2 Guns

It has been a while since we have seen a movie that has some mindless shooting (some accurate shooting as well) in a climax that involves blowing up $43.125 million. Hey wait a minute. We have not seen any movie that involves blowing up that kind of money. But we have seen movies that have mindless shooting towards the end in the hope that the bullets find some target or the other. Sorry for the spoiler to begin with but that to me was the high point of 2 Guns.

The Bone Collector

Amongst the genre of Serial Killer movies, probably one of the top ranking movies would undeniable be The Bone Collector. And it could also rank at director Phillip Noyce’s best work over the 60 odd years that he has walked the earth and over the 40 odd years that he has been in the world of direction (Can you believe that? The man directed his first when he was 19???)

Safe House

Safe House rates amongst one of THE most anticipated movies of the year 2012. It released yesterday in the US and I wonder what the response has been like. I honestly was disappointed to see yet another CIA movie with little or no difference in either story or the making of the movie. It is the same old stale CIA story that the audiences would probably yawn through this time. I know that I did. In fact, in a rare instance, I walked out mid way to get myself something to eat. Something my close friends know that would be impossible unless 2 conditions are met – 1. I am extremely hungry and 2. I am not terribly excited with what is happening on screen. Both necessary and sufficient conditions were met this time around.

Daniel Espinosa is another one of those newbie directors who has joined an endless list in Hollywood (and for that matter even Bollywood). A list which grows by the day. A list that includes all newbie directors who need to move back to film school or get an internship or Assistant Directorship under a big name for a few years and then come back to attempt direction.

But in all fairness, Espinosa is not the only one to blame this time around. The writer of this story is David Guggenheim again a newbie who seems to have created Safe House as a mishmash of several espionage movies from the past and presented a goulash to the audiences who he definitely believes are not intelligent enough to work out that it is just “old wine in new bottle”. The only difference in angle that I could see is the introduction of the concept of a place where CIA suspects or “guests” as they call them are taken. This place is called a “Safe House” – no points for guessing that.

Denzel Washington is far too talented and mature an actor to be caught wasting his time with silly stories like these. I would have expected Ryan Reynolds to also look the other way when approached with the concept but then Reynolds hasn’t had his share of action / Espionage movies in his resumé. And what was Vera Farmiga doing there with a silly outfit which does no justice to the fact that she is one of THE most good looking women in Hollywood today – not to mention one of THE most talented actresses as well.

Saved by the cast is what Espinosa would be thinking to himself currently. Without this the man could have kissed everything he had good bye. Lucky Espinosa. Not so lucky producer. 5 on 10 for this average spy story. Can download instead of watching on big screen. Maybe rent a DVD.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3006438937/

Unstoppable

Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) has lost his job. He is serving out is notice period with NWVR, a railroad company and is in his last 3 weeks now. All this after 28 years of committed work for the organization. He is an engine motorman. Several older personnel in the organization are being replaced with younger blood. Many of his close friends particularly Judd Stewart (David Warshofsky) have also been victim of this sudden move by the organization. Whats worse, they get only half the benefits that they are eligible for (Sometimes I feel it is so much better to work in India than anywhere else ). Frank has lost his wife about 4 years back to cancer. He has 2 daughters aged 18 and 19 - Maya (Meagan Tandy) and Nicole (Elizabeth Mathis). They are working their way through college by waiting tables @ Hooters – not the most respectable job one can have but not one that they keep their father in the dark about. All in all they seem to be one small happy family with the regular father daughter fights etc.


With the jobs being lost around, it is no surprise that when Will Colson (Chris Pine) joins the company as a conductor, he is given an ice cold welcome on the first day itself. But Chris has problems of his own and does his best to ignore the cold vibes. His wife, Darcy (Jessy Schram) has served a restraining order against him thanks to a very close cop friend. Story goes that Will suspected something fishy between Mrs. Colson and her cop friend and gets a little harsh with her – no beating up or physical abuse but just some pushing and shoving. To make matters worse, he leaves home that very instant and goes to the cop’s place to give him a piece of his mind and surprise surprise – pulls a gun on him – I mean what kind of a nit wit would pull a gun on a cop???? Not Mr. Colson’s proudest moment especially when he realizes that Darcy was only messaging her sister – the message was the core reason for the fight to start and then finish with a restraining order. What a waste!!!!

Nevertheless, fate provides both Frank and Will an opportunity to become heroes when Train 777 turns into what is termed in railroad parlance as a COASTER. A Coaster is a train that has an unmanned engine running on auto, usually at low speeds say under 10 miles per hour. Gileece (T J Lewis) and Dewey (Ethan Suplee) are 2 employees who are charged with the responsibility of pulling out a half a mile long goods train to make way for kids coming for a field trip. Since it’s a small job, they don’t put the air brakes on. Worse still, the not so slim Dewey gets off the train to manually switch tracks but slips in the bargain. The train picks up speed and Dewey is unable to get back onto it (must remember to start working out sooner than later or may land up like Dewey). And worse still, the throttle was @ the max level – so my friends we now have a super coaster. So fasten your seat belts and let the excitement begin.

Unstoppable is based on a true story it would seem. Not sure about the extent of the truth though. But one thing is for certain, it is far from famed director Tony Scott’s best to date. For a guy who has given us – hold on to your horses – Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, Days of Thunder, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, SPY GAME (what a movie!!!), Man on Fire, Déjà vu and Taking of Pelham 123 he seems to have kind of lost his edge. Maybe he got so carried away by Taking of Pelham that he decided to extend his love for trains and move onto creating Unstoppable. Not pointing fingers at direction out here. But just the content didn’t seem sufficient for it to seem like a Tony Scott movie. It starts off slowly but picks up pace and before you know it, it is done. But in that limited period of time, he does show that there is a huge action director talent who has given us some of the best movies that we grew up with. Its compact for certain. Editing is very slick. But the really edge of the seat moments are few and far between.

Denzel Washington seems to be the director’s favourite and does full justice to the role but is quite wasted. Chris Pine seems more constipated than troubled. The rest of the cast has only bit parts with the exception of Rosario Dawson who plays the role of Connie who co-ordinates the entire effort of train 1206 to successfully stop 777. Overall nothing great. Also nothing you would miss if u see it on DVD. I give it 5 on 10.