HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (2016) ****

Writer/director Taika Waititi’s latest is a touching, sad, and hilarious little movie that is a wonderful showcase for Sam Neill.  He plays a cantankerous old bushman whose wife adopts a troubled overweight teenager (Julian Dennison).  When his wife dies, social services threaten to take the boy away.  Panicked, Dennison runs off into the bush and Neill has to track him down.  Through a series of misunderstandings, the authorities come to believe that Neill has kidnapped the boy and the pair decide to evade capture by living together in the woods. 

One of the joys of the movie is seeing Neill’s gruff exterior being slowly eroded by the charms of his newfound “nephew”.  Some of the best parts are the smaller scenes where the two of them are just sitting around talking.  He really makes you care about his character and his arc is genuinely moving.  If this isn’t his best performance, it’s awfully close.   

Waititi possesses a light, childlike touch that makes the film feel like a whimsical children’s movie.  His script is sharp and funny and it slides effortlessly from wacky sequences to more heartfelt moments without missing a beat.  It’s also packed with some great dialogue and plenty of laugh-out-loud zingers.  My favorite moment is when Dennison reads a wanted poster and says, “Caucasian?  Well, they got that wrong because you’re obviously white!”  

DIRECT ACTION (2005) **

Dolph Lundgren stars as a cop who is breaking in a new partner, played by Polly Shannon.  Some of his colleagues learn that he is about to blow the whistle on their dirty dealings and they try to silence him.  Knowing he’s in constant danger, Dolph advises his new recruit to steer clear of him.  She of course sticks around long enough to save his bacon.  From then on, the duo tries to stay alive long enough to bring down the dirty cops. 

Directed and co-written by Sidney J. (Iron Eagle) Furie (who also directed Dolph in Detention), Direct Action is a by-the-numbers and uninspired vehicle.  The plot is standard-issue and the action is lackluster.  The biggest problem is the crummy camerawork that hampers many of the action scenes.  There’s a lot of jittery movements, unnecessary zooms, and awkward camera placements that undermine what could’ve been solid sequences.  The editing leaves something to be desired too. 

Direct Action (which shouldn’t be confused with the similarly-titled Dolph flick, Direct Contact) benefits from a strong performance by Dolph.  He has a reasonable amount of chemistry with Shannon, who does a fine job as his feisty, naïve partner.  While it’s far from Dolph’s worst, it never really distinguishes itself from the glut of actioners found in his filmography.   

I did like the scene where Dolph beats up a guy wearing a Punisher T-shirt.  He of course played The Punisher in the 1989 movie.  That’s about the only memorable part though.  Too bad there wasn’t a scene where he beats up a guy carrying a He-Man lunch box. 

AKA:  Black Scorpion.  

STRAY DOG (1949) ****

Toshiro Mifune stars as a rookie cop whose gun is stolen on a crowded trolley by a desperate thief during a heatwave.  He scours the underworld to find his piece and is disheartened to learn someone has been wounded with it.   Mifune then teams up with a more seasoned detective (Takashi Shimura) to find the thief before more people can be wounded and/or potentially killed by the gun.

Stray Dog feels like Akira Kurosawa’s version of an American film noir of the ‘40s.  The cinematography is moody and drenched in shadows, and the close-ups of the desperate, sweaty faces of the characters are effective.  Instead of relying on plot twists and hardboiled characterizations, Kurosawa is more interested in his characters’ feelings of guilt and obsession.  Mifune in particular is excellent as he frantically tries to get his gun back all the while feeling he’s the one to blame because of his carelessness. 

The opening that chronicles the loss of the gun is some of Kurosawa’s best work.  You’re immediately sucked in from the first frame.  Once Mifune and Shimura team up, the film starts to become something akin to a Buddy Cop movie, but even then, it’s more thoughtful and introspective than you’d expect.  The scene where Shimura lays out the differences between him and his inexperienced partner is one of the best in the entire picture. 

I also liked Kurosawa’s use of symbolism.  The heatwave that occurs during the investigation causes everyone to literally sweat it out while the search is on for the gun.  Once there is a break in the case, the heatwave gives way to a torrential downpour. 

The final act is electrifying.  There’s a tense encounter in a hotel that contains some of the most suspenseful work Kurosawa ever did.  The scene where Mifune must use his detective skills to pick out the thief in a crowded depot is equally intense.  Overall, this is one of Kurosawa’s best, which is really saying something.

LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN (2006) **

Lucky Number Slevin is yet another one of those Tarantino knockoffs that somehow were still being made long after their expiration date.  This one at least has Pulp Fiction’s Bruce Willis on board playing a soft-spoken hitman named “Mr. Goodkat”.  While it’s good seeing Bruce alongside such name actors like Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley, their talents largely go untapped. 

This is one of those crime comedies that feature hitmen, gangsters, and hoods that have names like “The Boss” and “The Rabbi” and characters that make pop culture references during casual conversation (Columbo, James Bond, and Hitchcock among them).  Tarantino had a knack for making this kind of stuff seem effortlessly hip.  In director Paul (Push) McGuigan’s hands, it seems forced and unfunny. 

The film feels more like a string of vignettes in search of a plot than anything.  Some of them work better than others, but the longwinded flashbacks that feature unnecessary slow motion are pretty annoying.  The final plot twist is predictable, although it might not have been so bad if it wasn’t for the constant back-and-forth with all the flashbacks. 

Star Josh Hartnett doesn’t do a bad job when he’s just hanging around in a bath towel and trying to convince everyone he isn’t a hitman.  When he’s actually called upon to do some assassinating, he’s rather unconvincing.  He does have a nice rapport with Lucy Liu and their scenes together are easily the best thing about the film.  Their chemistry helps keep you interested, even when the movie is contently spinning its wheels. 

