johnlink ranks A PERFECT GETAWAY (2009)
I love suspense films. So many of them are easily predictable and forgettable, but I love them anyway. Here is an interesting case. A film which was pretty predictable, but that I found myself really enjoying anyway.
I watched A PERFECT GETAWAY (2009) on 9.8.10. It was my first viewing of the film. TRAILER HERE
I am a fan of David Twohy, who wrote and directed this film. He’s the mind behind the PITCH BLACK series, the first of which was actually a great film. He wrote THE FUGITIVE and WATERWORLD as well. This film works because his script is very self aware, very solid, very funny, if somewhat predictable.
I think this is a film easy to write about without spoiling. There is actually going to be a big spoiler in the bonus, but everything else here is safe. Basically, we have a couple on vacation, and a murder has recently happened. The couple meets another couple (and then another), and suspicion results.
The film moves at a great pace. One character is a screenwriter, so the constant conversation about plot twists and act turns is a fun in-joke which winks at the audience without becoming cheesy or silly.
There is good, fun chemistry here. With Timothy Olyphant and Steve Zahn playing the two male leads, we have two guys who are good at playing both comedic and straight characters. Here, they play it straight, but there is an edge which uses their comedic tones to create some wonderfully eccentric characters. Milla Jovovich plays probably the most ‘normal’ character she ever has, and relative unknown Kiele Sanchez is the last of the leads, and she is surprisingly good as well.
Without giving much away, this is a decent suspense flick, well worth your time. The climax actually gets better in its editing and pacing, and there are plenty of moments which are pleasantly surprising. Even if the plot is something you can see coming, the filmmaking has a few turns which makes for a nice experience.
SCORES
FILM: 6; MOVIE: 7; ACTING: 7; WRITING: 7: BONUS: 1
SPOILER ALERT…. The bonus is for casting. Casting Jovovich and Zahn as the couple which seems normal and dorky, but become something else is great! Especially with the opposing casting of normally eccentric Olyphant and the formulaic device of using an unknown in the part which we think is the female baddie. I just thought the twisted casting really helped the film.
6+7+7+7+1=28
FINAL SCORE: 7
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