0.45

Plot synopsis:
Big Al (Angus Macfadyen), and his girlfriend Kat (Milla Jovovich), are small-time crooks dealing in guns and stolen goods in Queens, New York City. They seem to have a fun relationship full of sex and booze. Living in a shabby apartment, they both traffic in illegal handguns, while also cleverly avoiding the NYPD and ATF. However, Vic (Sarah Strange), Kat's best friend (and ex-lover) still has a crush on her, hates Big Al and doesn't approve of the relationship.
Big Al is almost arrested in a police sting, but is released when they realize he is unarmed...as Kat was holding the guns. Returning home, they catch a thief trying to take their new TV out the window, and Big Al gives him a beating. They call the police and berate them for not catching the 'real crooks', all the while surrounded by the stolen goods that are their livelihood. Meeting up with his old partner Reilly (Stephen Dorff) they steal a car as Al tries to convince him to come back to help Al run the gun business.
However, Kat has plans on her own; she wants to sell guns on her own to provide since she wants to move out of Queens and into a classier neighborhood, maybe by the beach. She meets up with Jose (Vincent Laresca), a drug dealer and Big Al's rival, and sells him a gun. However, Clancy (Tony Munch), a local snitch working for Al, notices them. Kat returns home and pretends to have been out with Vic, upsetting Al.
When Jose brazenly comes to Al's local bar, and comes on to Kat, Al, Clancy, and their friends punish him by appearing to cut off his fingers. Al comes home later and based on comments from Clancy, accuses Kat of having sex with the 'spic'. He forces her to confess to lying to him and then beats her up, leaving her with a black eye and bleeding lip and even cuts off chunks of her hair. After he leaves the apartment the next day, Vic and Reilly come over to console her, swearing revenge, but Al arrives home and in the ensuing scuffle, AL fires a shot that grazes Kat, and is arrested and detained.
At the police precinct, Kat is questioned by Liz (Aisha Tyler), a member of an battered women`s group that offers protection via sanctuary or court order. Liz explains that Al doesn't really love her, and she used to be in an abusive marriage of her own. However, Kat refuses to press charges, but ultimately decides to leave.
However, Big Al sneaks in through the window as she is packing, threatens her with death if she ever leaves, and saying there is nowhere she can hide from him. When Liz and Vic arrive to take her, he convinces Kat to tell them she wants to stay. Liz threatens to `end him` if he ever touches Kat, but they ultimately leave without her.
While convincing Al the relationship is back the way it was, she secretly devises a plan; seeming to seduce Vic, Reilly, Jose and Liz, and telling each of them she`ll go anything to be rid of Big Al. After convincing Al to stay home one evening, a hooded figure takes Big Al's special jacket with his name on it, and his registered .45 handgun, and shoots Clancy. The next day, Big Al goes into church and threatens the priest, Father Duffel (Hardie Lineham), saying he abhors weakness. Leaving, he is arrested for Clancy's murder as a crowd of locals watch from across the street, Kat, Vic, and Reilly among them.
Later at the police station, Big Al begs Kat to find the real killer, knowing he has been set up, but can't figure out who did it. Slowly Kat reveals that she is behind the plot, and is now in charge. Later, Reilly and Vic discuss who the killer is, and then realize they both fear the hard change in Kat, and decide to start a relationship together.
Soon enough, Kat meets up with the hooded killer: it was Liz. Kissing, Liz says now they can be together but Kat explains she only used her, and thanks her for her advice about being a strong woman (`Lips, tits, hips`) and leaving Liz heartbroken. Kat picks up the gun business and the film ends with her narrating the whole story, from the beach neighborhood she wanted to live in, before walking away.

Tags: murder, flashback

Review:
Based on other user's comments, the raw emotion and grit present throughout this film might be too much for some, but for me it added an entirely new dimension to the story that really helped draw me into the harsh reality that these characters live in.I was truly impressed with Milla's performance as "Kate" and I was pleasantly surprised to see her outside of a movie laden with kung-fu, guns and monsters and instead see her in a wonderfully directed and extremely well written film.While I've only seen Angus Macfadyen on screen a handful of times, he completely blew me away as "Big Al".
He plays one of the most powerful, controlling and abusive characters I've ever seen on screen, yet he's still very much human.There's something about Gary Lennon's writing that really helps you understand these characters and the reality they live in, no matter how dysfunctional and messed up they may be.Overall, .45 is an amazing debut for writer/director Gary Lennon, full of brilliant acting and an enthralling story.
really good dialogue from Gary Lennon, the writer of DRUNKS (a good, little movie with a terrific cast that you might have overlooked).like his first film, this movie has a lot of strong $50 moments spread throughout and a a few moments of real inspiration.
