Here’s a film that’s trying to make a statement on a subject it has no real knowledge of.
Bo Laramie (Cole Hauser, GOOD WILL HUNTING) has been plucked from obscurity to become the biggest movie star in the world over night. Him, his wife Abby (Robin Tunney, TV’s PRISON BREAK) and their son Zach (Blake Michael Bryan, JURASSIC PARK III) have moved to L.A., where Bo has an altercation at his son’s soccer game with a paparazzi photographer named Rex Harper (Tom Sizemore, BLACK HAWK DOWN).
The incident is a set up to get Bo to assault Rex while he’s being secretly filmed and photographed by other soulless photographers Wendell Stokes (Daniel Baldwin, KING OF THE ANTS), Leonard Clark (Tom Hollander, THE LIBERTINE) and Kevin Rosner (Kevin Gage, CHAOS). The evil paparazzi hound Bo relentlessly, causing a car accident (ala Prince Diana) that sends Abby to the hospital and puts young Zach in a coma. Now Bo wants revenge by any means.
The subject matter is a real, sometimes dangerous, issue to big stars, but this film doesn’t have a clue. The portrayal of the photographers is pure evil. They are completely one-dimensional, clichéd villains. The writers don’t even get details of their profession right. These photographers don’t work directly for any tabloid let alone have the power to hold the cover for new juicy shots. The writing is really sloppy.
The car crash scene is a perfect example of the film’s ridiculousness. It rings false on so many levels. What rings even more false is Bo’s “Death Wish” approach at dealing with the photographers. The film tries to present Bo as the cool man’s man who will do anything to protect his family, but the way Hauser plays him he comes off like a psychopath. It’s social misfits against a different kind of social misfit in the end.
Being that it’s a big Hollywood production, the film reeks of the worst kind of snuff fantasy. Hair stylist turned TV director Paul Abascal films the project like a bad late-night C-grade action movie. The editing of the kid’s soccer match is a classic example of an editor trying to make something look more exciting than it really is.
Acting-wise the film is poor. Hauser makes wrong choices. Sizemore is too showy. Baldwin is just not good. I’m actually shocked that this film didn’t go direct-to-cable. This is shoddy genre crud that tries to pretend that it’s something of value when all it is really is just a bad revenge retread. Oh, Mel Gibson and his production company produced it. Read into that as you wish.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
