WILD CARD: KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM

When I first saw the trailer for WILD CARD I thought hang on, I’ve seen this before. As the credits for the DVD came across the screen I found I was right. The film is a remake of the Burt Reynolds 1986 film HEAT, based on the same novel by William Goldman. Known for his screenplays for films like BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN and MARATHON MAN to name a few, one would expect this to be a great film. In all honesty it’s a good movie but not quite great. It does do a nice job of tailoring it to the actor on tap for the lead role here though.

Jason Statham stars as Nick Wild, a security expert in Las Vegas. While Nick dreams of the day he can leave Vegas to cruise the seas but finds himself tied to his gambling addiction instead. He hires himself out for various jobs here and there, but things become personal when his friend, escort Holly (Dominik Garcia-Lorido), calls him to her place.

It seems a low level mobster’s son Danny DeMarco (Milo Ventimiglia) took Holly from an elevator promising a party when in reality he simply used and abused her before having his men beat her to a pulp and then toss her body to the curb outside of a local hospital. Beaten, bloodied and damaged, Holly wants Nick to help her get her revenge. But Nick is hesitant. While completely loyal to his friends, he just can’t seem to find putting his life on the line for this friend to get revenge, especially knowing who the punk is tied to.

At about this time Nick is also approached in his office by a very young, very wealthy man named Cyrus (Michael Angarano) to be his bodyguard while showing him the gambling sights of Vegas. Taking on the job for the money, Nick shows him around the more subdued locations in Vegas, the less splashy casinos, drinking at each stop along the way until the end up at the Golden Nugget, the hotel DeMarco was staying in. At this point he cuts ties with Cyrus and pays a visit to DeMarco. Being this is a Statham flick of course the end result will not be pretty for DeMarco and company.

When he finishes he calls Holly up to come to DeMarco’s room and she does indeed get her revenge along with $50,000. Paying half of that to Nick he suggest she leave town and begins to make plans to do the same. But the gambling addiction and alcohol fueled mind of Nick won’t let him do so just yet. And before the next few days are over he will have every opportunity to fulfill his long wished for dreams and every chance to toss it aside as well. What he chooses to do makes up the last half of the film.

While this movie is not Oscar material it does present a deeper story than is usually found in a Statham film. This is not to criticize his previous efforts, I’m a fan of his movies. It offers more though and that’s a good thing. It allows him to do more than just punch people though it does have that as well. Here he portrays a deeper character than usual and shows he can handle roles like this. Let’s hope that continues and that audiences will be willing to continue to watch those films.

The biggest complaints about this film have come from the inclusion of a number of well-known actors in bit parts, near cameos. Advertising for the film touts their appearances in it and fans were upset to discover how small their parts were. Sofia Vergara, Jason Alexander, Stanley Tucci, Anne Heche and Hope Davis all pop up in small roles but that shouldn’t be a negative. That they were willing to do so shows their dedication to the film.

The other complaint is that the movie has a slower pace than is seen in most Statham movies. For me that should be in the plus column. It means he’s developing as an actor, relying as much on his skills to do that as he does on his ability to carry a fight scene in a film. He’s a much better actor than given credit for and if you’ve ever seen LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, SNATCH or REVOLVER (an excellent and overlooked film) then you’d know this already. The fact that this film uses story instead of guns, explosions and roundhouse kicks to the head to move it forward isn’t something to be slammed. That Statham can make it works makes it better.

While the movie in the end isn’t the next best thing since sliced bread, it does offer a decent evening’s entertainment. Even though located in Vegas it doesn’t rely on the seedier side of life nor the now cliché strip club mentality (though there is one short scene that has nude dancers). Knowing full well that any film that takes place in what has become known as Sin City you would expect it to be filled with glamor and glitz, violence and gambling. Those may be seen but they’re not as seedy as has been depicted in the past. Instead you have a solid story of a self-destructive man who has the chance to fulfill his dreams if he will just take it. Not a bad deal when it comes to a movie.

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LOVE AT FIRST BITE/ONCE BITTEN: FORGOTTEN VAMPIRE FLICKS

One of the great things that Shout/Scream Factory has been doing is finding some of the less than notable movies of the past 20-30 years and bringing them back to life via blu-ray. Now don’t get me wrong when I say less than notable. By that I mean these are movies that the majority of movie goers out there either haven’t heard of or have forgotten. But once you hear the names of some of these movies fond memories return and you wonder why you hadn’t thought about them in a while. Such is the case with these two movies, definite hits on the old VHS walls but not seen in some time.

The first film, LOVE AT FIRST BITE, was the bigger hit of the two and helped re-launch the career of actor George Hamilton. Once a fairly successful actor, the few years prior to this film saw him languishing in the part time roles offered by series television. This film put him in a lead role once again which he, pardon my pun, sank his teeth into.

Hamilton stars as Count Dracula who is forced out of his castle in Transylvania and is now relocating in New York. Accompanied by his trusty servant Renfield (a scene stealing Arte Johnson in the role), he makes his way here and soon discovers the love of his life in the form of model Cindy Sondheim (Susan Saint James). As he tries to woo her he finds himself at odds with her somewhat obsessive ex-boyfriend Dr. Jeffrey Rosenberg (Richard Benjamin) who reveals himself later to be the grandson of the same Van Helsing who tried to kill Dracula all those years ago.

