Deadfall (2012)

To give this movie a proper negative review, I'd have to explain all the problems with it, but that would mean spoilers... All in all, this is supposed to be a crime thriller with some psycho-drama mixed in. What it really is, is a pretentious piece of trash aimed at the lowest common denominator - people who are willing to forgive poor story and shallow, poorly created characters, for few sex scenes and some violence. I am not one of them, so I hated it. But to try and explain: - The film starts with a robber reminiscing about what a perfect home would be... as they are on the run from robbery they just committed. Am I the only one who finds this terribly unbelievable if not contrived? Just because you want to add some "depth" to your character, you are making him talk about his dreams and childhood while running from the law? - Then, the same character who starts of as cold blooded criminal becomes an outright psycho. Why? Because the film would fall flat on its face if he did not. It also helps to forget that the entire ending makes no sense all things considered. (they were on the run, remember?) - There are people falling in love, just like that. Actually, there is a reason: without it, there would be no excuse for a sex scene and those "hot" lines that the female protagonist utters... must be every teenage boy's wet dream or something... (albeit, Olivia Wilde was quite good all things considered) - So many convenient "accidents": they run into another shady character, and his house, and another important character, and few others, and they all get together... and it all happens just like that. One "lucky" incident after another. But it all leads to more violence, so all is good, as long as we get our dosage of violence, we should forget how we got there. - Hardly anyone has any motivation for anything. Horrible writing. Father hates his daughter. Girl is hated by her colleagues. Sister is abused by her brother. A guy is angry at someone just like that. On and on and on. I guess those immature kids who carry loads of anger due to abandonment issues will love this, but more sensible people will be left wondering.Those are just some of the more basic problems. Beyond that, there are plenty more both plot-wise, story wise, character-wise, setup-wise...All in all, a perfect example of how not to make a film. If it were not for few decent performances and few decent scenes (which were few seconds long) it would have been 1 star (or zero, whatever is lowest allowed).

A brother and sister have a car crash after a heist and have to split up. The film follows there separate stories. This is a thriller that focuses on it's characters rather than relies on impressive action sequences. That's not to say it's not exciting but it's nice to watch something that veers away from the normal routine thriller. It features a great setting, great cinematography, a decent story line, interesting characters and a great cast. The story moves quickly and is interspersed throughout with bouts of violence. There is a great air of tension built up as the story comes to it's conclusion. Eric Bana is great as the cold blooded psychotic brother, Olivia Wilde shines as his beautiful sister who just wants to be loved. I particularly liked the performance of Kate Mara as the earnest and slightly quirky cop. For good measure there is good support from Charlie Humman and Sissy Spaceck. I really enjoyed this movie and I am surprised that it doesn't have a better rating than it's current 6.3 (29,309 votes).

holy shoot! a Treat Williams sighting. the first page of IMDb has a blistering review of this movie giving it one star, but i guess the person had a personal vendetta against the movie...he listed everything that was wrong in the movie and there were actually quite a-lot, but even the really good and some great movies have that..hahaha!the movie itself was very watchable with a very strong ensemble cast and the story was good. at a little over and hour and a half the romantic part of the movie still felt sluggish but that was the only bad thing about it to me. i love that the whole movie was shot in the snow and a blizzard and it was a major part of the movie in itself.i saw the ending coming but it was still a very good watch and Eric Bana was his usual stellar self in the lead role. there is actually a lot happening in such a short movie with at least 4 or 5 relationships going on at the same time. overall the movie got generally good reviews as it will get from me to and i will watch this again sometime in the future and i totally love movies that are shot in snow or rain or the dark and this one succeeds. although not a perfect movie, it is a very good watch.

Deadfall is directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and written by Zach Dean. It stars Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Kate Mara, Treat Williams, Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek. Music is by Marco Beltrami and cinematography by Shane Hurlbut.Siblings Addison (Bana) and Liza (Wilde) are fleeing a casino heist that's gone badly wrong. Deciding to split up, they arrange to meet up at a later point and go their separate ways. Liza hooks up with ex- convict Jay (Hunnam) while Addison has a date with an abusive father. All while the police, led by a father and daughter pairing who have their own family issues, close in on them along with a blizzard.Ruzowitzky's snowy neo-noir may not have the most brainiest of plots, but it makes up for that elsewhere with genuine thrills, spills and wintry chills. Shane Hurlbut photographs it in steely cold metallic blues, piercing whites and bloody reds, then laying an ethereal sheen over the night time sequences. This is perfect tonal accompaniment to the characterisations fronting the story, Addison and Liza have definite incestuous leanings, with the former capable of brutal violence when required. Jay, out of prison, is a big disappointment to his father (Kristofferson), but more pressing concerns are a deadly confrontation he is forced into, and that he's falling for Liza, who appears to be damaged goods and whose motives are unclear.On the supposed good side of the snowy fence is Hannah (Mara) and Becker (Williams), daughter and father cops, she strives to make her daddy proud, he resents her for not being a son, even chastising her with cold venom in front of other officers. It's a whirlpool of troubled characters battling it out in the snowy wilds of North America. Ruzowitzky inserts some quality action sequences as the protagonists/antagonists snake towards their date with destiny, which arrives in a classy film noir trope way at Jay's parents house. The air is pungent with fatalism and the link of all characters having kin problems gives the narrative some bite. Very well performed by the cast, this is comfortably recommended to neo-noir lovers. 7.5/10