Ed's Review Dot Com

Summit Entertainment, Exclusive Media Group, Participant Media,

Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper, Jon Bernthal, Michael Kenneth Williams, Melina Kanakaredes, Nadine Velazquez, Rafi Gavron, David Harbour, Benjamin Bratt, Susan Sarandon

John Matthews (Dwayne Johnson)’s son was setup in a stupid drug deal, but due to changes in the law, he’s on the hook for a massive sentence unless he helps to setup one of his friends in the same way he was setup. He’s got more character than that, so John is stuck setting out to risk his own life to setup and snag a cartel leader, setting off on a risky plan that could lose everything.

This is a slam-bam adventure story full of chases and and crashes, lots of gunfire, and edge of your seat excitement. This is the type of film The Rock was born to play in. But the basic premise here is pretty far out. I had a hard time buying the whole premise that the justice department’s hands are so tied, that they can’t do anything but hand down a 10 year sentence to an obviously innocent boy. I also found it hard to believe that The Rock would be able to set out and bring down a whole Mexican drug cartel single handed, and that would be the ticket to get his son off. But the action is acceptable, and if you’re a fan of bang-bang action flicks, this is just as good as the next one. The story just didn’t strike me as particularly original, and it was pretty ho-hum for me. I was not bored, and did stay with the whole movie, but it was not very memorable. I’ve seen a lot better. Though not as awful at “Tooth Fairy”, it’s not that great either. So if you’re looking for a typical action film with lots of escape even though it doesn’t make a lot of sense, then this is a decent rental. But for the most part, it’s hardly worth the effort.

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Langley Park Productions, Lin Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures,

Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie, Holt McCallany, Robert Patrick, Mireille Enos

Mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) has taken over Los Angeles in this 1940′s crime drama. As it seems Mickey has bought out everyone from cops to judges to senators, two dedicated LAPD Sergeants put together a secret band of cops to try to take him down. Knowing Mickey can have them sacked from the force, disgraced, or even killed, their only hope is to take him down before he has a chance to put an end to them.

This based on the real story of the early days of organized crime in L.A. and the brave policemen who tried to put an end to the reign of terror of those who held the city hostage in their quest for power and control and all the money in the city. Very well done, with a bunch of really great talent, this is a fairly decent cops and robbers films like the days of old. With all the talent in this project, it just couldn’t suck, and it doesn’t. It didn’t however, blow my socks off, as I guess I’m just not really a fan of organized crime dramas like this. I loved the Godfather films, but those are so complete that nothing much can compare to those stories. But this is typical Saturday afternoon matinee stuff like the Untouchables and dozens of other films of that genre. This is pretty good in that genre, and if you’re a fan of those kinds of stories, this is a really good one. It has a perfect old film, but with modern equipment and technology and great acting. So I don’t want to discourage anyone from watching this who is interested in this type of film, but my rating is not real high, as for me, I’m just not into these kinds of stories. As far as I can tell, it’s rather as historically accurate as possible in this kind of story, and it does cut to the chase pretty quickly and has a lot of action and suspense. So make your own choice, as you probably will really enjoy this if this is your kind of story.

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ContentFilm International, Echo Lake Productions (I), Piccadilly Pictures,

Malin Akerman, John Cusack, Liam Cunningham, Hannah Murray, Lucy Griffiths, Bryan Dick, Richard Brake, Joey Ansah

Former black ops agent Emerson Kent (John Cusack) just did a very uncomfortable job, and it kind of burned him out. He is assigned to a cushy job protecting a numbers station and a young lady Katherine (Malin Akerman) who is the only one manning the remote station. Numbers stations send out codes in numbers to agents and it is highly classified. But this station has been compromised, and not only is someone trying to mess with the message she is sending, but they intend to see that both Emerson and Katherine are not left alive to tell the story, in this spy action thriller.