Photography looks nice for a film of small budget (assuming it's small).Fine performances by the supporting cast including Angus M, the always solid Stephen Dorff, and the divine Aisha Tyler..
In a dangerous neighborhood in New York City, Kat (Mila Jovovich) and her brutal smalltime criminal boyfriend Big Al (Angus Macfadyen) sell pistols and revolvers on the streets and deal stolen goods.
While I don't think this is anywhere near the best movie I have ever seen, I think that the character development in the roles played by Milla Jovovich, Angus MacFayden and Sarah Strange were outstanding.
Milla Jovovich stars as woman who wants revenge on her boyfriend after he beats her up.Unremarkable crime drama would work on a b-movie level but is sunk by a supporting cast that doesn't seem to be adept at acting.
Writer/Director Gary Lennon creates a gritty, almost surreal world, and captures visceral performances from a top-notch cast, including my favorite, Milla Jovavich (The Fifth Element).
I will definitely buy this movie and keep it in my DVD collection next to "Mean Streets" and "Laws of Gravity." Lennon is the rare director who can create a film so violent, and at the same time, poetic, thoughtful and beautiful.
Totally uninterested for characters and forced plot.Better watch No Good Deed (with same IMDb average rating)if you are Milla without action fan :-).
When I saw Milla Jovovich sitting on the cover of the splashy DVD for the new release of .45 with a gun, I said I asked myself, "why not?" I searched out a few more "bad girl" titles to make the evening a theme, and once I got through the two other cookie cutter Hollywood Tarantino-esquire "grind-house" titles and finally popped in .45, I was pleasantly appalled and equally as surprised.
Appalled by the fact that the dangerous behavior of the two main characters (Milla and Angus Mcfayden) was definitely performances that I wasn't used to seeing in mainstream American fare, but surprised that the filmmakers finally got what has been missing in film lately.I cut my teeth on Scorsese, Casavettes and the unflinching cinema usually found in foreign films from the 70's and 80's.
What the film ".45" does is reminds me that there are great ideas, writing and film-making in America, if only the corporations that run them give filmmakers a chance.Sure .45 is vulgar, and at times hard to watch, but one of the most remarkable scenes in the film (the beating) shows that through performance and craftsmanship one can be truly horrified by brutality of a situation without actually seeing a person totally annihilated.
.45 stars Milla Jovovich as Kat, a girl who grows tired of being beaten by her boyfriend, big Al, a gun dealer and low life in general.
She finally works up the courage to leave him and befriends Liz(Aisha Tyler), a counselor at a women's shelter.Another woman, Vic(Sarah Strange) also tries to help Kat and is in love with her in a romantic way.The final piece of the puzzle is Reilly(Stephen Dorff), another criminal who is a partner of big Al's and like everyone else, lusts for the sexy Kat. He tells her to get revenge on her former lover by killing him.Kat must make a big decision as to whether or not do away with Al forever or just go along her merry way.
Milla's performance is good at times but often desperately overplayed, Angus Macfadyen as Big Al gives a crude over-bearing performance with a rather baffling accent.If you want to see a really realistic film about domestic abuse watch Nil By Mouth and appreciate Ray Winstones raw multi-layered performance, if you want a steamy revenge thriller ( as this tries to be later in the narrative ) pick one out of a guide because,chances are, it'll entertain you better than this.
Kudos to Stephen Dorff and Sara Strange who actually manage to inject some humanity into their underwritten roles.Skin fans who like skinny women might disagree but I found the nudity ( and I like nudity in film- sometimes it's the only thing to keep you awake watching a bad movie) gratuitous and unsexy.
Too bad it ends up being a direct to cable feature, reminiscent of a 1990's low-budget erotic thriller, about how, in fact, stupid and submissive a woman can be at times that present them with the chance to be strong and independent."So?", I hear you say "The film wasn't what you were expecting it to be – that's still no reason to dislike it".
One day you are having a good time and the next you are at each others throat.For example, Al and Kat (Milla Jovovich) at the beginning of the movie have the playful cat mouse relationship.
this is trash.awful movie.don't even bother.bad at everything.good at nothing.it's a waste of my time to bother pointing it all out.too bad my 'review' ends up on the bottom of the pile.wish i could bump it up to number one in the list just to warn others away from .45.facts be known, i feel so strongly about how AWFUL this crappy movie is, i went to the trouble to sign up here.don't believe the others who praise it- probably just a lot of trolls anyway- put up to saying 'great' things about it in either self promotion or they were paid to do it.this is a crappy movie--- just plain sucks.
