Search - The Delivery on DVD

Very flawed, but still has good moments.

D. Mok | Los Angeles, CA | 09/25/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Hoo boy...yet another MTV-obsessed feature director fancying himself Jean-Luc Godard. Roel Reine's editing and shots are really no different from so many other indie films, ruined by a fixation on "a new way of seeing the world" chock full of hyperactive camera work, choppy editing (with prerequisite jump-cutting, as if features were commercials) and hipper-than-thou tone. About 90% of indie films these days are ruined by this fixation. But The Delivery doesn't .... all the way, thanks to a somewhat interesting script (though hackneyed at points, and erratically paced), appealing players, and some nifty action sequences.Add a star for Freddy Douglas, whose squinty-eyed, edgy performance as jaded ex-British officer Guy is entertaining to watch. Romantic co-star Aurelie Meriel is ravishingly beautiful and easy on the eyes, but unfortunately, her performance is somewhat one-note. It's nice to see a take-charge kind of action heroine, but as Loulou, Meriel is stuck with a kind of grim determination throughout the movie which wears thin by the end.The plot is messy, with the "AAU" subplot taking over the main plot very quickly, but unsatisfactorily resolved (how easy was it for them to find the bomb? ). The beginning and the end are this movie's weakest points, with the beginning conveying no sense of reality for the Alfred-Anna relationship (so the boys' mad dash to make the delivery has a pretty low emotional stake). There's so much sterility and so little screen time between Fedja van Huet (a bumbling, acceptable performance as Alfred) and Esmee de la Bretonniere (completely colourless, with about 20 lines in the whole movie) that we hardly care whether anything happens to Anna. It's also in the beginning when Reine's music-video stylings run wild, unengaging burps trying to be cool editing but only coming off as cinematic incompetence. However, the middle picks up steam when sexual tension between Meriel and Douglas begins to mount, and when the sense of danger builds to a good level. The ending is a cheap cop-out, however -- won't give it away here, but rest assured, it's as "easy" as they come, hugely unsatisfying.So this movie has a pretty big share of problems. However, at least it kept me watching until the end, and most of the action sequences (when Reine doesn't try out his hackneyed slow-mo, jump-cutting, manic-movement techniques) are pretty gripping. And some small moments -- the two guys and a girl's teasing lakeside bath, Guy and Alfred's on-the-grovel second fight -- are actually very enjoyable."

An unexpectedly good flick

David Lee | 06/15/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was an Amazon recommendation and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was going to another low budget movie where the people swear at each other a lot. And though to some extent they do, the array of motely characters kept me interested and the bad guy was really a pretty bad guy. I rate this more highly than the overhyped "Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels". Of course it helps to have such a drop dead gorgeous actress as Aurélie Meriel in a movie. Oh the accent!"