Movie Review

Film Review: SUPER TROOPERS 2 (USA 2018) ***

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Super Troopers 2 Poster
Trailer

When a border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, the Super Troopers are tasked with establishing a Highway Patrol station in the disputed area.

Director:

Jay Chandrasekhar

Writers:

Jay Chandrasekhar (as Broken Lizard), Kevin Heffernan (as Broken Lizard) |3 more credits »

Stars:

Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme

 

The first SUPER TROOPERS movie released in 2001 was a dumb ass but funny enough movie that earned Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe involved with the movie a sufficient following.

SUPER TROOPERS 2 is the long awaited sequel that took a very long time to reach the big screen because of production approval and funding problems.  The film finally got funding from the fans, a big $2 million or so worth.  What do audiences get?  Another low-life dumb comedy.  Do NOT have high expectations going to see this one.  I did not.  But I laughed my head off at the dumbness.  And I had a super trooper good time.

Director Chandrasekhar wanted to make a prequel set in the 70’s with the cast portraying the fathers of the original characters.  It sounds like a terrible idea.  Probably is!  Thankfully, Broken Lizard did not follow that idea but did a sequel that started where the original left off.   Foster (Paul Soter), Farva (Kevin Heffenan), Rabbit (Erik Stohlhanske), Mac (Steve Lemme) and Throny (director Chandrasekhar), the original five are in it, together with their captain, a stern faced O’Hagan (British Brian Cox).  Surprisingly, straight faced Cox gets the film’s most laughs in every scene he is in.

The lame plot involves part of Canada actually being the United States so the Super Troopers are recruited (after losing their jobs in the last film) to patrol the border.  They encounter a smuggling scheme of drugs that they eventually solve (well, sort of) with the help of the Canadian mounties.  But the story leaves plenty of opportunity for dumb jokes.  These dumb jokes are hilarious, the funniest ones of which involve comedic timing.

The film opens with cameos by Seann William Scott and Damon Wayans Jr. as two troopers who bust a trailer for speeding and dope.  The sequence involves a well-filmed car chase.  All the shenanigans are not that funny but it is rewarding to watch Wayans and Scott do their thing.  One can tell that if one joke does not work, there are lots more around the corner, and some of these will work.  The real super troopers of the film are slowly introduced with the story brought in.

As expected, the film contains a lot of Canadian vs. American banter, about which country is the better one or which one is the worst one.  If the jokes are nasty to the Americans, there will be an equally nasty aimed at the Canadian.s  It is an almost equal tit-for-tat.

Three other 80’s stars (as the film caters towards 80’s humour) who lend their hand are Lynda Carter as Governor Jessman), Rob Lowe playing a small-town Canadian major, Guy LeFranc, the bad guy and Fred Savage playing himself.  The 80’s period atmosphere is not really convincingly created but the 80’s hippie humour (including a noticeable hippie song) is definitely emphasized.

Hate it or love it, Super Troopers is dumb fun which succeeds in that respect.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=eEed-o8fVpM

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Full Review: EYE ON JULIET (USA 2017) ***1/2

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Eye on Juliet Poster
Eye on Juliet tells the story of an unlikely encounter between Gordon (Joe Cole), a hexapod operator, and Ayusha (Lina El Arabi), a young woman from the Middle East. Gordon, guardian of a …See full summary »

Director:

Kim Nguyen

Writer:

Kim Nguyen

Stars:

Joe Cole, Lina El Arabi, Faycal Zeglat

 

Canadian writer/director Kim Nguyen’s (WAR WITCH and last year’s TWO LOVERS AND A BEAR) new film is a meticulously crafted story of two soul mates in different parts of the world (Detroit and North Africa) that is as strange as it is difficult to believe.

The success of a movie often lies not in the credibility of the plot but on how the story, as incredible as it may be is made credible by the medium of film.  As such, despite a few far-fetched points, EYE OF JULIET succeeds in not only having the audience believe what is occurring on screen could happen, but also have them root for the protagonists, two misfits in their own cultures but in finding themselves, and meaning in their somewhat meaningless lives.

The film ties in the madness of modern technology, in this case a sort of spider form of a drone, with old cultures – in this case the order of an arranged marriage.

