It fools you into thinking itโs a dark drama in the beginning. But it turns out that at the climax it simply switches to a โman with a pastโ trope. Seems given it was written with Brody that he had a good time playing a thug in Peaky Blinders and wants to change his career to โaction guyโ similar to how Liam Neeson did with the Taken series.
The movie has a nice backdrop and acting till the switch to the โman with a pastโ action sequences. The preparation montage and final battle scene could have been taken from any 80s/90s straight to video film of the same genre. Itโs underwhelming and derivative. The final scenes are filmed in almost complete darkness. No imagination. Final dialogue voice over is hokey.
I enjoyed it, or rather looked forward to a better ending, right up until the preparation montage, when it was clear where it was going. Otherwise maybe a 2 star. 3 is probably about right. Not completely unenjoyable, but on more of a โguilty pleasureโ/ wasting time feel. The let down of the ending is quite palpable.
That said, in a better script with more money, Adrian Brody could pull off the brooding action star. He is a competent actor, obviouslyโฆ. I donโt know how much this film cost, not much Iโd expect, and it probably went farther with its budget than its peers. It doesnโt suffer having Utica as itโs location as so many other films do when they try to shoot cheap. They donโt try to turn Utica into NYC or Chicago, itโs an unnamed upstate NY town and it works.
Written in my phone, excuse any uncorrected auto corrections.