I didn’t expect a lot out of this film, but I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t hard to watch at all, and the story was really unique. There’s a lot of suspense of the kind when you are not sure who is who, and what is real and what is lies. There’s a lot of action and danger, and it’s a unique story. The whole back story of the Numbers Station is really interesting. This movie grabbed my attention at least, and though it is not a blockbuster film, it was well worth it as a rental. This is even available as a “Watch Instantly” film from NetFlix. If you like spy thrillers with lots of action and suspense, then this is not all that bad, and worth seeking out. The actors are very decent, and even though this doesn’t seem to be exactly in John Cusack’s wheelhouse, he actually pulled it off very well. He’s kind of deadpan, but when it counts, he’s as bad as the best of them. This was a very pleasant surprise and well worth the rental.

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Harbinger Media Partners,

Lynn Collins, Michael Ealy, Bruce McGill, Kwesi Boakye, Diego Klattenhoff, Cedric Pendleton

Samantha Crawford’s (Lynn Collins) life is shattered when her husband is suddenly killed. Warned by the police to leave it to them, she has some hints as to where the killer resides, so she heads into a really tough section of town to see if she can solve the crime herself. Though warned that’s it’s very dangerous there, her life doesn’t mean much to her without her husband anyway, so she continues. While there she has a couple chance meetings a man who runs a shelter to help the inner city kids, and another man who may be the key to finding her husbands killer.

This Christian drama is heavy on the story and very light on the preaching. Perhaps the Christian filmmakers have learned that putting heavy proselytizing in a movie turns the people off that it’s supposed to benefit. As a result, a lot of the religious movies are only seen by the heavily “organized Christian community” and don’t accomplish what they set out to do. This film, like several others I have viewed in the past few years is far from preachy in any way. Yes, it has characters with good values and moral attitudes, and some bad guys with good hearts, and some downright evil people, but there’s no, in your face, preaching in this movie. Instead, it’s a really good story where you can see the dangers of jumping into conclusions, and where you have to do what’s right and just hope in the end, good things will come. This movie has a moving story that is very rich on many levels, and it’s not one that will turn off people who don’t want to be preached to. I suggest you give this one a look if you’re interested in a good story with some decent values. It’s available on DVD and “Watch Instantly” on NetFlix, and many other places, and is well worth tracking down. The performances are pretty good, and it’s not cheesy or milquetoast in any way. It’s a very decent story.

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Mutual Film Company, Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions,

Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Richard Jenkins, Alexia Fast, Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog, Kristen Dalton, Nicole Forester, James Martin Kelly, Dylan Kussman

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is an ex-military cop who has a special hatred for a military sniper who killed in Iraq but seemingly got away with it. But when suddenly 5 random people are killed by a sniper, the police a quick to identify this guy as the killer. While in prison though, he sends a message out “Get Jack Reacher”. Jack sees this in the news and heads to town when the defense attorney (Rosamund Pike) reaches out to him to help her with the case. Reacher is convinced the guy is guilty, but agrees to search for the truth to prove his guilt, but is drawn into a much bigger plot that proves the 5 random people may not be as random as he thought in this suspenseful crime drama.

This movie looked like it was going to be really big when the first trailers hit the big screen. You probably remember the funny scene in the trailer where Reacher is driving like mad to escape the cops when he walks away from the car and blends into the crowd. It looked like it picked up a lot of buzz at that point, and it’s a Cruise flick, after all. Well it didn’t. I’m not sure why this didn’t tear up the box office, but there perhaps a couple reasons. Maybe it was due to the blockbuster films out at the same time, and the competition buried it. Furthermore, this is a highly intelligent crime drama, and despite the thrilling car chase and a great deal of suspense this is a much deeper movie than the typical Fast and Furious ridiculous CGI 7 story car leaps, 200 yard bridge jumps, and pseudo cosmic nuclear explosions. Nope, this is not all flash and boom, it’s actually got a very good story behind it. Perhaps we’ve become numb by the huge CGI explosions and such, I’m not sure. But now that Jack Reacher is out on DVD, there’s no reason not to go after this film right away as a rental. It’s a good psychological thriller with a great plot and really good acting. I’m definitely not a Cruise fan, but he was very good as Jack Reacher. I would much prefer this movie to any of his Mission Impossible adventures which are low on story and high on explosions. This film has some really good bad guys, and it’s hard to know as you go through who’s on which side, but it’s clear that Jack is going to sort it out at the end. I recommend this film if you’re in the mood for a crime thriller that will challenge your brain for a change instead of only eye candy.

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