The Courier (2012)

The Courier is a strange little flick that dabbles in the kind of pulpy narrative which the 80's were famous for. One lone antihero sets out to deliver a package of enigmatic value to a recipient that is always one step ahead of him, proving to be quite elusive. Bad guys and gals hinder him at every turn and violence ensues, leading up to an inevitable confrontation and in this case a neat little twist that admittedly defies any sort of reason, yet is fun for the actors to play out and provides sensationalism, a trait that's commonplace in such films. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a haggard presence in any role, a guy you immediately feel rooted to in a scene. He gets the lead role here, playing an underground criminal courier, passing along dangerous goods from one cloak and dagger person to another. His latest task comes from his handler (Mark Margolis): Deliver an odd case to a reclusive criminal mastermind known only as Evil Sivle. Little information is given beyond that, but it soon becomes apparent that his mission is a cursed one, as he finds himself a hot target for all kinds of weirdos. German live wire Til Schweiger plays a dirty federal agent who hassles him with that campy charisma and narrow eyed theatricality that only he can bring to the table. Miguel Ferrer and Lilli Taylor are priceless as Mr. & Mrs. Capo, a pair of married contract killers who discuss their dinner plans whilst hunting their quarry, and have devised some truly vile torture methods involving culinary instruments. Yeah, it's that kind of movie, where B movie mavericks are let off the chain and allowed to throw zany stuff into their otherwise pedestrian material that often borders on experimental. Morgan is assisted by a young chick (Josie Ho) who saves his ass more than a couple of times. Mickey Rourke shows up late in the game as Maxwell, a mysterious Elvis impersonator and Vegas gangster who plays a crucial role in Courier's quest. Trust Rourke to take a derivative, underwritten supporting character and turn the few minutes of screen time he has into utter gold that elevates his scene onto a plane which the film as a whole is sheepishly undeserved of. Morgan is better than the flick too, but he's great in anything. He ducks the heroic panache of the action protagonist and dives into growling melancholy, his grizzly bear voice and imposing frame put to excellent use. This one got critically shredded upon release. Yeah it ain't great, but it sure as hell ain't terrible. Worth it for a cast that makes it work, and for that classic genre feel that can't be beat.

I watched this because I personally..and I do mean personally don't like JDM. Also, He dies is killed off or gets his butt kicked in everything he does. However he did well in this. I did not like the whole plot. the ending was not well thought out. What I noticed about JDM in the movie is whomever took care of him...look up the word continuity. He looks better in the same shot three times. I didn't even notice Mickey Roarke at all. Lil Taylor always a joy to see as she is amazing but was wasted in this film as was Miguel Ferrer. Thewoman they cast Josie. WHY? ZERO chemistry. zip. And she's too young At least she looks it. She looks like a over mid life crisis. its not believable.l When someone is that much younger or looks that much younger..it looks stupid. Shes a pointless character.Basically cant add any spoiler because it didn't make much sense. I wouldn't call it boring. Pushing 50 JDM No spring chicken so kudos for that. Very physical role. He carried the whole film himself. though it also seems a little too much he can hack into anything faster than NCIS's McGee. And Mcguyer himself out of anything. Still doesn't possess the knowledge to not use super glue and maybe purchase a band aide But the concept and film itself...not good. Really stupid. Sorry. I did like him in this. And pretty much only him Totally forgettable. If you like him..watch it. I did out of shear curiosity. But was disappointed because it was so ridiculous. Did he read this before he took it? Its not good. He's good. But the movie itself is not good. which it too bad because there were some really fine actors in there. Just really bad writing and a few misplaced characters. Morgan did carry this whole horrible movie alone and did well. But never should have taken it. Open ending with no resolution. this got so bad I ended up shutting off the volume at the end. I only gave it as high as a four instead of a two because Morgan did the best with what he had which was horrible. Coming from someone who is not a fan..i mean it. He did great.The whole Elvis thing was beyond stupid. Suspension of disbelief? I can't believe I took two hours out of my life to watch this

Minor Spoilers Only.I rented this because my mother really like Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I have a lot of trouble watching movies with her, as she dosen't want to watch a movie with an actor she dosen't like or she can't watch too violent movie and so on.When i saw this movie in the suspense category with that actor, i said why not, i was actually surprised she liked "The Loosers" when we watched it so i rented this.The movie start in a good way, the plot seem to show promise, the dark gritty feel is also pretty good, but sadly as the movie unfold and all, it lost itself into too many different stuff and the final twist have a hard time making sense.This movie was never meant to be a transporter rip-off or whatever, and i think if the screenplay was done better, it could had been really interesting but some elements poped out of nowhere and i dunno, like i said it lost itself. But its not as terrible as some of the other reviewers said.

You are bound to think that this movie has Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a cheap version of Jason Statham in the role of the transporter; I hate to admit I did, and I'm a J.D. Morgan fan. So we're not off to a great start. Unlike the Statham role, Morgan takes a beating now and then, and has the bruises to match. The story is that of a courier of last resort (high risk jobs) who is targeted for revenge by a former associate. The plot is meant to have us discover the true identity of the courier and of his former associate in a surprise scene at the end. Unfortunately, this plot which is somewhat reminiscent of the 1987 Angel Heart, and I'm stretching just a bit, just does not have the build up of the 1987 highly rated film in which Mickey Rourke played a role reverse of this 2011 film, sort of that one played by De Niro. Rourke has less screen time than his credit would have us hope for.It's sort of a mystery action, but the mystery part just doesn't quite keep you interested; that mystery, when it does get revealed/explained way at the end is somewhat of a letdown. The fact that the key mystery figure, Evil Sivle played by Mickey Rourke, is masquerading as an Elvis impersonator, pretty lame anagram, would be enough to dissuade most from watching the movie. Well, I guess now that I spoiled it for you, you can thank me by checking the box for useful review.I'm a hard core J.D. Morgan fan and I love long time character actor Mark Margolis, whose performance in TV highest rated series Breaking Bad leaves no doubt about his acting talent, so I stuck it out to the bitter end. I can't say I hated it, but I won't recommend it either; I'd lose all credibility if I did. I think Morgan's career is getting hot, since his role as Clay in the 2010 movie The Losers; I liked his short role in the other 2010 movie Shanghai (not a popular release – it's a film noir genre that's not usually popular anyway). His newer TV series Magic City (I'll post my review soon), however, should get him much better movie scripts in the future.