A Couple of Indie Sleepers
"The Voices"
starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver, Ella Smith, Paul Chahidi, Stanley Townsend, Adi Shankar, Sam Spruell
written by: Michael R. Perry
directed by: Marjane Satrapi
Did you really like "Dexter," and the concept of the "moral" serial killer? Do you want to add to the mix a talking cat (the evil side) and dog (the good side) which ultimately determines what action Jerry Hickfang (Ryan Reynolds nearly in perfect form as the nice guy battling demons) takes? Does that sound entertaining? "The Voices" is just that.
The ever-smiling, always happy Jerry Hickfang (Ryan Reynolds) works in a small factory that makes bathtubs. At home, his companions are his talking cat and dog, Mr. Whiskers and Bosco, respectively. Jerry has a crush on the sexy English office girl, Fiona (Gemma Arterton), who stands him up for a date. But schizophrenic Jerry hasn't been taking his meds, as was ordered by the courts who set him free from the loony bin. Jerry is a serial-killer that just hasn't killed anyone yet, however, that's all about to change.
Whenever he sees Fiona, the object of his desire, butterflies flutter around her. Jerry even has conversations with his cat and dog. But Mr. Whiskers calls him evil and tells him to do bad things, while the sad-eyed Bosco tells Jerry that he's a "good boy." Jerry always listens to what Bosco has to say but the cat's words appear to be prophetic.
When his court-appointed shrink encourages him to start taking his meds again, things change, for the worse. He wakes up to a different world. His once-bright and colorful world is now dull, dank, and his apartment is splattered with blood. But how?!?!
This is a great and well-written black comedy with a tragic "anti-hero" in Jerry. We get a bit of insight into why he is screwed up from flashbacks to his childhood and his crazy mother, but the rest of the characters and their development isn't nearly as good as it could be.
It definitely has moments of cheesiness, but the film seems to be self-aware enough and sort of plays with the cheese-factor, especially through Kendrick's character.
......................................................................................
"The Bag Man"
starring: John Cusack, Rebecca Da Costa, Robert De Niro, Crispin Glover, Dominic Purcell, Martin Klebba, Sticky Fingaz, David Shumbris
written and directed by: David Grovic
The story/plot is rather simple-
Jack (John Cusack) is the criminal of the title, hired by an everyday lord of unimaginably vast import, Dragna (a surprisingly game and funny Robert De Niro), to pick up a mysterious bag and hole up in a motel until the latter can arrive to collect the goods and reward the former with lots of cash. One of Dragna’s goons soon betrays Jack, though, destroying his cellphone in the process, while the rendezvous point is revealed to be one of those dusty, neon-lit backwoods netherworlds, untouched by modern conveniences such as the Internet, or soap, that only exist in pulp magazines or movies that usually climax with a chainsaw massacre.
The film has a great pace and a dark sense of humor throughout, including the boss, played by De Niro (side note- I love seeing him in roles like this). The way the film plays out, you expect twists and turns, in much the same vein as Cusack's other dark-world film, "Identity" (which was stellar).
Where the film encounters problems is its very obvious sexist undertones, some of which are rather blatantly obvious and surface-level.
"The Bag Man" is revealed to be a shaggy-dog story that appears to be intended as a parody of the female objectification that’s normally taken for granted in such predominantly male-centric and gun-happy crime thrillers. Rivka (Rebecca Da Costa) is the obligatory woman who must show Jack the errors of his untrusting selfish ways, but not before she’s paraded around in tight outfits and nearly stripped and beaten and threatened with rape in sequences that disrupt the film’s otherwise competent dark comedic tone.
You would think that the film can logically end when Jack gets fleeced, especially since he's fallen for the "hooker with a heart of gold," but instead the filmmaker continues the ride for another turn perhaps for his own amusement and lacks the interest of the audience.
starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver, Ella Smith, Paul Chahidi, Stanley Townsend, Adi Shankar, Sam Spruell
written by: Michael R. Perry
directed by: Marjane Satrapi
Did you really like "Dexter," and the concept of the "moral" serial killer? Do you want to add to the mix a talking cat (the evil side) and dog (the good side) which ultimately determines what action Jerry Hickfang (Ryan Reynolds nearly in perfect form as the nice guy battling demons) takes? Does that sound entertaining? "The Voices" is just that.
The ever-smiling, always happy Jerry Hickfang (Ryan Reynolds) works in a small factory that makes bathtubs. At home, his companions are his talking cat and dog, Mr. Whiskers and Bosco, respectively. Jerry has a crush on the sexy English office girl, Fiona (Gemma Arterton), who stands him up for a date. But schizophrenic Jerry hasn't been taking his meds, as was ordered by the courts who set him free from the loony bin. Jerry is a serial-killer that just hasn't killed anyone yet, however, that's all about to change.
Whenever he sees Fiona, the object of his desire, butterflies flutter around her. Jerry even has conversations with his cat and dog. But Mr. Whiskers calls him evil and tells him to do bad things, while the sad-eyed Bosco tells Jerry that he's a "good boy." Jerry always listens to what Bosco has to say but the cat's words appear to be prophetic.
When his court-appointed shrink encourages him to start taking his meds again, things change, for the worse. He wakes up to a different world. His once-bright and colorful world is now dull, dank, and his apartment is splattered with blood. But how?!?!
This is a great and well-written black comedy with a tragic "anti-hero" in Jerry. We get a bit of insight into why he is screwed up from flashbacks to his childhood and his crazy mother, but the rest of the characters and their development isn't nearly as good as it could be.
It definitely has moments of cheesiness, but the film seems to be self-aware enough and sort of plays with the cheese-factor, especially through Kendrick's character.
......................................................................................
"The Bag Man"
starring: John Cusack, Rebecca Da Costa, Robert De Niro, Crispin Glover, Dominic Purcell, Martin Klebba, Sticky Fingaz, David Shumbris
written and directed by: David Grovic
The story/plot is rather simple-
Jack (John Cusack) is the criminal of the title, hired by an everyday lord of unimaginably vast import, Dragna (a surprisingly game and funny Robert De Niro), to pick up a mysterious bag and hole up in a motel until the latter can arrive to collect the goods and reward the former with lots of cash. One of Dragna’s goons soon betrays Jack, though, destroying his cellphone in the process, while the rendezvous point is revealed to be one of those dusty, neon-lit backwoods netherworlds, untouched by modern conveniences such as the Internet, or soap, that only exist in pulp magazines or movies that usually climax with a chainsaw massacre.
The film has a great pace and a dark sense of humor throughout, including the boss, played by De Niro (side note- I love seeing him in roles like this). The way the film plays out, you expect twists and turns, in much the same vein as Cusack's other dark-world film, "Identity" (which was stellar).
Where the film encounters problems is its very obvious sexist undertones, some of which are rather blatantly obvious and surface-level.
"The Bag Man" is revealed to be a shaggy-dog story that appears to be intended as a parody of the female objectification that’s normally taken for granted in such predominantly male-centric and gun-happy crime thrillers. Rivka (Rebecca Da Costa) is the obligatory woman who must show Jack the errors of his untrusting selfish ways, but not before she’s paraded around in tight outfits and nearly stripped and beaten and threatened with rape in sequences that disrupt the film’s otherwise competent dark comedic tone.
You would think that the film can logically end when Jack gets fleeced, especially since he's fallen for the "hooker with a heart of gold," but instead the filmmaker continues the ride for another turn perhaps for his own amusement and lacks the interest of the audience.
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