PREDESTINATION: WHAT IF I COULD…

With those words opens the new science fiction masterpiece PREDESTINATION. Based on the short story by Robert Heinlein the movie stars Ethan Hawke as a mysterious man on a mission. Sent from the future he’s part of a group that travels back in time to correct situations that have happened saving millions of lives in the process.

When the film opens he’s walking down a corridor saying asking this question “What if I could put him in front of you; the man who ruined your life. If I could guarantee you could get away with it. Would you kill him?” From there he spots a man planting a bomb, they fight and he’s caught in an explosion that gives him massive third degree burns. When he wakes, he’s in a hospital covered in bandages and told that he may heal but he’ll look completely different.

With this opening we discover the world of the temporal police from the future, who go back in time to prevent cataclysmic acts from happening. In this case it was a bomber known as the fizzle bombers whose last act was the set off a bomb in New York that killed 11,000 people. After healing, Hawke is returned for one last mission since it wreaks havoc with you brain after so many trips. He ends up in a bar where he works as a bartender when a young man comes in.

This is the slow part of the film but sets in motion almost all of the rest. The young man sits in the bar that Hawke now works in. Making small talk he reveals that he is an author of sorts, the writer of the column The Unwed Mother in a woman’s magazine. As the talk, the two men make a bet as to who can tell the better story between the two of them. As the author begins, he lets Hawke know that he was once a woman. This tragic tale involves the young woman’s journey, being left on the doorstep of an orphanage, her time as a youngster with few friends to her being romanced after becoming old enough to leave and then abandoned by the man she thought loved her. Not only abandoned but pregnant as well.

It is here where she discovers she was born with both sexual organs. Due to problems with her pregnancy she was given a hysterectomy but the doctors discovered both sexual organs and were able to make her a man now. As she finishes her now his story Hawke offers his tale, one of time travel. Rather than explain it, he shows the young man instead.

As the pair travel in time more of the story is revealed, slowly unspooling in directions that you think might seem familiar at first but that take a right turn where a left was expected time and time again. It keeps you thinking what’s going to happen next? Not only that but each twist and turn while incomprehensible as they take place makes perfect sense when you get to the end of the picture. It’s brilliant.

The movie didn’t make a big splash when it was released, a smaller film that drew little attention but high praise. That’s sad because this ended up being one of the most original and entertaining films I’ve seen this past year. It qualifies as an artistic and entertainment achievement, something few films achieve.

The film has an expensive look to it while being a low budget picture. The directing is wonderful getting top notch performances out of both leads, Hawke as well as Sarah Snook as the Unwed Mother author. The pacing of the movie seems slow at first but in a good way, like peeling off the layers one at a time to reveal some new piece of information, each one blowing your mind more than the last. By the end of the film you have a very fulfilling story that makes you want to go back and revisit the movie again to see if you could have caught all the clues that were laid out for you from the start. Even knowing those answers I don’t think it’s possible even though they are there.

There are plenty of blockbusters coming out on DVD last week, this week and next but I would highly recommend watching this movie instead. Make sure that you can pay attention to the film from start to finish. Turn off the phone, don’t answer the door and make sure the kids are in bed. You won’t want to miss anything presented here once it starts.

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HORNS: TRUTH BE TOLD

A good horror film tells a story, offers a touch of humor to the horror and in the end offers a scary vision that will stick with you. For the most part HORNS offers all of these items making it one of the best horror stories I’ve seen in some time. But that’s not all it offers. Beneath these items on the surface lies a touching love story.

Ig Parrish (Daniel Radcliff) is the most hated man in town. That’s because circumstantial evidence has pegged Ig to be the killer of Merin Williams (Juno Temple), the sweetest girl in town and Ig’s girlfriend. Ig is thought to have smashed in Merin’s head with a rock and then left her body in the woods. With no conclusive proof to convict Ig of the murder the town looks at him as someone who got away with it who doesn’t deserve to be free. Merin was the town favorite, Ig was always just someone who achieved nothing and had no prospects.

But the story isn’t told from the point of view of the townsfolk, an angrier mob rarely seen on film. It’s told from Ig’s perspective. That’s because Ig knows he didn’t do it. Or at least he thinks he didn’t do it. He was so drunk that night he doesn’t recall. With everyone standing against him Ig takes his rage out on God, blaming him for allowing Merin to die and for Ig to have to go through all of this pain. But God is listening.

After another drunken night with an old flame named Glenna, Ig wakes to find horns beginning to sprout from his head. The problem is that while they can see them they don’t think of them as strange. As he gets ready to leave her apartment, Glenna begins to act strangely. She starts to talk about her desire to eat every donut left in the box on the coffee table. Not just to eat them all but to devour them with no concern over how it looks. If only Ig had paid attention to this moment.

Ig tries to talk to people to find out just what he should do but everyone seems to act strangely in his presence. As the day moves forward the horns continue to grow. Visiting the local doctor Ig has to deal with a child with behavior issues. Talking to the mother she reveals to him that she’d love to leave the child and her husband behind to continue her affair with the local golf pro. Ig can’t figure out why she tells him this. But when he approaches the receptionist she tells him she’d like to tell off the lady with the problem child and then does so. In the doctor’s office the doctor tells Ig he thinks he’s a murderer before he puts him under to saw off the horns. When Ig wakes he finds the doctor jumping his nurses bones right there in the office.

