I normally hate movies which base the whole story on someone dying, a bit like this movie which is purposely slow, starts when relatives mainly the distant siblings all come together and try to pretend that everything is normal and everything is loving when inside there is a hidden resentment and hatred.
This movie may be very true to life and Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller & Dustin Hoffman work believably in this dark drama surrounded by wit & moans.
I definitely don’t want to see this film again, I enjoyed the actor’s,I enjoyed the performances, but it was just too dreary, Hoffman has the best lines and character, he still knows how to transfer the written word into gold on a screen.
As a side note I really hope Adam Sandler leaves all the teenage Happy Gilmore stuff alone now & focuses on some meaty roles, he has real acting talent when he is not shouting or walking around like an oversized baby, I would love to see him as a killer or a cheating husband.
6/10
Wheelman starts off well, the camera view is based from the back of the car, you hear muffled voices and see a couple of men chatting outside, before long you get to meet your lead character played by Frank Grillo,he is the getaway driver, straight away I felt comfortable knowing that he is ” behind the wheel” as the lead he took everyone on a thrilling ride in the Purge 2.
This film sets up a great start by bringing in lots of car chases, accidents and thrills, but then the director seems to forget about these mystery characters and instead increases the speed of the film from 10mph to 200mph, there were plenty of questions unanswered but everything seem to wrap itself up without any explanation as to why, then the credits rolled, maybe a quirky direction but for me it feels like the film ran out of money and did not have an option to film many key scenes, really shame as it had the feel of a good action film .
5/10
Cardboard Gangsters breathes a ton of oxygen into a dead genre, the setting is a poor estate in Ireland and the back drop is about a group of friends who are tired of living week to week without any real money and struggling to find a purpose in life.
As well as the good writing throughout, there is an honesty to the film which draws you in, if this was a cliché London flick all the characters would automatically move from scene to scene murdering people or hurting people without there being a flicker of intimidation or thought from the character in question, this film highlights the fact that you can choose to live a dangerous life but if you do you might have to face up to some dark consequences,may seem like common sense but the average person is good-hearted and has the support of family around them, when you truly break out of societies decency rules the effects can be devastating to a persons own karma, I have not seen a film break new ground with such style and clever writing in a long time, all on a limited budget, the people involved in this film will go on to bigger and better things, I have no doubt, treat yourself to fabulous night in with the Cardboard Gangsters.
9/10
KO
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