Kat (Milla Jovovich) and Big Al (Angus Macfayden) are two small time crooks and dealers living the love in Brooklyn.
Even though most actors (with Macfayden especially apt for the part and Mila Jovovich being hit and miss with a bad accent opposite several tremendous scenes) do a bang up job throughout the movie they are unable to push through the lack of directorial vision.
Using her hips, lips, and tits, she conned several people into soling her problem; including Sarah Strange ("Da Vinci's Inquest"), who played a bisexual (mostly lesbian) BFF to Milla that wanted much more, and Aisha Tyler (Charlie from "Friends," and the only reason I ever watched "The Ghost Whisperer"), She was a former battered wife that was now a counselor, and she was also very believable in the role.Stephen Dorff (Blade) was also good, and I wish him luck in his quest for the impossible dream..
If you like Tarintino's films and black comedy and hot, naked girls with guns, you'll go for this dark and dirty little movie..
Because of the poster and because of its title,I thought .45 was going to be some kind of remake of the film Ms.45.I was very wrong.The story from this movie has very little to do with that excellent film.But,well,I'll start talking about .45,a very interesting combination between criminal thriller and domestic drama which makes a very honest tribute to the exploitation films.This film has very disturbing and realistic scenes about the domestic abuse and I really appreciated that.As I previously said,this film makes a very honest tribute to the exploitation films.Films like The Smell of Honey,A Taste of Brine and Scum of the Earth showed similar subjects as the ones we see in .45.That films tried to provoke intense emotions in the spectator.That films had drug use,passional crimes,pervasive sexuality,femme fatales...and all that elements are seen in .45 but the best thing of all is that this film does not copy them...it makes a tribute to them.This film also has things which reminded me to films like Coffy,Kill Bill,Ms.45,I Spit on Your Grave and Thriller:A Cruel Picture.So,the final result is a cultural stew which is not great,but it's pretty entertaining and it makes a very appropriate commentary about the domestic abuse.I did not find Milla Jovovich totally credible on her role.Angus McFayden makes an amazing performance.He plays a villain in such a good way that I wanted to kill his character.
I found the female leads submissiveness to be not realistic-if anything-things would have gone hard into the opposite direction if that had been real life-a tough woman is just as dangerous in a physical conflict as a tough male, and this film doesn't seem to appreciate that for all its nods to street culture and tough people, etc, etc.
It was more of a self help movie type, as Clean and sober was to alcoholics and drug addictsBy the end of the movie I can honestly say that not one character in this film was redeemable or likable at all.The only thing good I can say about this movie is that for straight men and gay women there may be a few scenes that would appeal to them sexually..
I wasn't too familiar with the previous work of Gary Lennon but after watching this film, he is definitely somebody who I will want to keep an eye out for.
I watched .45 at a screening and immediately fell in love with its complex characters, darkness, and a hyper-realism, which is reminiscent of all the great 1970's movies.The cast is comprised of Milla Jovovich, Angus Macfadyen, Stephen Dorff, Aisha Tyler and Sarah Strange.
This movie although not without it's merits struggles with identity-issues, at times it appears to be a dark comedy, others a serious drama and occasionally a thriller and it goes back and forth like that in tone without much rhyme or reason.There is also a bundle of (fake) interviews intertwined between the scenes with some of the characters (and some family members to them) talking about each other in various aspects (the movie starts off by Milla Jovovich's character talking about how big Angus McFayden's character is in his pants in great detail).It does have some very good scenes separately (as well as some very bad ones) but together they don't always flow that well together, and one struggles to 'like' any of the characters and when you start to 'like' someone it's just because there's another character who's seemingly worse than them not that they are particularly likable or anything.But yeah overall, if you're a massive Milla Jovovich or Angus McFayden fan I suppose you might like it, Stephen Dorff who was the in-ital drawing point of mine to the movie has about 25 minutes of screen-time (possibly less) and it's not one of his better performances albeit just like the movie not completely terrible..
I would recommend this film to anyone that wants to go on a real journey and know what it's like to live in NY city Hell's Kitchen around that time period..
This is a intense drama about how a woman tormented by abuse seeks out her revenge.The play rages with raw language, unpleasant action and rough sex; it is brutal, nasty and real.All the actors give brilliant performances and the director and producers ought to be congratulated for giving us some reality.Deserves very high marks:9/10..
.45 has great characters, dialogue that will make you cringe and laugh and writer/director Gary Lennon obviously knows what he's doing with the script and the camera.
In fact, everyone is good in this film...and Lennon also gives New York City a great look.
