whose father and grandfather was a preacher.

This wasn’t a great film but I liked it because it attempts to put Koran in a context that supports a positive belief of Allah. I liked the deep-well intensity that Cheadle brings to Samir and the direct humanness Pearce brings to Roy.

Overall: This was an interesting film about terrorism but somehow the tension it creates isn’t strong enough and the ending isn’t very satisfactory.

88 Minutes

First Hit: I was slightly disappointed in this film and by Pacino’s acting.

The story is about Pacino (playing Dr. Jack Gramm) getting a threat from someone he helped convict through his expertise in forensic psychology. The threats come over his cell phone and the first call indicates he has 88 minutes left to live.

Jack is convinced that the convicted convict is behind the phone calls. The convict is convinced that it was Jack’s testimony that put him in this situation and he wants to get back at Jack by creating questions about Jack’s testimony. If he does than he may get a stay of execution and maybe a new trial.

Pacino plays Jack as pretty cool and even tempered for someone who is being phoned every 10 minutes or so telling him he is about to die. There are additional killings that mimic the imprisoned convict’s killings which bring to question whether they have the right person in jail. Sound confusing, well it gets worse, or more accurately the film gets more convoluted.

Pacino is mediocre in this subdued role. The film has more than enough people giving hints that they might be involved with this masquerade and it creates more than enough suspicion. But it’s all this suspicion and odd looks by people in the film that make it a mess. I like Alicia Witt as Kim his teacher’s aide and Amy Brenneman as his trusted assistant Shelly who does a lion share of the investigation.

Overall: This film is overly convoluted and needed to be more direct and streamlined to make it interesting.

Street Kings

First Hit: I was not only surprised by the acting I really enjoyed the ride.

Confession: Keanu Reeves is not my favorite actor.

However, in this film as Detective Tom Ludlow, Keanu shows his acting experience and maturity by playing a gritty veteran LA cop who finds life hard after the death of his wife. He takes to drinking airplane size bottles of vodka while driving to his next scene.

The set up of his personality comes right at the start of the film in which he wakes up, throws up, buys some mini bottles of Vodka and goes after some guys who are looking to buy some guns. From here the story takes off while ensuring you get a full dose of why he works alone, why he is dangerous, how he continues to stay on the force, and his hair trigger.

Forest Whitaker plays Captain Jack Wander who is steadily rising through the department on the back and collars of Detective Ludlow. He covers for him when needed because the outcomes of the events are only supporting his growth through the department. As you might guess there is someone in the department working against Ludlow and this provides the fuel for this interesting adventure full of twists and turns all of which make sense as you go along for the ride.

Overall: The acting was very good, the script excellent, and the subtle directing wasn’t in the way of a good story.

Funny Games

First Hit: There is nothing funny about this dark descending film.

I’ve never been in a theater where one-fifth of the audience walked out of a film.

Granted, there were only 20 people in the audience to begin with, but 4 people walked out before it finished.

I don’t blame them as this was a dark violent film with little or no redeeming value. I’m not sure why this film was made or if there was an overriding point to the film, but if it was a commentary on the violence in the United States (or the world) it didn’t make this statement very well because on three occasions

Michael Pitt looks straight at the camera and talks to the audience. This alone puts the film in a different category than simple statement about violence.

If it was a commentary that people like me would pay money to see a family brutalized, then I hope people read this review and don’t go. Were there positive aspects of this film? Yes, there were some extended shots that were revealing, exposing real tragedy, and well directed plus there was a momentary bright spot when Naomi Watts shoots one of the perpetrators.

However because his accomplice doesn’t like that his partner got shot, he picks up the television remote control, rewinds the entire scene and then plays it back differently. But these few bright spots don’t make a good film.

The simple story line is two young men, of which we know nothing of their background, go from house to house killing the residents in this upscale lakeside community. Why? We don’t really know except that they are hungry, especially for eggs.

The story primarily focuses on the killing of one family consisting of Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and Devon Gearhart. Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet play the deranged young men who look and feel upscale but set out to find victims, punish them with their games, kill them, and then move on to another family.

Overall: I found virtually no redeeming value to this film and wouldn’t recommend it at any level to anyone.

The Bank Job

First Hit: This was an entertaining film that was efficiently paced and based on the 1971 London bank robbery.

There is very little background development or information about the characters of this event which is fine because the action, plots and subplots propelled the film.

However, I did want to know more about the previous history between Terry, the head thief, (played by Jason Statham) and Martine Love (played by Saffron Burrows).

My reasoning is that there is a continuing story line involving the jealousy between Terry’s wife and Martine and it kept cropping up and wasn’t fleshed out. Otherwise, each of the characters has some background built into their story line and it’s enough to accept this at face value and roll with the action of the robbery story.

The story involves compromising pictures of a member of the royal family, crooked members of Scotland Yard, members of the high government who like kinky sex, the local police, a charismatic black radical leader, a sex club owner, a Madame, and a high level government secret service team.

All these characters have something at stake in the safety deposit boxes that are robbed. It begins when Martine is being pressured by high government officials to find someone to rob a bank and collect pictures of a royal family member’s sex romp. If she finds someone to do this robbery the drug charges against her will be dropped.

The deal also includes the robbers getting to keep the ill gotten gains. The robbery and story line gets more complicated when some of the stolen items mean as much to the people that were stolen from, as the royal family’s compromising pictures mean to the government.

With multiple plots revolving around the robbers and the people who were robbed the action is quick, engaging and the outcome was satisfying.

Overall: This isn’t a great film; however it is interesting, fast and well paced with strong enough acting resulting in a very entertaining film.