Rick Rosenthal
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That explanation generally suffices, but character development isn’t exactly necessary in this suspenseful game of life-and-death, made plenty terrifying by director Derrick Borte ( American Dreamer ) and his ability to craft one claustrophobic moment after another on the film’s various roadways and domestic detours.
Director Derrick Borte (American Dreamer) and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth (Disturbia) will have you believe that’s where they’re headed.
The first two names that jumped out at me when looking into the specifics of the new film starring Russell Crowe were writer Carl Ellsworth (the remakes of Red Dawn and The Last House on the Left, as well as films like Disturbia and Red Eye, which are interesting genre works that feel like remakes of better movies) and director Derrick Borte (who made another movie about a downtrodden, middle-aged white guy last year, called American Dreamer, starring Jim Gaffigan).
But the film, directed by German Derrick Borte (“American Dreamer”) and written by Carl Ellsworth (“Disturbia,” “The Last House on the Left”), invites us to get a kick out of murderous, clown-shaped, Energizer Bunny Tom.
Borte’s 2018 “American Dreamer” is in many ways a dress rehearsal for “Unhinged,” telling the story of a respectful man who loses his job, and ultimately after a stint as a taxi driver, respect for himself.
Director Derrick Borte ( American Dreamer ) escalates the tension, especially when the Man steals Rachel’s smartphone and goes through her messages and contact lists (she doesn’t use a password), threatening her friends and family.
Europe’s rejuvenating effects on a staid American tourist have been depicted many times before and in far better films (Dodsworth, 1936; Before Sunrise, 1995; American Dreamer, 1984; Under the Tuscan Sun, 2003) but Letters to Juliet’s narrow focus and fumbled execution don’t warrant comparison with the best of them.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer drafted the blueprint for this sort of thing with Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and struck pay dirt again with Bad Boys (1995); this sequel, directed by right-hand man Michael Bay, is as sour and jaded as they come.
The teen villains are so monstrous, from a toxic female cohort dispatched in a ridiculous cryotank (think the cold version of what Michael Myers does with a hot tub in Halloween II , 1981) to a group of gang rapey boys and even Alan Ruck as an extremely rude shop teacher, there’s never a moment to pause at the violent audacity of whatever or whomever the Blissfield Butcher is or what his motivations for incessant slaughter might be.
The rest of the actors are dutiful but lackluster, with Jordi Mollà (2010's " Knight and Day ") oozing with smarminess as Santana and Katee Sackhoff (2002's " Halloween: Resurrection ") attempting to give color to a weakly developed part playing Johns' tough, acid-tongued right-hand gal Dahl.
Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer ("Sahara," "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night") and Sean Hood ("Halloween: Resurrection") have adapted the 1930's short stories of Robert E. Howard with dumb dialogue (“I live.
"Conan the Barbarian" was written by Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer (2005's " A Sound of Thunder ") and Sean Hood (2002's " Halloween: Resurrection "), three men who, divvying the work up between them, couldn't have spent more than a half-hour session each on the project.
Screenwriters Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer and Sean Hood (the first two responsible for the unfortunate A Sound Of Thunder, the latter for the awkward Halloween: Resurrection) have done a fairly decent job keeping Conan Conan, for the most part.