Caught in drug cartels war
By Roger Moore
FILM: Snitch
CAST: Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Barry Pepper, Benjamin Bratt
DIRECTION: Ric Roman Waugh
It takes forever to get going, and lollygags along even after that.
As a businessman scrambling to find a way to get his son’s federal prison sentence reduced, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has to play fear, tough love, pity and panic — and he’s a bit in over his head.
But that’s the point of Snitch, a straight-no-chaser thriller “inspired by a true story”. The pacing is off, too many scenes lack dramatic punch and play like filler. But Johnson is pretty good at being a guy in over his head, sharing scenes with flinty pros like Susan Sarandon, Benjamin Bratt and Barry Pepper.
It’s a tale of a civilian who gets mixed up in the feds-vs-Mexican drug cartels war, whose “mandatory minimum sentencing” has snared John Matthews’ naive 18-year-old son. The prosecutor (Sarandon) is a hard case, readying a run for Congress. So John makes a deal - he’ll get “an introduction” into that world through his construction supply business. He’ll use his trucks for transport, and they’ll nail big players from the cartel.
Co-writer director Ric Roman Waugh is a stuntman turned director. But he wastes a staggering amount of time setting that scenario up, and even more time getting to the point where his no-digital stunt experience pays off. Some of that establishes that John is a fish out of water and shows us his learning curve. Mostly, though, that slow pacing robs the story of tension and suspense.
What gives it juice is the supporting cast. Jon Bernthal (Shane in The Walking Dead) is credibly wary as the ex-con John begs to get him in the door of the drug world. And the terrific Michael Kenneth Williams is the first dealer he meets, a guy who pulls a gun on him just to test him.
Waugh can be forgiven for giving these guys more scenes than are absolutely necessary. They’re that good.
Pepper sports a Civil War-worthy goatee in his role as an undercover fed who frets over John’s safety. Rafi Gavron is properly frightened as the boy who let a friend entrap him with a box full of pills and sets this whole saga in motion, though Waugh loses track of the kid for much of the movie. We need reminding of the stakes, the danger.
But I like the way Johnson, often shot in extreme close-ups, underplays this guy. And I like the way the script lets John’s ineptitude and discomfort in this world create the humour, the way Waugh has some scenes set to music, no sound effects, the way he dispenses with the obligatory “I’m gonna need to head to the gun shop” scene and the way the man films a car and truck chase — rending metal, shattered glass, none of that digital fuss and fakery.
Snitch isn’t a great film. But after the run of brawling, over-the-top shoot-’em-ups/drive-’em-ups that have cluttered Johnson’s resume it’s good to see him try his hand at acting, even if he is just as over-matched as the fellow he’s playing. — MCT
When a ‘dead’ man returns
FILM: Absolute Deception
CAST: Cuba Gooding Jr, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Evert McQueen
DIRECTION: Brian Trenchard-Smith
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A widowed reporter living in New York is shocked to find that her husband has been alive for two years hiding out in the Gold Coast of Australia. It turns out that Miles Scott had faked his death three years ago and started a new life under the alias David Archer.
His former wife (Emmanuelle Vaugier), under fire at work for a recent scathing article on the downfall of a powerful business tycoon, is approached by an FBI officer (Cuba Gooding Jr) to aid in the investigation of her late husband’s secrets.
As more layers of Miles’ secret life are exposed, mysterious attackers will stop at nothing to halt their investigation.
Absolute Deception is essentially a drama with a shoot-out here and a car chase there. - WS
Midnight mayhem
FILM: 23:59
CAST: Mark Lee, Henley Hll, Josh Lai
DIRECTION: Gilbert Chan
In 1983, a group of young soldiers are on the last leg of their national service, spending the last few weeks in a training camp on a jungle island. A rumour had been circulating like wildfire amongst the soldiers. A mad woman living on the island had died at exactly at 23:59, and it is believed that her spirit had returned to haunt them at exactly the same time.
Tan, the introverted platoon outcast, is adamant that he will be the next victim. He tries to convince his buddy Jeremy that the woman’s ghost has been visiting him every night. Jeremy laughs and dismisses Tan’s concerns, telling his mate that it is just his overeactive imagination.
When the platoon embark on a route march in the forest, Tan is found dead by the river, with his limbs contorted in a strange way and an expression of fear on his face. Overwhelmed with guilt, Jeremy decides to investigate Tan’s death, convinced that it was not an accident as what the officers believe.
Little does he know that the truth behind Tan’s death will unearth a terrible dark secret of the island and he will have to confront his deepest fears in order to find the truth.
Despite poignancy in the plot, the slow pacing and unsatisfactory scares make this a struggling effort. – WS
(DVDs courtesy:
Saqr Entertainment Stores, Doha)