I am going to admit this, but Kate was SO SUPERB to start and end .45 yet she is still very beautiful.My guess was she wanted revenge, and I support her 100%, and trust me on this: No one can shoot a gun as good as Milla Jovovich can.As for Al, he DOESN'T NEED HER ANYMORE!!
NOBODY CAN DO REVENGE BETTER THAN MILLA JOVOVICH!!!Overall, I gotta say she did VERY well, like for example, Peter Cullen did in the 1986 Transformers Animated Movie as Optimus Prime and in the 2007 Remake, and she was as beautiful as she did in 1997's The 5th Element.To note, she reminds me of Susan Blu as RC in that same 1986 Transformers movie, just a smooth innocent woman who needs to fall in love all over again.I saw this movie and it reminded me of 2 good movies:1.
Excellent movie from first time director/writer Gary Lennon, very original.
Excellent movie -- great original story, awesome acting, and Milla rocks!.
Writer-director Gary Lennon's gritty urban drama and the straight-from-the-streets realism of the dialog provide Jovovich a good platform to showcase her amazing talent as a leading lady -- and in this case that "lady" is a gun-toting, scene-stealing heroine that makes "Resident Evil"'s Alice seem like a wallflower in comparison.
Lennon's deft direction expertly balances the story's tough and tender moments with dark humor and some light laughs while letting the action steadily build through plot twists and a series of killer scenes that let Jovovich's sinister master plan -- and her manipulative personality -- unfold before the drama climaxes in a reveal that stands to destroy everything and everyone around her." ".45" is proof that Jovovich doesn't need CGI and otherworldly monsters to sell a good story or prove her worth as a multidimensional character actress..
Stephen Dorff and Sarah Strange both want to take Milla's Kat from Big Al, whose relationship is doomed from the very start.There are interludes with the main characters' parents, trying to explain what happened to each of their kids, but only succeeding in showing the cycle of abuse, violence and disregard for each other in our so-called "normal" lives.
Indeed much of the unintended humor stems from how obviously close-to-laughter Angus MacFadden and Milla Jovovich are as they desperately struggle to keep straight faces while dealing with the silly dialogue and acting for the camera direction of writer/director Gary Lennon.
There are plot twists, but unless you have dozed off you will see them coming from a mile away, and Lennon or his editor appear to have forgotten to include a climax.The DVD cover says that: "Kat (Milla Jovovich) is a bad girl with a passion for guns and danger.
Kat knows that revenge is the only answer....she will stop at nothing to take down Big Al once and for all".The movie might have worked if released as a parody of a gritty film noir quirky crime drama.
All these characters have issues that are at once hilarious (with great talking heads quick-pop scenes that share snippets of their past), realistic and identifiable (at her core Milla Jovovich plays a woman who knows she deserves a better life), yet unpredictable (these characters have Issues!) I swear there are times where two characters are laying in bed and you don't know if they are going to have sex or shoot each other.
Milla is amazing, Dorff gives a gem of a performance, and writer/director Lennon coaxes some great character fireworks out of otherwise quiet and simple scenes.
Like the main character Kat, played by Milla Jovovich who stands out the most, she's smart enough to plot revenge but not smart enough to avoid a guy like Big-Al (Angus Macfadyen) who pounds her to a pulp altogether.Final Verdict, This film is really not as good as people have been saying despite the cast giving passable performances, the main problems are the repetitive and boring dialog and the uninteresting characters..
I feel like writing Milla Jovovich a letter demanding the 1 1/4 hours I lasted through this movie refunded to me.Imagine a director fresh out of film school who loves the movies of Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, but has no talent himself.
Now get him addicted to crystal meth and grain alcohol, and in the final days of his addiction, let him direct a film without the use of a script.That movie would be 10 times better than ".45", which was just horrible.The acting was so bad that at first you'll think it's some kind of joke.
The plot is fairly simple: Kate is taking her sweet revenge on Big Al after experiencing a night of domestic violence (get prepared to see Milla abused).The movie is nicely shot, milla is playing a difficult character (she always does in drama films, doesn't she?) and at some points she is really good at it, but at some scenes I felt like she was overacting to be honest with you.
It was very clear about half way (when he beats her) that somehow she was going to get away from him (if it were murder or a frame-work like what happened) One somewhat bad thing is that they made Aisha Tyler's character look bad in the end.
She needed to do it that way to get her self respect back.Although in places its hard to watch, this is a brilliant movie with very strong performances, but none stronger than Milla Jovovich's.
Some of the others have Canadian accents.Of the few films I've seen her in, this is Milla Jovovich's best performance as a love-starved, pansexual slut.