The film follows, a break-up as it happens in the dark of a dance club.  “I love you, I love you,” are the words begged by Gord (Joe Cole) whose girlfriend has dumped him.  At work, his supervisor makes him promise that he will go dating again, by connecting with at least 10 people on a dating site.  Gord’s job is surveillance.  He monitors, using robots (a robotic spider), a pipeline halfway around the world in Northern Africa.  One night,  Gord notices a young woman, Ayusha, (Lina El Arabi), sitting alone in the dunes waiting to meet her lover.  It turns out that Ayusha is planning to go away on a boat with her lover, in order to escape an arranged marriage by her parents to an older man.  They need money which the lover is supposed to earn from stealing oil from the pipeline.  Gord witnesses the lover’s death through the robotic spider in an accidental explosion.  Gord helps her – she is his Juliet – at risk of losing his job.

Joe Cole and El Arabi, though amateurs deliver memorable performances.  Cole looks like the everyday nobody who is still an individual in his own right.  Cole seems to have some raw and redness at the back of his neck, seen throughout the film but somehow clears up at the end of the film.   I wonder if this is deliberate, the allergy due to is stress of losing his girlfriend.

It is  clear that Gord and Ayusha are not lovers.  But it is clear that the two are connected by circumstance.  Nguyen’s film is slow moving, but surprisingly very engaging.  Nguyen has the talent of being able to keep his audience glued to the screen by means of details in the plot, one example being of Gord blackmailing his supervisor or and another by observing his supervisor’s sleeping habits.

There are two points in the film that stretches credibility.  One is the robot blasting one a window of a house, thew window just popping open after the blast.  The other is the ending where Gord and Ayusha agree to meet a t a fixed time and place in Paris.

EYE ON JULIET is meticulous filmmaking and it shows.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39r8FF94Iro

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Hot Docs 2018: TRANSFORMER (USA 2018) ***1/2

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Transformer Poster
In the summer of 2015, former US Marine and world record weightlifter Matt “Kroc” Kroczaleski was publicly outed as being transgender. The reaction was universal: her sponsors abandoned her… See full summary »

Director:

Michael Del Monte

Writers:

Michael Del Monte, Paul Kemp (story editor)

Star:

Janae Marie Kroczaleski

TRANSFORMER, the true transgender story of a muscled power lifter undergoing a sex change operation offers an unique perspective on the transgendered community and how each transition is unique to the person transitioning.  Janae (aka Matt) Kroc was as masculine as one can be prior to her transition, a world record powerlifter renowned for her masculinity. When she transitioned, she struggled with remaining true to her passions as a powerlifter while wanting to become more feminine.  The film illustrates a lesson that transitioning does not mean leaving one person behind to become another – so audiences should be prepared to be taking for quite the ride.

The film also shows the sadness at people in the world who still stupid and are unacceptable of gays or people who are different in general.  A moving while disturbing segment has protesters during an LGTT march.  These people carry just awful and nasty holding signs like LGBT (Let God Burn Them) and HOMO Sex is Sin.  Well, Kroc has admitted earlier in the film that he is still attracted to females and not men.  After the segment when the camera then focuses on Kroc back in male clothes, one certainly gains a new respect for this man – one who is able to stand up for what he believes and to challenge all the unaccepting idiots in the world, who are the ones who should burn in hell.  Director has lifted this film that could have been a freak show turn into something more insightful.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/233416373

 

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Film Review: YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (UK/USA/France 2017) ****

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You Were Never Really Here Poster
Trailer

A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

Director:

Lynne Ramsay

Writers:

Lynne Ramsay (screenplay by), Jonathan Ames (based on the book by)

Stars:

Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, Ekaterina Samsonov

 

Scottish director Lynne Ramsay has been praised as one of the best living directors.  She has made excellent films the best being RATCATCHER and the last one WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN.  She got into front page news when she did not show up on the first day of shooting of ANNE GOT A GUN, abandoning the project completely and causing the producers to sue.  In YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE, Ramsay is one of the producers which means she cannot walk out on herself.  She presented the unfinished version of the film last year at Cannes winning her Best Screenplay and Joaquin Phoenix Best Actor.  Totally deserving!  The film is short at 90 minutes, concise and a marvel!  This is a dramatic thriller written and directed by Lynne Ramsay, based on the novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames.

