Director: Simon West
Writers: Toby Davies, Mark Haskell Smith
Stars: Antonio Banderas, Olga Kurylenko, Ben Cura
Plot: An ageing rock star’s wife is kidnapped while vacationing in Chile.
Running Time: 1 hour 32 minutes
IMDB Score: 4.0
Why I Watched it: I really like Antonio Banderas, I find him funny and when he’s over the top he’s fun to watch. Also the trailer looked not bad. iTunes had it on for $2.99 so I took a chance.
Thoughts: I don’t think this got a theatrical release but it did debut on VOD. This is a different type of film for Simon West who’s known more for his action films.
What I liked: Banderas is the best thing in the film he’s charming and funny and does a very good ageing rock star. Yes he’s way over the top but in a good way. Now the one thing that kind of surprised me was I thought this was going to be a action movie with comedy but it’s the other way around and I would say there’s hardly any action in it and the comedy is very board, almost slapstick at times, boarding on parody. In a way the film reminded me of Ruthless People. Mark Valley goes way against type here and he’s fine, he’s got comic timing but it’s a weird or at least different role for him. The film is short and does move pretty well, pacing is fine.
What I didn’t like: The humour just didn’t click for me, it was too board and many of the jokes missed the mark. It was a good idea but they never found a way to draw out the characters, it’s a one joke money and as you can tell by the plot description it’s a basic plot. That’s where the film disappointed me I was hoping the humour would be character based and also make it more about this ageing rock star trying to get his wife back, but all the characters are played for laughs so there’s no tension and as a comedy the script just isn’t sharp enough to mine the situations for laughs. The film feels kind of flat and by the end it’s pretty much ran out of steam.
Final Thoughts: I did really like Banderas in this and I think you could have made a very funny or at least biting comedy here but it misses the mark. I didn’t even mention Olga Kurylenko she plays the wife, she’s wasted and sadly that’s all I can say about her.
Rating: 4/10
Movie Burner Entertainment 