Catch Hell (2014)

an interesting idea. not used in smart manner.critic against star system, mixed with clichés from too many horrors. the only sin of this film remains the absence of a map. it seems be a run in circle,improvisation in few scenes, image of a seductive idea crushed by the lost of courage to use it. the good fact - the atmosphere. and the status of experiment in career of a good actor who learns to be director. Catch Hell is a promise . and a generous one because the theme, the subject, the realistic portraits of good guys, the science to use the details for a realistic atmosphere are tools who save a film who could be better after more experience.because the cultural references are a not bad used and the premises are encouraging.

Based on the negative reviews, I almost didn't get this movie. But after renting it from Redbox and figuring that besides losing my time, it wouldn't hurt to lose a $1.50 so I took the "risk". I'm glad I did. Not only was it entertaining all the way throughout the movie, it was really good to be Ryan Phillippe's first crack at directing. Don't forget that he also wrote AND starred in it! Despite the majority of the movie only revolving around three characters, there were some funny parts associated with the typical stereotypes of people in the Louisiana bayou but I would definitely recommend you see this movie and not just out of boredom. Go rent it.

Ryan Phillippe directs and stars in Catch Hell the story of a film star on the downward slope of his career getting kidnapped by a pair of rednecks. One of them is Ian Barford who has a psychotic personality and a grudge against Phillippe for having a quickie with his wife. Poor Ryan he just can't remember who it was. Turns out she was a wardrobe girl on the set of one of his films. Barford and his nephew Stephen Louis Grush who's just a follower type drive off with him from his hotel in Shreveport, Louisiana and take him to a secluded cabin in the bayous.Of course Barford wants to kill him, but he also wants to humiliate him as well so he gets Phillippe to cough up his computer and Twitter passwords and he starts posting all kinds of noxious material, the kind that has ruined the reputations of folks like Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson. No doubt Ryan Phillippe was going for a gay audience as well because of Grush's character. Throughout the film he's giving the look of love to Phillippe as he's a most closeted gay man. Life throws Grush a real nasty curve however. It gets good and homoerotic with Phillippe and Grush.I wish Phillippe had picked some better material for a directorial debut. But the man does show some promise there.

Yikes. I heard Phillipe promoting this on the radio and was intrigued. Downloaded it and boy was I disappointed. Just awful in almost every way. Now, I am not a fan of horror or B thrillers, and maybe that's what they were going for here, but still.......... Some of the actors were like out of a Troma film, the script was shoddy, predictable, pandering, and at times just simply stupid. The only good point to this entire movie, and the reason I didn't give it 1, was the actor who played Junior. He was wonderful. Interesting to watch, made some great and creepy choices, really seemed to delve into the world of the movie without taking US out as a result, and made his scenes memorable. Furthermore, it seemed apparent that the writer probably had this character in mind initially and built the script out from there, since he seemed to also be the only character that was fully developed, had layers, and a sense of a back story. There's even a really creepy shot of him doing shirtless chin ups and then just hanging on the bar like a monkey staring at Phillipe. A bit of artistic symbolism that seemed to conversely come out of nowhere in the rest of this mess. Ryan: stick to acting......you've been privileged to do some fantastic films alongside some turkeys. This one by far gobbled the worst.