Joe (Phoenix), a combat veteran and former FBI agent with post-traumatic stress disorder, is a hired gun who rescues trafficked girls.  He cares for his elderly mother in his childhood home in New York City.  Joe has graphic flashbacks to his childhood and past in the military and FBI.  Director Ramsay loves flashbacks as evident in her previous films, and flashbacks allow her carte blanche to do whatever she wishes to shock the audience.

The trouble starts when returning home from a job, Joe is spotted by the son of Angel, the middleman between Joe and McCleary, his handler.  Joe meets with McCleary, and expresses his concerns about his safety potentially being compromised due to Angel’s son being aware of his address.  McCleary then informs Joe of his next job: a New York State Senator, Albert Votto, has offered a large sum of money to discreetly find and rescue his abducted daughter, Nina.   

The plot thickens with a lot of people getting violently killed.  This is director Ramsay’s first thriller though death, killing and the psychology of killing has been dealt with in her previous films particularly in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN.  But she treats this film with dead seriousness.   Her fascination with themes of grief, guilt and death is present here as in her other films – a strength in her filmmaking.  Apparent is the trauma her protagonist undergoes in the film in his path towards redemption.  

Phoenix delivers a remarkable performance similar to the one he did in Paul Anderson’s INHERENT VICE.  That role appears to have prepped him for the role of Joe in this film.  Judith Roberts is also memorable playing Joe’s mother.

In WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Kevin, in the final scene tells his mother that he finally discovers the reason he murdered his schoolmates in the gym.  When asked what the reason is, Kevin remarks that he had forgotten.  YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE also contains a remarkable ending and a bright one (not to be revealed in this review.)  A remarkable ending for an even more remarkable film.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1APnf3Y_W8

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Film Review: THE RIDER (USA 2017) ***1/2

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The Rider Poster
Trailer

After suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.

Director:

Chloé Zhao

Writer:

Chloé Zhao

Stars:

Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau

 

The film’s title THE RIDER tells it all – what Chinese director Chloe Zhao’s film is all about.  The film centres on a rodeo hopeful’s life after his dreams are dashed following a serious rodeo accident.

The audience sees the pain right at the very start when Brady Blackburn, a South Dakota cowboy (Brady Jandreau) manually takes off the medical staples from his wounds. The accident is seen from a video recording, the audience obviously spared the gore and blood.

Zhao emphasizes the claustrophobic life of Brady, despite having the open ranges.  He lives with his often drunk and gambling father and mentally challenged sister, Lilly (Lilly Jandreau).  His few friends provide him a drinking outlet but it is the rodeo that makes Brady, the man.  If a cowboy cannot ride, then what good is he?  These be Brady’s own words. With his injury his brain is sensitive and riding rodeo might be the end of him.

Zhao shows Brady’s outlets for his anger.  One is the breaking in of a wild horse, named Apollo.  It is sad that the horse has to eventually be euthanized as a result of a nasty accident.  In another outlet, Brady wrestles one of his young buddies, James but ends up unable to control his inner anger.

Brady Jandreau, a wrangler in real life does an ok acting job, but his riding and horse handling that are more important.  Zhao stays away from any romance in her story.

Zhao builds good characterizations.  The father is not a one sided cardboard has been.  Despite his constant arguments with his son, it is shown at the end that he understands Brady and his decisions.  Brady’s anguish, anger and decisions are also well displayed.  The horse training and rodeo segments are effectively shot and exciting enough.  Joshua James Richards captures the landscape of the open areas of the west, where horses run free.

For a female, Zhao captures the male world of male cowboys surprisingly well.  There are only few female characters like Lilly and the absent mother.  Female directors are fond of making their male characters cry on film.  Brady does burst into tears at his breaking point in the film.  Rather than showing his weakness, it shows his desperation.  He also has to work at a supermarket to support his family.  Like her previous feature SONGS MY BROTHERS TAUGHT ME, she blends in the real life of her character actors into the characters of her story.  This results in a sort of documentary but realistic feel in the film.

