Soderbergh Lite

Rating: Null/10 (30 March 2002)

An okay movie, with too many twists and turns thrown in, seemingly for the hell of it. However, I was a little disappointed. No, Im not going to rant on like some eejits I've heard and say 'that was pretty far fetched', because I DO realise that it is ONLY A FILM; IT IS FICTION. Maybe that should set some people straight. No, instead I'll just say, how, like some others I naively believed that this would be as good as Out of Sight; George Clooney, Don Cheadle, music by David Holmes, and of course direction by the great Soderbergh himself. However, this film felt watered-down with most scenes too 'sitcom-friendly' for my liking. There were no great macabre moments like in the darker Out of Sight when White Boy Bob trips and shoots himself in the head. The laughs, for me, were instead very much 'popcorn laughs' (as in you only laugh because everyone else in the cinema is laughing). Garcia was a bit boring and non-threatening for my liking (he never showed any menace), and as for Roberts, well I've never been a fan, so OF COURSE I'd take the money instead! Cheadle's accent: It has to be said, why why why? They could have gotten anyone! Vas Blackwood from 'Lock Stock' or even Tricky(Fifth Element)- there are plenty of talented black cockney actor/rappers out there if that's what they were looking for!! What next? Brad Pitt as an Irishman? Oh wait...that's been done. Twice.
On the other hand, there were clever bits (Cheadle watching the building demolition on television), the cast is charismatic, and the soundtrack undeniably cool. Bernie Mac and the 'Malloy Brothers' are especially a joy to watch.
If you want something purely entertaining and non-demanding, then you wont be disappointed. Wait for the video though.