Director: McG
Writers: Adi Hasak (screenplay), Luc Besson (screenplay)
Stars: Kevin Costner, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen
Plot: A dying CIA agent trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter is offered an experimental drug that could save his life in exchange for one last assignment.
Running Time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics 28% Audience 43%
Why I watched it: Well I like Costner and it’s kind of an action film, i know that’s weak, sorry.
Random Thoughts: While I was watching this film I thought Costner is a bit old to have that young a daughter, but I looked it up and he would have been in his 40′s it helps his onscreen wife played by Nielsen is ten years younger. This was co-written by Luc Besson and I have to say this has Besson all over it, shot in Paris and making no plot sense what so ever.
What I liked: Say what you want about Kevin Costner, he’s had huge ups and downs but he’s a good actor and he’s likeable, plus he has that every man thing down pat. The only reason to watch this film is for him, he’s not great but he’s fun and he’s trying this isn’t a mailed in performance he’s invested.
The action is decent the opening bit is pretty good, Costner handles himself well. I also thought he had decent chemistry with Steinfeld, he’s a not great Dad but trying and that comes across he’s earnest about it.
What I didn’t like: This is a dumb movie pure and simple and one thing you could get on your soapbox about, and I will for a bit, this is such a man’s wish fulfilment story, guy in his 60′s has a 20 year old daughter hasn’t been around, hasn’t been a good Dad, hasn’t been a good husband to his wife who is ten years his junior, he’s an assassin travels the world does his own shit and leaves his family waiting for him to come back when he feels like it then he finds out he’s dying and whats to make things right in Paris, then a women thirty years younger who flirts with him all the time has a magic potion to say him. Really? It’s easier to believe King Kong lives on Kong Island than to buy this. The whole tone for this is off, I didn’t mind him with his daughter but the action and the whole getting his life back didn’t gel for me. Everything is surface here, there’s cliches about feelings but no real ones on display. I think it’s hard to combine real life melodrama with an over the top action movie, one hurts the other.
I want to touch on tone and running time, I go off on both of these all the time, these two things are my biggest pet peeves with movies, if you can’t nail the tone you can’t tell the story pure and simple and for goodness sake if you’re movie is almost two hours have two hours of story to tell. This films fails on both of these things. You have Costner’s character kidnap and torture someone for information but in the middle he gets a call from his daughter on how to make a good pasta sauce so of course he gets the guy he’s beating to help him.
In a dark comedy maybe this works the sad thing is they do this gag about three times in this film. The tone is all over the place and really hurts the film. The goofy stuff hurts the drama and the drama really bogs down the action story. So what we have is the worst of two words. I want to mention Amber Heard she brings nothing to the table here except that she’s pretty, I don’t buy her in the role and frankly she’s miscast.
Final Thoughts: It’s a watchable bad movie, you have some good actors trying but it’s a silly story that never finds it’s tone.
Rating: 4/10
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