Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
ROBERT Di Nero, check. Ed Norton, check. Milla Jovovich, check. A heart-stopping, mind-blowing, psychological thriller that will leave your brain franticly rocking back and forth in your head, check!
Ladies and gentlemen, in my opinion, this movie is in the running for one of the best films of 2010. It's a carefully constructed and well thought out cinematic gem that bedazzles and blinds ... not to mention, thoroughly confuses and entertains.
Corrections officer Jack Mabry is winding down after a stressful career that has spans almost four decades. Over the years, he has become disheartened and disgusted with the things he has seen and is eager to just retire and start his life over again, maybe move house, find a new hobby ... get a mistress, you know, the usual.
Jack only has a few weeks left before his retirement and because he 'loves' his job so much, he is eager to finish the cases he's been assigned to. One of those cases is that of Gerald 'Stone' Creeson, a convicted arsonist who is up for parole after serving eight years of a 10-15 year sentence.
Stone is so desperate to get out of prison (for obvious reasons) that he recruits his beautiful yet ominous wife, Lucetta, to approach Jack and do whatever it takes to speed the process along.
Since Lucetta is the particularly passionate and seductive type, it's pretty clear what that will involve, and Stone doesn't seem to mind, so why should you? While the two cons are scheming, Jack's unappreciated and bored wife, Madylyn, simply looks the other way while there are obvious signs that Jack is being seduced ... and he likes it.
Meanwhile, things become complicated when Stone suddenly discovers spirituality in prison (which made me wonder just how different would the film be if his cell had TV). In a few scenes expertly played by Norton, you're not entirely sure if it's for real or just a clever ploy to help him expedite his release.
The story centres around a conflict of wills between the two main characters (Norton and Di Nero) and there is a constant theme of one-upmanship.
Even in the end, you can't really be sure who comes across as top dog and who comes across as the fire hydrant. In this film, motives and intentions are often unclear amidst the shocking secrets of the corrupt players in this tangled web of deceit.
It was really refreshing to see De Niro in a straight forward dramatic role where he could bring some of his patented charisma and gritty undertones, rather than yet another installment of family-friendly comedy that he worryingly seems to have branched out in to (please Bobby D, no more 'Meet The' movies). There is some classic Di Nero in here, his character is reminiscent of his roles in Raging Bull, Taxi Driver or Heat than the watered-down rubbish he has taken to as of late.
Also Ed Norton (one of my favourite actors), brings his own slant to a complex and deviant character. His delivery and timing are faultless and, in my opinion, this alone is reason enough to see this film with no questions asked.
Meanwhile, Jovovich (besides being beautiful) is almost as thrilling as the plot itself and her ambiguously seductive role definitely gives new meaning to the term femme fatale.
All-in-all, this film is sure to entertain and delight you, but my one criticism is that (much like eating just one Pringle) it leaves you wanting more.
Showing in Cineco, Seef I and Saar Cineplex
