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redfiona99The Case For The Prosecution:
I feel slightly bad about putting this film in here. Except not.
I saw most of the film on the way over to Mexico but missed the last 15 minutes because the plane landed. And it was good enough that I hoped it hadn't been taken off by the time I flew back so I could see the end.
So it's watchable at least. And intriguing.
The performances are solid throughout. Jason Statham does well as the troubled Nick Wild, Michael Angarano is spot-on as Cyrus the pencil-necked geek, Milo Ventimiglia does either a terrible job of tough and dangerous, or an excellent job of hiding behind mafia Daddy's coattails and "wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight", while Stanley Tucci gives a great 5 minute cameo as Baby, the kind of man who has a nickname like that, and is the most deadly man in this state and the next.
The problem is the story, or the lack thereof.
Things do no happen for a reason, they just happen. Now I have no idea if the director/writers was going for some weird cinema verite type thing or if, you know, just couldn't come up with a climax, because, just as everything is set up, the film ends.
Or they were expecting me to take Milo Ventimiglia's character seriously as a threat and I didn't. (Okay, writing this has made me realise he was supposed to be the big bad. Um, ... the film failed to make him suitably threatening. It's not my fault.)
The scene itself:
Is not availble. It literally ends just before this clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBRTe09eseE&t=20s
Why The Scene Is So Good:
Basically Michael Angarano's character Cyrus is a young guy who, because of a facility with numbers, has made his money but doesn't feel he's proved himself.
The character comes across in the French trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNfjZnbL5wc
He's come to Vegas to prove himself AS A MAN. Don't worry, the film thoroughly mocks him for this and the way he originally wanted to do it.
However, when the bad guys come for Nick Wild, and he desperately needs a distraction, Cyrus stands up for him.
Literally. He gets up on a counter-top and dances.
And it works.
It means that post violence in the clip, when Nick wins, Cyrus gives him the money he won the night before, because he's proved to himself to himself, which is the important thing.
It's interesting that they chose to have him prove himself using a non-violent method. I mean, it makes sense, because someone like that is a liability in a fight, and would have hindered Nick Wild more than he helped, while this provides him a way of helping that actually helps but films have this tendency of using violence as their way of "making a man" out of a characters, and I like that the film doesn't go that way.
Like I said, the 3/4 of this film that would make a good Bogart film is actually good.
I feel slightly bad about putting this film in here. Except not.
I saw most of the film on the way over to Mexico but missed the last 15 minutes because the plane landed. And it was good enough that I hoped it hadn't been taken off by the time I flew back so I could see the end.
So it's watchable at least. And intriguing.
The performances are solid throughout. Jason Statham does well as the troubled Nick Wild, Michael Angarano is spot-on as Cyrus the pencil-necked geek, Milo Ventimiglia does either a terrible job of tough and dangerous, or an excellent job of hiding behind mafia Daddy's coattails and "wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight", while Stanley Tucci gives a great 5 minute cameo as Baby, the kind of man who has a nickname like that, and is the most deadly man in this state and the next.
The problem is the story, or the lack thereof.
Things do no happen for a reason, they just happen. Now I have no idea if the director/writers was going for some weird cinema verite type thing or if, you know, just couldn't come up with a climax, because, just as everything is set up, the film ends.
Or they were expecting me to take Milo Ventimiglia's character seriously as a threat and I didn't. (Okay, writing this has made me realise he was supposed to be the big bad. Um, ... the film failed to make him suitably threatening. It's not my fault.)
The scene itself:
Is not availble. It literally ends just before this clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBRTe09eseE&t=20s
Why The Scene Is So Good:
Basically Michael Angarano's character Cyrus is a young guy who, because of a facility with numbers, has made his money but doesn't feel he's proved himself.
The character comes across in the French trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNfjZnbL5wc
He's come to Vegas to prove himself AS A MAN. Don't worry, the film thoroughly mocks him for this and the way he originally wanted to do it.
However, when the bad guys come for Nick Wild, and he desperately needs a distraction, Cyrus stands up for him.
Literally. He gets up on a counter-top and dances.
And it works.
It means that post violence in the clip, when Nick wins, Cyrus gives him the money he won the night before, because he's proved to himself to himself, which is the important thing.
It's interesting that they chose to have him prove himself using a non-violent method. I mean, it makes sense, because someone like that is a liability in a fight, and would have hindered Nick Wild more than he helped, while this provides him a way of helping that actually helps but films have this tendency of using violence as their way of "making a man" out of a characters, and I like that the film doesn't go that way.
Like I said, the 3/4 of this film that would make a good Bogart film is actually good.
