The Contender (2000)

The Contender is a work of art, a story where the director of the movie is on the driving seat and Rod Lurie, a budding name ten years ago, has shown his hard work in this movie by revealing characters in a layer-by-layer approach. I can't remember watching such a thrilling drama or such a dramatic thriller in recent times. The movie urged me to think, when a movie is described thriller? When there is some fast paced action? When the viewers constantly crave for what happens next?

What happened while watching 'The Contender' was getting that repeated feeling of 'why'? The characters in the beginning are shown just like onions with their skin on. As the movie proceeds, we can see the peeling of their covers and their true identity being revealed. I understood, an intriguing drama is a thriller. In the beginning of the movie, I felt that I have an understanding of the suspense but then that was just a small piece of the pie. Overall, the character development process is remarkable. Most of the human beings, learned, educated and professionals are complex in nature, in terms of their behavior, in terms of how they overall carry themselves. I don't think that we can draw a few lines and then relate them to any human nature. Say, this line represents this person and that line, that person and so on. People are far more diverse on their surface as compared to what they are beneath them. I suppose most of us do reach to a point where we start believing in something and stick to it. Perhaps, the path beyond that point becomes clear, even if not easy to tread upon. But for those who constantly doubt, the future is shaky, risky.

I suppose, the director has tried to show some clear traits on principles, loyalty, hypocrisy and other behavior in this film. Joan Allen, if is shown firm along with Gary Oldman then Jeff Bridges is way vibrant. I have seen three movies out of the six directed by Rod Lurie and I find all of them as a measure to dig deep in the abilities of different people, given a test of time and situation and perhaps not far from common man's perspective, too. Among these three, The Contender is so far, the best.

My rating: 7.2/10

Armored (2009)

It may be easy to generate a concept but it is difficult to develop a good screenplay. And then, how hard you try, you pick veterans among actors and add few thrilling moments but then that's it. You can't create good cinema if the screenplay is not offering something new or something different. Armored has experienced players such as Matt Dillon, Lawrence Fishburne and Jay Reno but it fails to bind the viewers to their seats all the time. It is strange that Nimrod Antal has given us Vacancy (2007) which was one of the best horror-thrillers of 2007 but he fails to deliver in Armored. A fool-proof robbery plan goes awry when one of the team member defects is an old concept. But more than that, there is disappointment over scenes which shows loose direction and implies that those scenes are pushed below the viewers throat. Columbus Short goes in and out of the van without no-one noticing him on two occasions, finds petrol canister so easily and near.

In case you got this movie from someone else collection and have nothing much to do, you can go for it once.

My Rating: 5.5/10

The Andromeda Strain

The Andromeda Strain is a sci-fi thriller. Based on the novel of master storyteller, Michael Crichton, the movie is most enjoyable if you think you are living in those early 70's days. You have not seen movies such as Alien (1979-1997) or Predator (1987-1990). You have seen the space through 2001:A Space Odyssey (1968) but you have not given a thought over a life form available beyond this planet. Under such conditions, this movie can really get your mind boggling and keep you at the edge of your seat. However, after watching so many of alien type movies, I still felt that the external life-form defined in The Andromeda Strain was one of the most logical and explainable concepts based on which the other advanced non-earth life forms were further created. One of the stark resemblance can be observed in the color of these predator/alien blood/fluid and the organism color in The Andromeda Strain.

Overall, a gripping cinema if you like watching sci-fi but with no guns or violence. Its just like flipping through the pages of the novel.

My rating: 7.2/10

A Simple Plan (1998)

Ever wondered what the director of The Evil Dead (1981-1992) doing before directing the Spider-Man (2002-2007)? I got it now. He was making A Simple Plan. A Simple Plan is an in-depth study of human psyche by the master director Sam Raimi. How very ordinary people get pushed beyond their limits when the emotions such as greed and desperation creeps in their life. I felt some part to be stretching, especially the actions of the protagonist for its too much for a common family man. But I guess what Sam Raimi has tried here is just a portrayal. Let us not measure the height of crime but considering it just a deed, it definitely makes one think that is it worth doing? There definitely are thrills but the pace is slow. It churns a lot of drama as the movie progresses.