It appears that the horns Ig now has bring out the worst in everyone. Rather than contain their innermost thoughts and actions, they now feel they have free rein to do as they wish. Some of their thoughts are quite disturbing while others are downright hilarious. With each revelation Ig continues to search for the real murderer of his beloved Merin. That search finds him discovering what his parents and brother really think about him, how one person is giving false evidence just to get on television and in talks with the real killer without knowing he is doing so.

As the horns grow so does the number of truths that people have held in check. Not only that, but Ig begins to find a confidence in himself that he never had before. The tender moments that fill the film involve Ig’s memories of the love he had for Merin, how they met, a jealous moment with a friend and the final revelation of just who the killer is. And when all seems hopeless a bit of help comes from an unexpected source.

The movie does a great job of combining all of the elements I spoke of at the start, especially the humor found in the revelations of the townspeople. Perhaps the best one involves the press. But the greatest thing about this movie is the love story of Ig and Merin as well as the tender heart of Glenna. Even with the gore and horror elements of this film it might even make a good Valentine’s Day movie. It just depends on how your girlfriend views horror films.

Radcliffe follows the normal course of child stars who want to be considered adults by shedding his clothes once more. Sorry I had to mention it since it seems too trite to me. He does a great job of acting here though and presents a totally believable character. You feel sorry for him at the start and then wish that he would act out the vengeance that is so needed for the killer. The tender side he shows to Merin displays his abilities as well.

If you’ve read the book by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son, then you’ll know what to expect. You’ll still enjoy this movie. If you haven’t go back and read it and you’ll enjoy it as well discovering the small aspects that were left out. Either way you’ll find one heck of a good story, good movie and the right combination of romance and horror that hasn’t been seen in years.

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THE EQUALIZER: IF YOU NEED HELP

Over the past few years the children of the 70s and 80s have taken to heart the shows that they grew up with and turned them into full length feature films. Some have been good, some bad and many mediocre. In some cases it shows a lack of creativity, a longing by studios looking to make good on their investments rather than come up with something new or inventive. But then on occasion a movie takes its start from the past, puts a new spin on it and makes it something altogether new. Such is the case with THE EQUALIZER.

If you remember the hit series from the past just know you won’t find the exact same thing here. Yes, the hero’s name is Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) and yes he did used to work for some clandestine organization, perhaps the CIA. But rather than retire with plenty of cash on hand, this McCall faked his death and makes a living working at a big box hardware store. There he has plenty of friends, many that he tries to help in any way he can like fellow co-worker Ralphie who is trying to lose weight and get in shape to become a security guard for the store. It’s a simple life where no violence accompanies his day to day life.

But McCall has his problems such as sleeping through the night. To pass the time he visits a nearby diner and reads while there. It is here that he makes the acquaintance of Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), a young prostitute who works for a Russian bar owner. When she comes in one night beaten and the next ends up hospitalized due to the abuse of her owner, McCall sets about trying to buy her freedom. The mobster laughs in his face, surrounded by his henchmen. As McCall heads for the door they continue laughing. But he’s not leaving.
 Observing the men and the weapons on hand, McCall sets his watch for the amount of time he thinks it will take to change things and begins his attack. Within minutes he is the only one left standing.

You would think this would be the end of it, that he would leave unnoticed and Teri would be free. If that were the case the movie would be much shorter. Instead it turns out that the men McCall killed were members of an east coast Russian mob boss. Rather than find peace McCall is hunted down by the one man who may be his match, the main enforcer of this mobster named Teddy (Martin Csokas). Teddy is every bit as cold hearted as McCall is skilled. Both men know how to inflict damage. As Teddy begins to get closer and closer to McCall, McCall has other things to concern himself.

Other friends like Ralphie need help. It seems his mother is a victim of extortion by two corrupt cops. Without being asked McCall helps. Another co-worker is robbed while working at the store, her mother’s ring stolen as well. It reappears the next day. And through all of this Teddy gets closer and closer to McCall until they eventually meets in a showdown that was inevitable.

The original series had a well-mannered, well dressed Edward Woodward in the role of McCall, his Australian accent and upper class appearance making the jobs he took on out of the goodness of his heart in an attempt to make up for all the bad he did in his life seem a bit unreal. But you always wished that there were someone like him out there. For me I think I’d rather like this McCall to show up. I think I would much rather have the calm, cool, collected McCall seen here that has no problem taking out someone who does wrong. The times have changed since that TV series aired and a much more violent world is out there. This McCall has no problems that the old one would have dealt with when it comes to holding back.

Washington does what he always does, he turns in a performance that is both believable and well done in every way imaginable. With touches of humor, displaying a caring person at his core and a man who has no problem killing when the need arises, Washington has formed a hero that this world calls for. It might seem an easy thing to do but the combination of peaceful and violent personas combined in one person is not as easy a task as it sounds. Csokas is one of those actors that always seems type cast as the bad guy. The thing is when you do it so well it’s hard not to cast you in those kind of roles. Once again he does a magnificent job as the near equal to Washington’s McCall when it comes to skills needed for his job.

The movie delivers on all promises made in the trailer that arrived in theaters months before the film was released. You get a solid update on a well-known show (even if it ran back from 1985-89) that takes the source material and makes it fresh. The action you would expect from this sort of film is on full display. The production values are top of the line. And in the end you stop the disc wishing there were more. Word is a sequel is in the works. Here’s hoping it gets made and soon. This is one worth adding to your collection.

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