Rancid
I was excited about this movie when I first stumbled across it. Unfortunately, it is not a movie about the punk group Rancid, it is merely another thriller in a long line of thrillers. I was not particularly excited about watching this, but the week had been slow so I popped it in the DVD player.
Rancid is the story of a not particular likeable or successful writer. He finds himself in the middle of a murder and must find out the truth before the cops get a hold of him. All of your thriller elements are here. You have the requisite love triangle. You have the ex-lover with a piece of shit husband. You have the shady cops on the case. There is even a powerful but corrupt man involved. Basically all of the thriller clichés are represented strongly. If you love thrillers as a rule, you won’t be disappointed with this film.
The first hour of this movie is fantastic. The beginning of the movie is fast paced and dumps you into the action immediately. The story unfolds with editing sleeker than a greasy deuce. The editing is fast-paced and tight throughout the first two-thirds of the film. Unfortunately, like a 50 year old man fucking, it can’t keep up the pace and the end of the movie de-evolves into your standard narrative without any of the excitement and freshness of the first part of the movie.
Everything about this movie screams quality and skill. The actors are a no name group of people that make you wonder why they have not made a name for themselves yet. Matthew Settle, who looks like a poor man’s Tom Cruise, is interesting and dynamic as the film’s protagonist. His character is not likeable and you will never really find yourself rooting for him as he spouts ultra-trendy music references and indulges in several sickening and pointless scenes of self pity, but you can tell that, if the character was written better, the filmmakers could have gotten a great performance out of him. The other standout of the cast is Currie Graham, a cross between Kevin Spacey and John Cusack, who plays the antagonist. He plays the despicable wife-abuser in the fim. Regrettably, since the main character is so despicable, you will find yourself feeling this wannabe bad guy’s plight. It’s quite a conundrum actually. I found myself hating the guy I was supposed to be rooting for and liking the guy I was supposed to hate and I’m not sure that was what the filmmakers were going for.
The biggest weakness of this movie is its glitter and fade quality. Sure the beginning of the movie is one of the tightest, well-filmed, and interesting thrillers I have seen in a while, but the last half hour is so utterly boring and clichéd that it ruins what came before. I stopped caring about the characters and the requisite twists at the end of the movie are impact free, if you haven’t bought into the characters. It’s a shame that the potential of this movie was wasted by falling back upon conventional narrative. Like I said, the plot is so clichéd and unoriginal that without the editing, the broken up narrative, and the sleek visuals of the beginning of the film, it really has nothing else to stand on.
Final Synopsis: If you got a balls deep lust for thrillers this will satisfy you. If you want to watch an example of how to ruin a good thing, then watch the last half of the film. If you want to see some unique storytelling and innovative editing then check out the first hour. If you want to watch the whole movie, enjoy the beginning but know that there will be no happy ending in the sexual sense.
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