This is what I call a standard "guy flick," and it works. Every once in a while, I do enjoy movies where the male characters beat each other at the drop of a hat and use the f-word like punctuation. Now, I'm sure the majority of the reviews (though I haven't read them yet) are horrible, because there's always an added stigma to films that end up sitting on the shelf years after production has wrapped. The plot of "Knockaround Guys" is far from original, yet I wasn't bored. For one thing, the central characters are worth rooting for. Barry Pepper is a good, underrated actor and I liked his role in this movie. As for John Malkovich, he's always fun to watch, even in a role like this where he was severely miscast. As much as it hurts me to badmouth a performance by Malkovich, I barely found him convincing as a tough-as-nails gangster. First off, he puts on a ridiculous accent. I'm guessing he was trying to do some sort of Brooklyn accent, but comes off sounding like an old Jewish lady. Yet I still liked him in this movie--that's how much screen power Malkovich has. Dennis Hopper is another actor who's always reliable, and he does a great job in this movie. Seth Green obviously doesn't have much range as an actor (as of yet), but he does a good job at playing...well...Seth Green. As for Vin Diesel, I still don't believe he has any talent as an actor, but since he doesn't play a huge role, I can't say I minded much. This isn't a movie I can rave on and on about, but it makes worthy entertainment--in my eyes at least.
My score: 7 (out of 10)
My score: 7 (out of 10)