What makes the movie work are the tongue in cheek moments played for laughs and played well. Perhaps the most memorable part of the film is the hilarious evil accomplice laugh that Johnson uses in most of his scenes. Add to that the disco dance ear locations and outfits and you have some seriously funny moments. While it might not equal the laughs of a Mel Brooks film this one does offer a great night’s entertainment on its own.

But, since this is a double feature disc set, you have more vampiric moments to enjoy. ONCE BITTEN stars a young and unknown actor who had done little prior to this film named Jim Carrey. The film features Lauren Hutton as the Countess, a 400 year old vampire who must feast three times on the blood of a virgin in order to remain alive…or is it undead? Anyway, she needs the blood of a virgin and all seems lost. Until she meets Mark Kendall (Carrey), the one man who meets her qualifications.

It’s not that Mark WANTS to be a virgin. After all, he constantly tries to bed down his girlfriend Robin, but she insists that they wait. Unfortunately that means that he becomes fair game for the much in need Countess. As her bite moves from the first and heads to the third, Mark may end up a vampire himself and Robin a woman without a beau. But of course this is a movie and things never quite turn out as planned.

The movie offered Carrey a chance to let loose and he does so here, mugging for the camera in a way that would later gather him a legion of fans. For some reason this movie didn’t cause that to happen but it did give him a chance to hone his style which would later serve him well. For Carrey fans this is a must have to add to your collection.

I’ll say it again, while these two movies may not be the greatest movies ever made they do bring back fond memories of the times they were made in as well as the types of movies being made back then. Movie like these today would be straight to DVD releases with little or no hoopla about them. That is sad since they helped bring another great actor back to the attention of the public and let an unknown have a chance to be seen. As it stands we should be happy that Shout/Scream Factory has taken an interests in these movies and offered us a chance to add them to our collection.

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SONG ONE: THE POWER OF MUSIC

Many actors and actresses trade off big movies for small in their careers. The bigger movies make them money they can live on while the smaller ones give them the chance to be more creative and stretch their abilities. In the end fans can enjoy both types of films and the artists can work on their craft. Anne Hathaway seems to be taking this on for her career. Having made LES MISERABLE and increasing her fame, she now can be seen in the smaller film SONG ONE.

The movie opens with a young street musician name Henry playing in the subway. While walking home he fails to notice where he’s walking and is hit by a car. We’re then whisked away to Africa where Franny (Hathaway) is working on her PHD as an anthropologist. She receives a phone call from her mother (Mary Steenburgen) and is soon on her way home to sit alongside her, waiting for Henry to come out of the coma he is now in, if at all.

Having left on bad terms with Henry and not speaking to him for months, Frannie looks through his things in his room trying to piece together who her brother was and what he had become. She always felt that his career choice was simple and shallow and beneath him. Now as she reads through the book of notes he took with him everywhere, she follows his footsteps through the city of New York capturing the sounds that he listened to and visiting the music spots where he was developing his craft in the indie music scene.

Among the many things she finds her brother fond of she discovers his adulation of a performer named James Forester (Johnny Flynn). His room is not only covered with posters for the performer but in the middle of the book of notes is a ticket to his next performance that night. Frannie takes the ticket and heads out to hear this man and to find out what held her brother’s interest in him.

As she listens to his words and music, Frannie discovers that James offers a solid base in folk music that she never understood before. She meets with him after the show and tells him about her brother’s condition. Where most movies would take this moment to have the two main characters fall madly in love this movie instead lets that develop slowly at a more natural pace. James comes to visit Frannie and Henry in the hospital though Henry remains in his coma. James and Frannie slowly strike up a friendship and he goes with her on the journey through the pages of Henry’s book, knowing some of the locations well.

As days pass the pair grow fond of one another and, as I said, slowly begin to find themselves attracted towards one another. James finds himself drawn to a woman in need and her family, Frannie finds a link to her brother that continues to provide her hope he will recover. While she may not realize it, Frannie is also discovering another world just outside of her doorstep using the same technics she would employ as an anthropologist looking into other cultures. It keeps her busy while she helps with her mother, waits on her brother and slowly finds herself drawn to a man she never knew before in James.

The movie works well in the structure it uses relying less on the spoken word and more on those sung. With each location Frannie visits she is exposed to various musicians singing songs and carrying on a long tradition of telling stories through them. The best part is that here the songs aren’t all written to move the story forward but as their own songs and stories. A bad movie would have made each song relate to what was happening next to Frannie or Henry, but here they are just songs that each different performer has created. The same hold true with the songs that James performs.

The pacing of the film is slow and steady, never rushing anything and letting the plot develop at a more natural flow than most movies would allow. And by the end everything isn’t tied up in a nice, neat bow either, giving it a more realistic approach that is both realistic and satisfying at the same time. The performances are all low key and each actor makes their character as believable as possible. When put together this results in a movie that holds your interest, entertains and enlightens all at the same time.

While SONG ONE is a smaller movie than many being released these days it does what a good movie should do. It allows you to feel emotions in different ways. It tells a story that holds your interest. And it captures your attention for 86 minutes. What more could you ask for in a movie?

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