Starring: Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam
Making a getaway with a large amount of cash, Addison
(Bana), his sister Liza (Wilde) end up in a car crash and have to go it alone
in the snow-covered wilderness. Addison fends for himself using his ruthless
nature to gather resources, whilst the less violent Liza relies on Jay (Hunnam)
an Olympic boxer recently released from prison and already on the run from the
law. Despite these disparate circumstances, Addison and Liza remained connected
to eachother through only a few links.
Set against the wintry wilderness and involving violent
murder, Deadfall is instantly comparable to the Coen brothers’ classic, Fargo
(1996). Indeed, certain shots seem to be directly lifted from Fargo (notably
the sequences involving the recently crashed car at the beginning both look and
play out in a similar fashion to a sequence in the Coen brothers film) and Kate
Mara plays the role of the nice female cop who’s also frighteningly competent
akin to Fargo’s Marge Gundersson, played by Frances Macdormand). However,
Deadfall also tips its hat to other things; the ending moments seem relatable
to both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Straw Dogs (1973), for example.
And whilst the film doesn’t fall towards comedy, Eric Bana (who initially found
fame as a comedian) provides some entertaining moments whilst his relationship
with Olivia Wilde’s Liza makes clear that these two are a few cuckoos short of
a nest. The film is rather abrupt, allowing for little build-up of tension or
sympathy with much of the supporting cast and whilst there’s not a bad performance
amongst the supporting cast (this film also re-affirms we see far too little of
Sissy Spacek in movies) the roles of Treat Williams and Kris Kristofferson,
both physically similar, face a similar central issue and both tied to the
local police force, don’t really stand distinct enough from each other.
However, the film is better than its schlocky title and premise might suggest.
No comments:
Post a Comment