It is clear throughout THE RIDER that Zhao’s film is an artistic, well thought out process.  She does not resort to cheap sentiment.  There are few outbursts in confrontations.  Dialogue is simple and effective.  Zhao is fond of long slow takes to capture the mood of a segment.

THE RIDER premiered at Cannes Directors Fortnight Section to rave reviews. It is easy to see why.  Simple storytelling, a good human story and one dealing with nature makes this an excellent film.

Cannes Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbhO6MkO78U

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Film Review: TRUTH OR DARE (USA 2018) ***

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Truth or Dare Poster
Trailer

A harmless game of Truth or Dare among friends turns deadly when someone — or something — begins to punish those who tell a lie or refuse the dare.

Director:

Jeff Wadlow

Writers:

Jillian Jacobs (screenplay by), Michael Reisz (screenplay by) | 3 more credits »

 Stars:

 Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane
The film title is not Truth or Dare but BLUMHOUSE’S TRUTH OR DARE.  With reason!  The game played is a Blumhouse, the film horror company’s version of the game in which players will die a very violet death if they do not tell the truth or do a dare.
The premise of the game is simple enough but the script takes the audience into a much thicker plot.  College student Olivia (Lucy Hale) wishes to use her spring break to further her work with people.  She being the heroine of the film, has to be the one to be self sacrificing to do good for mankind.  Her partying best friend, Markie (Violett Beane) convinces her to go with the gang to Mexico instead as in her words: ‘the final spring break before life tears us apart.”
In Mexico, they stumble across a missionary ruin and coerced into playing Truth or Dare by a stranger, Carter (Landon Liboron).  When it is his turn to play, Carter reveals the real truth he is there with the group – to force them into playing with death involved.  Of course they disbelieve him, till the gang starts dropping dead one by one when they do not follow the rules.
The plot follows the predictable path though to the script (written by Michael Reisz
Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach and Jeff Wadlow) has quite a few inspired twists.  The group or in this case, Olivia the heroine has to figure out the way to remove the curse and to halt the game.  The film’s ending is too ambitious for its own good an ends up being an unbelievable let-sown, judging from the response of the audience at the promo screening.
The film follows a few general rules of the typical horror film.  The corky self-centred assholes are the first to go.  All the deaths are gross enough, with the audience at the promo screening gasping aloud.  There is more character development in this film and when one of the victim dies, some of the audience is actually brought to tears.  This is a rarity in horror flicks – and a good thing.  The film also contains a brilliant anti-message.  Olivia is told off by her friend, Markie to stop thinking about others and to start thinking about herself (in order to survive).
The young actors are all believable enough as party animals brought to their senses.  The best actor of the lot is Canadian Hayden Szeto who brings his gay Canadian character, Brad to life.  He was last seen in EDGE OF SEVENTEEN.  One flaw in the plot is his character saying that he is studying in the States to be away from his father though his father turns up as a cop in the U.S. where he is studying at college.  Another is the absence of the characters’ parents except for Markie’s and Brad’s.  I have never known any Asian to be called Brad.
Blumhouse has made three box-office and critical successes with SPLIT, HAPPY DEATH DAY and the phenomenal GET OUT.  BLUMHOUSE’S TRUTH OR DARE seem to have got the lowest rating so far of the four films on Metacritic.  The reason is that the film has more story and character development than the average horror flick with no false alarms or cheap jump out of the seat tactics common to films of this genre.  Horror fans do not like their horror formula tampered with.  Still this Blumhouse film which cost $3.5 million to make is estimated to draw $15 million at the box-office which will make it as another successful Blumhouse film.

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Hot Docs 2018 Capsule Review: LAILA AT THE BRIDGE

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Laila at the Bridge Poster
Set against the backdrop of the drug war in Afghanistan, Laila at the Bridge is the story of an Afghan woman working against all odds to care for the thousands of men and women addicted to …See full summary »

Directors:

Elissa Sylvia Mirzaei, Gulistan Mirzaei

 

The bridge in Kabul, Afghanistan is a filthy and disgusting place.  Smelling of human faeces and vomit, this is the makeshift dwelling of hundreds of homeless Afghanistan drug addicts.  

