PURSUIT: DON’T BE MISLED

 

 

Actor John Cusack has had a fantastic career. He went from minor roles where he played a school geek in SIXTEEN CANDLES to lead roles in films like THE SURE THING, BETTER OFF DEAD and THE SURE THING.  He later displayed his acting chops by starring in more serious roles in films like CON AIR, HIGH FIDELTIY and IDENTITY. But somewhere along the way he seems to have fallen out of favor with Hollywood. Fewer leading roles in major releases have found him following in the path of Bruce Willis making movies that went straight to DVD. Solid performances in them all but still not those major movies of the past.

In the case of Willis it was recently released that his not doing well health wise. This might explain his willingness to appear in a ton of movies to bank what he could before retiring. He had a reputation for being difficult with some but not all. But why the same route for Cusack? He’s better than most of the films he’s been in. So why be limited to smaller roles? Which brings us to PURSUIT. 

Emile Hirsch stars as Rick Calloway, a big time hacker with skills that are unsurpassed. The film opens with him paying off a ransom for the return of his wife. But rather than surrender the woman to him he is provided clues. 

Jakes Manley is Detective Mike Breslin. In the midst of an undercover drug buy the window of the motel room he’s in is riddled with bullets and members of the gang selling the drugs are killed as he dives behind a bed. In walks Rick who asks the leader of the gang where his wife is. He’s given a clue but escapes before he can be arrested by Breslin. 

Eventually Rick is caught and wants to talk to no one but Breslin. He lets Breslin know that he has the names of the three people who killed Breslin’s wife but won’t release them to him unless Breslin is put in charge of the escort taking him to prison. Breslin is placed on the team and Rick is rescued from the transport. At least it seems that way. In reality he’s been captured by the cartel he’s been tracking who kidnapped his wife. 

As all of this plays out, Ricks father has been doing all he can to prevent his son from being killed. John Calloway (Cusack) is the head of a criminal organization in Lanoke, Arkansas, with ties to the cartel. He’s been raising Rick’s son as his own. Talking to cartel head Frank Diego (Andrew Stevens) he tells him he has things under control. But Frank has plans of his own. 

Breslin arrives to work with the local police and is shuffled off to a low level uniformed officer named Zoe Carter (Elizabeth Ludlow). Her chief Taye Biggs (William Katt) and most of the force have ties to the cartel. But with her help Breslin begins to track down Rick. The question is can he do it in time and will he find the answers he’s been looking for. 

The movie is a mess in many ways. Plot holes line the script on each and every page. The movie is shot well but the staging of certain sequences make little sense. The same with bits and pieces of the story. While the story is weak it can be entertaining enough but it’s easy to see why this went straight to DVD. 

Manley doesn’t look old enough to be a recruit let alone have reached the Detective stage of his career in the NYPD. His performance is fine but he doesn’t suit the character. Hirsch comes off as the tattooed career criminal with nothing to lose the best here. And Ludlow does a great job in this supporting role as well.

But the casting of Cusack is perhaps the worst here. He’s better than this. This feels like an easy money paycheck type role for him. Walk through, say most of your lines into a cell phone, walk away. The amount of acting done for this role is negligible at best. You end up wishing that the phone would ring and he’d be given a better part in a better movie. Worse yet is that he’s featured prominently on the cover making you believe he’s the main attraction here when it’s really a small role. 

If there is nothing else to watch then you might give this one a go. I didn’t hate it as much as many of those online writing about it did. Still it leaves much to be desired. 

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