Don't Believe the Hype

Rating: 4/10 (4 April 2005)

This film had a lot of promise, and I really wanted to like it, but it just missed the mark for me. A lot of the acting was really bad: high school-production bad. This is especially true of Michael Madsen and Clive Owen, two actors who I usually enjoy. Another problem for me was the visual direction. Mickey Rourke had bizarre and silly-looking mannerisms as Marv, especially in the way he walks. Finally, it being shot on digital video hurts it as well. A gritty dirty noir, in my opinion, looks better when shot on film. The digital was too clean, and sharp looking, and at times it looked like something shot on a handi-cam. Having said all that, there are things in this film that do work well. The Bruce Willis story is probably the most successfully rendered, and there is one particularly "laugh-out-loud" moment in the Clive Owen storyline. However, I would wait for video to watch it; it's definitely not worth the price of admission.