As the difficult to watch (for reason of its material and harsh depiction of human hardships) film informs at the start, 90% of the world’s opium is grown in the country with more than 11% of the population addicted.  Laila is the Mother Teresa who brings the addicts home, feed, clothe and more important, try to get them clean and to stay clean. 

This is her story.  Laila is shown as a dedicated mother of sorts but not without faults.  She can be too forward, loud, and bossy, especially when trying to get government aid for her exploits.  The film shows two crucial scenes at the bridge, one with her distributing  limited food and the other searching through the rubbish for a convert.  The film ends on a note of hope with her possibly having a way to get funds for her project.  

The film is also made more alive by examining a few addicts in detail, one of whom is Laila’s brother who is presently clean and helping her, after 25 years of addiction.  A very eye-opening documentary set in a  country with a culture North Americans know very little about.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it8INQaTcB0

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Film Review: FINDING YOUR FEET (UK 2017) ***

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Finding Your Feet Poster
Trailer

On the eve of retirement a middle class, judgmental snob discovers her husband has been having an affair with her best friend and is forced into exile with her bohemian sister who lives on an impoverished inner-city council estate.

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writers:

Meg Leonard, Nick Moorcroft

Stars:

Timothy Spall, Joanna Lumley, Imelda Staunton

 

(Warning: This review contains a spoiler which is highlighted in bold italics at the end.  Skip it if you intend to watch the film.)

As the title of the film implies FINDING YOU FEET refers to finding ones footing in life with dancing helping along the way.

When the film opens Sandra Abbott (Imelda Staunton) is about to become a Lady, thanks to the success and fame of her husband, Mike (John Sessions).  They have enjoyed a good long marriage together till this party, where she catches him red handed kissing her friend in the dark.  She abandons him, distraught and shows up at the council flat of her bohemian sister.  No need to guess that she is then taught how to behave like a less haughty human being as well as to enjoy the simplicities of life, which includes attending the sister’s dancing class.  She also gives love a second chance, in the form of Charlie(Timothy Spall), who’s wife Lily (Sian Thomas) is suffering an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s at a nursing home.

Three great performances to be entertained here by Oscar Nominee Imelda Staunton (Mike Leigh’s VERA DRAKE), Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie .  These performances distract from the facts that the film is not really funny nor are there many funny parts, nor is the script particularly bright. But the charm of the actors come across quite effectively for the audience not to notice the film’s shortcomings.  Absolutely Fabulous’s Patsy (Joanna Lumley) lends her hand in the role of a five time divorcee offering advice for Sandra.  Lumley is the only real comedienne in the cast.  Staunton and Spall are known more for their serious comedies.  Director Loncraine has made comedies in the past as in Michael Pailin in THE MISSIONARY but also more serious films as RICHARD III and in one of my favourite films, BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE with a young Sting making his acting debut.

The dance performance supposedly shot at Piccadilly Circus is sufficient spirited.  London is shown in her Christmas splendour as Sandra ad Charlie take on the London lights during a romantic fling.  The two make a believable couple coming to terms with their own personal troubles.  It is this human feature of the script that makes the film work despite the script’s flaws.  The film obviously leads towards the typical happy Hollywood ending which is a real shame, since it is so manipulative and obvious as to what is going to happen.  (Spoiler alert:  But the last straw, almost unforgivable is the literal leap of faith Sandra takes to be with Charlie.)

The dance metaphor which reflects Sandra getting on back to her feet after her matrimonial disaster works quite well, though it can hardly not be noticeable.  Sandra gets back into the dance groove, together with her old cronies with a few solid but simple choreographed numbers to old tunes like Rockin’ Robin and newer numbers like La Freak.

FINDING YOUR FEET is an old folks Harlequin romance that goes through all the usual obstacles and predictability of finding true love lifted slightly by the presence of both Imelda Staunton and Timothy Spall.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Cp6ba2Y0g

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Capsule Review Hot Docs 2018: CHEF FLYNN

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Chef Flynn Poster
Ten-year-old Flynn transforms his living room into a supper club using his classmates as line cooks. With sudden fame, Flynn outgrows his bedroom kitchen, and sets out to challenge the hierarchy of the culinary world.

