Same old scowl, same old guns: no orang-utan

Rating: 1/10 (9 January 2010)

If you succeed in comprehending the dialogue in this movie, you will find that it contains no interesting or unpredictable lines, apart from the ugly racist sneers uttered by Clint Eastwood, whose voice --- never good --- is worse than ever. Ahney Her (as Sue) is no advertisement for Hmong elocution, since she s generally incomprehensible. She seemed to have developed some rare skill of gobbling her words: perhaps it's a Hmong thing. Apart from the lousy delivery, the film is remarkably uncertain about its handling of the key plot element: ethnic gangs. The most uncertain moment is when the gang pestering Sue's family has the astonishing experience of having one of its members beaten up by a very old man in its own gang house, and do they go to Clint's house for a showdown with him? No, they go to Sue's house! Well, that way, Clint lives to die another day. Any movie that considers a 1972 uncatalysed Ford as an icon of the good life is so retarded that it should never have been released.