It did not work for me, but this movie is strangely popular
Steve Kuehl | Ben Lomond, CA | 07/10/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I feel the best way to review this film is to immediately address the well known (and valid) criticisms so that those offended by said content can stop reading and move on to a better film. The rape scenes, three total, against a man, a woman and a young girl were not necessary in either their length or graphic style. If you are offended by seeing rape(s) in film, skip this movie. The courtroom scenes were poorly done in so many ways, even from a novice standpoint, that the legal guffaws extraordinaire might shun some viewers. But if you made it through Til's perpetual annunciation problems up to that point, then maybe these two hours will not seem so painfully long.
We have a story of an ad corporation family hierarchy filled with liars, cheats and dysfunctional douche bags. Til plays the unbelievable front man who is marrying into the firm, but manages to bed whatever comes his way on the side. Before this story develops though we are treated to an opening scene gang rape of a teen girl who is then mysteriously saved by Michael Clarke Duncan's "General" character. MCD has four minutes of screen time throughout the entire film so skip this if you saw his name and wanted to watch for his parts. Then the story spirals further into blackmail, "intrigue", "suspense" and a variety of other buzzwords. Eric Roberts enters the film much later as a defense lawyer and unwittingly he became the comic relief, loved his part.
Quality wise, the film stock looked excellent and Til obviously sunk some serious money into the sets, design, cars and overall production. There are no special features on the DVD so there cannot be any extra stars, but usually Til's films do, so I was disappointed. The universal agreement seems to be that audiences outside the US loved this film and most cared little for it domestically. The story became unbelievable in so many areas that I have to fall into the latter group. You might get some entertainment out of this, even if you are not a Til fan, but all of the negatives make this a skipper."
Outstanding thriller
Elias Aractingi | 12/26/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Great fast-paced action, strong plot, excellent acting. This movie is full of good surprises. Til Schweiger and Lauren Lee Smith are outstanding."