Director:

Cameron Yates

Stars:

Flynn McGarry, Meg McGarry, Paris McGarry

 

Documentary CHEF FLYNN picks 10-year old Flynn as is subject when Flynn first transforms his living room into a supper club using his classmates as line cooks. With sudden fame, Flynn outgrows his bedroom kitchen, and sets out to challenge the hierarchy of the culinary world.  

Like most docs on a subject that runs out of material, it gets distracted with other issues such as, in this case, the mother’s filming obsession, Fynn’s relationship with his family (father and sister) and his new restaurant’s opening night.  But when the camera is on the young chef prodigy, it gets the most interesting.  To director Yates’ credit, he ties the other issues to Flynn’s culinary duties. 

 Flynn’s culinary creations look marvellous on screen though this fine dining experience may only be suited for the rich and wealthy.  Still, it is a rewarding experience to see a talented youth (seen through the ages of 10-15) experience both the highs of his talent and pains of growing up too quickly.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvaouhB0qzc

 

 

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Film Review: BEIRUT (USA 2017) ***

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Beirut Poster
Caught in the crossfires of civil war, CIA operatives must send a former U.S. diplomat to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind.

Director:

Brad Anderson

Writer:

Tony Gilroy

Stars:

Rosamund Pike, Jon Hamm, Mark Pellegrino

 

Set in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War, BEIRUT is a fictional action film centring on a former U.S. diplomat who returns to service in the city of Beirut in order to save a colleague who is held hostage by the group responsible for the death of his family.

Unlike films dealing with hostage situations like 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE and ARGO, BEIRUT deals with the next best thing.  It is a fictional story based on a true event – the hostage taking during the Olympics in Munich.   While the lead is no super spy like James Bond, he is the next best thing, a diplomat that has revenge on his agenda, as in the Liam Neeson TAKEN films.  BEIRUT benefits from a script by Tony Gilroy who penned the BOURNE films and more important, also directed one BOURNE film and the excellent MICHAEL CLAYTON.  There are shades of MICHAEL CLAYTON in BEIRUT with the main character similar to the George Clooney character and a strong supporting female character here played by Rosamund Pike.  

The film opens in 1972 at a posh party thrown by  Mason Skiles (Jon Hamm), a U.S. diplomat living it up in Beirut with his wife Nadia (Leila Bekhti).   They have no children of their own, and so they adopt and treat 13-year-old orphan refugee Karim (Yoav Sadian Rosenberg) as family.  Karim serves hors d’oeuvres.  During a posh cocktail party, however, uninvited guests bring unwelcome news: Not quite so alone in the world as he’d pretended, little Karim has an older brother.  Things never go as well as planned – especially not in movies.  Mason is then informed that Karim is the brother of Abu Rajal (Hicham Ouraqa), a notorious Palestinian terrorist linked to the recent Summer Olympics massacre in Munich as well as other attacks.  Just as Mason is about to say, “I don’t believe it,” the party is stormed by gunmen under the orders of Rajal attempting to spring Karim.

To cut a long story short, Mason is sent home, takes to the drink but later asked to return to Beirut,  There he learns, that his friend Cal of the CIA (Mark Pellegrino) is held hostage by the now grown Karim.  Karim wants his brother Abu Rajal freed.

Despite the long story, it is an interesting one and one that allows a mild mannered man to resume his glory days and save the day or in this case, his best friend Cal.  The subplot between Mason an cultural attache Sandy Crowder (Pike) makes a good diversion.  The film feels like a mix between MICHAEL CLAYTON and the BOUNRE movies.  Morocco, where the film is shot stands for war-torn Beirut.

Unlike most action films where the heroes spurt out funny one-liners, the dialogue here is more subtle and at times a bit cynical, which suits the mood of the film.  Hamm makes a good reluctant hero.  

The film has had complaints of being racist.  The film’s trailer ended with voice-over from Mr. Hamm’s character: “2,000 years of revenge, vendetta, murder. Welcome to Beirut.”  It does not help too that Beirut looks nothing like the real Beirut since the film was shot in Morocco.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SagsqxiVStM

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