If nothing else, a film which opens with a monologue concerning Dog Day
Afternoon deserves some applause - a film which this flick can only
dream of resembling. Yet, despite its "event movie" mega-stunts and
slick-unreality there is an air of subversion to this film. Travolta
resumes his love of the bad-guy-sadism-lark as Gabriel, a power-broker
with his fingers in lotsa peoples pies. He wants Hugh Jackman's Stanley.
Mainly to embezzle some money by hacking into excess government funds,
but also to toy with and torture in various ways. Halle Berry vamps up
her dangerous woman role but doesn't invest much in the film bar her
breasts - probably a wise choice. Don Cheadle expresses disbelief well
and probably narrates the film in some ways with his "gosh, wow, whoa"
facial turns. Its a subversive film mainly because it implicates
everyone as innately dangerous and values nobody in its blasting way -
except maybe Stanley's daughter who gets dragged in to the proceedings
to try and offer some emotional element in this otherwise sentiment-free
zone. Its a film where life is a game, where everyone's just a player
out to win, except the games are never what they seem. On the upside, it
can't be denied - the film delivers in the stunt department and
Travolta's showy, smart villain is deliciously fun. Its just the dubious
cynicism that leaves a bad taste.
Afternoon deserves some applause - a film which this flick can only
dream of resembling. Yet, despite its "event movie" mega-stunts and
slick-unreality there is an air of subversion to this film. Travolta
resumes his love of the bad-guy-sadism-lark as Gabriel, a power-broker
with his fingers in lotsa peoples pies. He wants Hugh Jackman's Stanley.
Mainly to embezzle some money by hacking into excess government funds,
but also to toy with and torture in various ways. Halle Berry vamps up
her dangerous woman role but doesn't invest much in the film bar her
breasts - probably a wise choice. Don Cheadle expresses disbelief well
and probably narrates the film in some ways with his "gosh, wow, whoa"
facial turns. Its a subversive film mainly because it implicates
everyone as innately dangerous and values nobody in its blasting way -
except maybe Stanley's daughter who gets dragged in to the proceedings
to try and offer some emotional element in this otherwise sentiment-free
zone. Its a film where life is a game, where everyone's just a player
out to win, except the games are never what they seem. On the upside, it
can't be denied - the film delivers in the stunt department and
Travolta's showy, smart villain is deliciously fun. Its just the dubious
cynicism that leaves a bad taste.