The Characters are Not Very Likeable, The Violence is Appropriately Hard Hitting and the Laughs are Few and Far Between, this is not to say I didn't Enjoy it, I just Expected more. Eric Stoltz stars a Zed, a Safe Cracker who has Fallen for one of his Hostages. Julie Delpy plays Zoë, the Hostage in Question. Stoltz and Delpy are both Art house Film Favourites, and they Do get audience Sympathy on their side, but they don't really give very Memorable performances. They both lack Expression and Range in these roles, roles that they should have Perfected after playing so many Similar roles in Better Movies.
Jean-Hughes Anglade, playing the Drug-fuelled Mastermind of the robbery, gives the Best performance in the film. He plays a Classic Villain who immediately reminded me of Michael Madson's "Mr Blonde" character in the Far Superior Heist film "Reservoir Dogs".
Roger Avery's Script and Directing are Far from Great, but they are Adequate. Fans of the genre should at least find Something they like in the film, as it is Full of Ideas that are not fully Realised.
One Great Performance, some Tough Gunplay and two Attractive leads do not a Great film make, but I'll still recommend it to Genre fans.
I honestly have mixed feelings about this movie. There are some parts of it I admired, like the cinema-photography. That and the acting is why I give the film three stars. However, there are too many things wrong with it to be a great film, mostly the weak, un-original plot.
Let me say that I don't have a problem with violence in movies, even over the top violence. However, to me the directors were shooting more for a "lets see how bloody and violent we can make this" film, rather than a "lets make a violent, bloody film with a solid unpredictable plot".
That I do have a problem with.