AKA:  The Wrong Man.  AKA:  Slevin.

RED ZONE CUBA (1966) ½ *

Red Zone Cuba features all of writer/director/star Coleman Francis’s hallmarks:  Long scenes of people sitting around drinking coffee, people flying airplanes, a hero being gunned down in cold blood in the finale, and confusing editing.  I’m all for auteurs indulging their creative instincts, but this is Coleman Francis we’re talking about here.  If you thought The Skydivers or The Beast of Yucca Flats was bad, wait ‘til you get a load of this. 

Francis really outdid himself on this one.  He takes the incoherence he pioneered in Beast and doubles down.  You know the editing is bad when we don’t even know what country our heroes are in.  There’s a scene where Francis’s escaped convict character and his buddies flee from their Cuban prison and return to the States within the span of a jump cut.  Maybe it would be easier to figure out if Arizona didn’t look exactly like Cuba. 

The plot is an exercise in delirium.  Francis joins up with a band of freedom fighters to evade capture by the police.  He and his team storm the beaches of Cuba (they look like kids filming a war movie in their mom’s backyard), are captured, and get imprisoned.  While they await execution, Coleman and his cohorts escape and return home seeking to fleece the widow of one of their cellmates.  

The only thing saving Red Zone Cuba from being a No Stars movie is the presence of John Carradine.  His brief cameo doesn’t add much to the film, but the fact that he sings the theme song (“Night Train to Mundo Fine”) definitely makes it memorable.  Too bad the 90 minutes that follows the song it is thoroughly dreadful. 

AKA:  Night Train to Mundo Fine.

REACH ME (2014) *

Writer/director John Herzfeld’s 2 Days in the Valley was one of the best of the Tarantino knockoffs of the ‘90s.  Herzfeld’s Reach Me sometimes plays like a companion piece to that film as it features an assorted bunch of underworld thugs clashing with a gaggle of oddballs while Danny Aiello bitches about a dog.  The multi-character narrative is actually closer to something like Magnolia, except it sucks.  In fact, this might be Herzfeld’s worst movie, which is really something when you consider he also directed Two of a Kind. 

The plot is a slipshod of vignettes that revolve around a self-help book written by mysterious anonymous author.  Sylvester Stallone plays an editor who sends a naïve journalist to find the author.  I know Stallone and Herzfeld are friends and all (Herzfeld had a bit part in Cobra and directed the behind-the-scenes documentary for The Expendables), but Sly should stop doing Herzfeld favors.  This might be Sly’s worst performance and his worst movie, which is really something when you consider he also starred in Party at Kitty and Stud's. 

Sly can’t do much with his indifferently written character.  There’s one odd scene where he tries to give the journalist a pep talk, but it winds up sounding like a speech from out of a Rambo movie.  We also get a perplexing scene where he gives the journalist a severe dressing-down while painting.  You see, because it’s supposed to be funny that a tough guy like Sly would be talking about colors and textures and mood. 

Most of the all-star cast don’t fare much better.  Tom Sizemore just kind of Tom Sizemores around as a loudmouth gangster.  (The jury is still out on whether or not his is his worst movie though.)  Tom Berenger is thoroughly wasted as the reclusive author and Cary Elwes isn’t given enough screen time to make his jerk character click.   

The only actors who flirt with rising above the material are Kyra Sedgwick as a jailbird who wants to be a fashion designer and Thomas Jane as a cop who guns down people Wild West style.  Jane’s scenes could’ve been fleshed out and made for a decent DTV action flick.  I especially liked the scenes where he confesses his crimes to a priest (Aiello) and asks forgiveness.  However, since his character is shoehorned in with the rest of the bunch, his arc is rushed and is resolved unsatisfyingly.  One thing you can say for Jane:  At least this isn’t his worst movie.  (That would be The Mutant Chronicles.)   

AKA:  Bad Luck.  AKA:  Out of Sight.  AKA:  Collection.

FREE FIRE (2017) ** ½

You know that scene in every action movie where the good guy gets winged by the villain’s bullet and he hides behind a corner and taunts his enemy?  Free Fire is like a feature length version of that scene.  It features an assorted group of oddballs coming to a dilapidated warehouse to do an arms deal.  Two of the men get to fighting, words are exchanged, and pretty soon, everyone has their guns drawn.  They get off a couple shots and everyone winds up shot and ducking for cover.  The rest of the film is nothing more than the characters angling for position, firing off shots, and trying to worm their way out of the situation. 

This is a rather audacious idea, but unfortunately director Ben (High Rise) Wheatley allows things to run on much too long for it to be entirely successful.  In many ways, it feels like someone’s first movie, given the single location, the fair amount of black comedy, and the sometimes-cheesy tough guy banter.  You’d think someone as seasoned as Wheatley would be able to make it work though.  While there are some funny stretches and an occasional clever gag, the whole thing never quite clicks. 

This must have been an interesting and challenging concept for Wheatley.  How do you make a shootout last for virtually an entire hour?  Although Wheatley doesn’t quite pull it off, in retrospect, it’s amazing just how much mileage Wheatley and his cast got out of the premise.    

On the outset, Free Fire looks like one of those ‘90s inspired Tarantino crime comedies (right down to the cheesy ‘70s fashions).  Really, it’s more like a DTV action movie with a slightly better pedigree.  It has a single location, claustrophobic action, and an eclectic cast.  I can’t quite pull the trigger and call it a “good” film, but it’s definitely a near-miss.