Dog Run Pictures, Park Pictures, TBB,

Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Sisto

Frank (Frank Langella) lives alone out in the country. He’s an ex-jewel thief/cat burglar who’s way past his prime. He’s gotten old, and the memory is failing, and his hands are shaky, and his attitude has turned rather snarly. His daughter, Madison (Liv Tyler), travels the world for her work and never comes to see him, and his wife divorced him a long time ago. His son, Hunter (James Marsden) is married, has a family, but makes the weekly drive out to visit his Dad, just to see how he’s getting along, but it’s never pleasant for either of them. Frank refuses to go to the home, and so Frank comes up with a plan. It’s the near future, and Frank gives him a robot to take care of him, make sure he’s eating healthy, getting exercise, and doing all the right things. Frank hates the idea, and Madison is a member of a protest group against non-human slavery and doesn’t approve of a robot, but when Frank finds out the robot was not programmed with a sense of right and wrong, and that he is very adept at picking locks and stealing loot, Frank decides he likes the robot a lot. But as his health deteriorates, and trouble abounds at every turn, he has to take a look at how he’s going to survive his last years.

This is a little movie that has a awful lot going for it. It’s clever, very engaging, and filled with good performances. Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon play well off each other as a crotchety old relic of the past, and an obsolete librarian who is relegated to caretaker of a library museum, for the most part. James Marsden and Liv Tyler, as the grown children are also very good in their roles. They add a lot of spice to the plot. Peter Sarsgaard, as the voice of the robot who Frank refuses to name, is also adds a lot to the film. The robot is a very strong character, and his motives and intentions are very well defined. All in all, this was a very surprising little film that is one of the hidden gems that nobody has heard of, but is a pretty decent little film. I found myself intrigued by the story, even if the ending kind of let me down, the entire story was very good and I found myself very attentive and sad when it was over. This is a short film, a bit under and hour and half, but it is very good storytelling, and one of those forgotten films that you ought to give a chance. Hopefully now that it’s out on DVD many more people will get a chance to see it. It was pretty good.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Foresight Unlimited, VIP Media Group, Michael Mailer Films,

Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Jaqueline Fleming, Jillian Batherson, Mike Pniewski, Dean J. West, Katia Gomez

Detective Hollis Lucetti (Terrence Howard) is having a bad day. He just found out he is unable to have children, but what does that say about the two kids he has raised? To top it off, he’s assigned to talk a man, Gavin Nichols (Charlie Hunnam) down from the ledge of a tall building. But he senses there is more to the story than meets his eye. Gavin has some time, so he starts telling the story to Hollis. It’s about a girl, Shana Harris (Liv Tyler) and her jealous self righteous and religious husband Joe Harris (Patrick Wilson). But the clock is ticking and soon Gavin is going to jump.

This is an interesting film. Not to be confused with the other recent release “Man on a Ledge” which was also pretty good, this film has a really interesting story as well. The back story of the detective and his marriage crisis takes a back seat to the real reason why Gavin is up on the ledge, but we, of course, have no idea what’s going on. Then bit by bit, he tells us the story (in flash back) in an intriguing tale of what led to this horrible ending. The acting is very good. All 4 of the leads are superb. They play off one another very well. This is not a big budget film, but it is a perfect example of how to make a small budget film. It’s too bad this didn’t get better promotion, but it’s very much worth watching. This is definitely one of those that fell off everyone’s radar, and I feel it’s a very good film and well worth the effort to track it down. It’s quite unique in the story it tells.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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This Is That Productions, Ambush Entertainment, Crimson Bolt

Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Andre Royo, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, Linda Cardellini, Nathan Fillion

Frank D’Arbo (Rainn Wilson) loses his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) to a drug kingpin Jacques (Kevin Bacon). While in the throes of depression at the loss of his wife, he thinks he hears the voice of God who tells him to don a costume and turn into The Crimson Bolt! Frank has a desire to set the world right, and takes his bumbling superhero character to heart, but his weapon of choice is a pipe wrench. In the beginning this is just silly, but he actually wields a pretty mean pipe wrench. Soon he meets Libby (Ellen Page) who is a clerk in a comic book store but who figures out that Frank is The Crimson Bolt. Tagging along after him, and taking upon herself the title “Boltie” she becomes his sidekick much to Frank’s chagrin. What follows is a raucous, yet heart felt romp through the realms of crime and punishment.

This is another regular man, loser, wanna be superhero. This genre has been done before. But Rainn Wilson in his most cynical “Dwight Schroot” mood, and is really funny while he’s being introspective. This guy plays sarcasm like a Stradivarius! Ellen Page is also good as the wanna be sidekick, and she’s got her sarcastic self going as well. This is not totally original, but still is a pretty funny film, and they do some serious introspection that makes the whole thing worthwhile. I enjoyed it. If you are bored with the depressed loser guy trying his hand at super hero-dom, then stay away, but if you can handle another one, this one, I think, put last year’s “Kick-ass” to shame. Rainn and Ellen did an excellent job together.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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