Overall, character of Bill Paxton is naive and gullible, that of Bridget Fonda is desperate. While Billy Bob Thornton's character is confused but deep, Brent Biscou's character is that of opportunist and greedy. A all-in-all play of dark side of human emotions.

My Rating: 7.1

Hostage (2005)

There is Bruce Willis. And then there are some smart dialogues, enough zing-zing, bomb-blasts and those cops and criminal drama. Hostage is no different story. Just some twists in the plot to make it a parallel-lane entertainer. Emilio Siri was a student of Cinema at Sorbonne University in Paris and he has done a good job in creating a thriller. If it does not give you something out of the box then it certainly does not disappoint you, either. Good pastime.

My rating: 6.75/10

Layer Cake (2004)

One good thing about UK directors. They know how to make an entertainer. Layer Cake definitely revolves around gangsters and crimes but this ain't another story about some mob war or an in-and-out job of a wannabe or even any undercover agent. This is a simple story of a wrong-doer average guy who is pushed into circumstances from where he has to pull himself out, every time. You'll love the pace of the cinema. Small-time thrills, some good background score (especially it is awesome to listen Duran Duran's Ordinary World), crisp acting. That's all you need for a crime, thriller, drama to be. Two-thumbs up!
P.S. Watch carefully to find the name of Daniel Craig's character in the film.

My Rating: 7.55/10

Smokin' Aces (2006)

I revisited this movie. I had forgot that I saw this way back in 2006-07 itself. Unfortunately, realized that the reason why I do not remember about it when I saw earlier was because the movie is dud. The plot begins with hope that viewers might see some hot action. Yes, there is bang-bang. But poor plot, weak story line and no thrills make this flick something one can pass.

Surprisingly, loads of talented actors including the lead but the plot and the script murders their scope of performance. I only rate the background score to be smart. If you really have time to kill with action movies, better go for Steven Seagal. ;)
My Rating: 5.25/10

Running Scared (2006)

Sitting home, looking for some adrenaline push, I do more often search for Action/Thrillers. Had no idea about the release of Running Scared (2006) way back then. So, I saw it recently. I agree that the plot is made out of circle. And to some extent, I give plus point to that. It may look that the way the movie begins, it might loose the plot and go wayward but then it comes to ground zero before the climax. Concept wise, there are hundreds of movies on the same line. Chain of events following, creation of confusion, good guy, bad guy, suspicious guys and all those crime/drama plots are there in the movie. To add up the spices, there are child artists and primarily the movie revolves around them. Now, though the movie has a mix of mob and cops but those who are looking for such neck-to-neck dramatic dialogues then this is not the piece for you. For me, yes after watching so many of such movies, the development of plot in the first 15 minutes did give me the hint about the main leads character in the beginning itself. The movie happens during one night only so that may seem strange, for it to be so many things in less than 10 hours. However, this also limits the scope of cinematography. Nothing special was required, so nothing magnificent has been delivered. No background score, as well.

I think there was not much requirement in terms of great acting and thus, I will not make any particular comment about the acting. It is one of those pastime movies which you see, enjoy and forget. Target it for those days when you got nothing to do.

My Rating: 6.4/10

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Twelve Monkeys is directed by Terry Gilliam. His other masterpieces have been Time Bandits (1981) and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). But he has given duds such as Brother's Grimm (2005), too. But leave that aside. I think Terry Gilliam is a the director of the dreams, writer of the influence. Likes portraying fantasy of the real human being. Twelve Monkeys is a Sci-Fi, Drama and a Thriller. Practically speaking, it covers basic development of confusion due to time-travel, draws line between people who know more and then who are ignorant. It is definitely, a good work of fiction. If I draw the parallels, I see that how it becomes difficult for someone who is alert of a disaster eminent in future finds difficult to convince about the same to the people who have less idea about it. We can easily see today that environmental problem of the earth is going to be fatal for human beings, if we do not act now. But is this thing known by everyone? And say, if everyone is working on the same page to tackle it? I felt that one of the take of the Director on this film is about the same situation. Rest, of course is a thrill and humor of the situations, at times.

Good acting by Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt and Madeleine Stowe. I revised this film recently for when I saw it in 1998 for the first time, trust me I had not clue whats all happening on screen! It was just a few days ago when I was wondering, who started all this? The stories of future saviors? My answer is James Cameron's The Terminator (1984). :)
My Rating: 7.3/10