Give 'em Hell, Malone (2009)

During the beginning shootout scene I could sort of tell what style of movie I was in for, as the movie progressed it is just way more silly and wacky than I expected it to be. It basically is a over the top and ridiculous ambient of film-noir. The acting wasn't that good, but really annoyed me is the character Matchstick who is basically a wannabe Joker. The movie has it's moments and I liked how it didn't really take itself seriously. Thomas Jane who played Malone was okay with his role, especially cause of his voice which has the noir detective feel to it. The characters basically have a cartoon feel to it and not developed very well. And the setting is a mix of the 50's and present, I guess it's cause of the budget or for the younger audiences. The script isn't very well written, but the twist was okay since I didn't see it coming since I thought it was going to be predictable. For a straight to DVD movie, it's pretty good overall.6.8/10

As a matter of fact, it's a typical specimen of comic noir style, mixing traditional elements of ''Sin City'' and ''Dick Tracy'' films it portrays black & sharp humored, seamless, vivacious and agile detective story. In one breath, ''Give 'em Hell, Malone'' rapidly and aesthetically carries spectator through the subtle nuances of swirling plot, leaving pleasant impressions from what you've seen. Love, sharp humor, betrayal, cruelty, selfishness. Everything presents here in good supply.Perfectly balanced characters like rollicking main hero Malone who's got two favorite things: drink and shoot. Sexy beauty Evelyn who trying' to avenge her killed brother. Big guy Boulder whose feelings wave between good and bad side. Charismatic evildoers such as Graceful Asian girl called Mauler who likes to play with sharp toys and Matchstick who always utters reckless wised expressions and crazy philosophy resembled Heath Ledger's character Joker from the Dark Knight movie.Wonderfully made operator's work constantly absorbs attention. For only 15 000 000$ creators made a beautiful action that can compete to the dozens of high budgetary blockbusters. Astonishing result indeed. Yes, here we can find a lot of bugs and disadvantages in the script but it's not really a drawback of the film, there is no emphasis on a deep plot, everything is simple and ingenious, to keep you relaxing and funning. It's just a crazy and well stylized mess nothing more.Even if you ain't got much grasp of noir, ''Give 'em Hell, Malone'' is a great movie for spending free time and taking some rest.

Lots of gory effects and nice idea about throwing them into ambient of film-noir. That's about it for this movie.As for acting, I only liked supporting actors French Stewart and Leland Orser (Frankie and Murphy) as rest of the cast was mediocre at the best. Never felt any spark between boring Elsa Pataky (Evelyn) and not-so-believable-as-unbuttoned-drunkard Thomas Jane (Malone). Malone does get a cool voice, that seems to be a standard for cinematography these days :) Characters are cartoonish, we can see bits of Sin City in it, unfortunately they are clumsily developed and often over the top. World is mix of 50s and cell-phones, music is scarce but appropriate and pleasant. There are few fresh spots and lot more clichés and borrowed places. Too bad, with more creative freedom it could be fun flick.Overall movie looks good, it just doesn't have good enough script. I doubt you could say who actually hired who to do what and why when you finish watching.

I saw this movie recently on bluray and I must say I was mightily impressed. Though I'm not usually a huge Thomas Jane fan,I must confess to be an aficionado of all things Ving Rhames. Frequently type cast as the heavy, it's expertly acted roles such as Ving's Boulder, than makes him the undisputed go to guy when you need a very scary henchmen/goon to strike fear in the hearts of audiences. Ving simply kicks ass in this noir thriller that's a tongue and cheek homage to the 40's style detective movies. Jane does a good job channeling his inner Humphrey Bogart and the action sequence are some of the best I've seen in a straight to bluray film in some time. I won't get into the particulars of the story, but I will say that the film is well acted for the most part(Jane obviously is having a good time in the role) and that there are a few plot surprises. Overall, you could do a lot worse than this with your Saturday evening.