Brand Hauser (John Cusack) is a troubled hitman generally under employment by the Tamerline Corporation. The world is now run by companies and there’s generally a lot of war going on. Brand is tasked with running a trade show in the Taraqistan Emerald Zone as a cover for killing Omar Sharrif, not the actor, which will culminate in the wedding of pop star Yonica Yeahbaby (Hilary Duff). Things are further complicated when he falls from liberal reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei)
God this is an awful film.
Okay, that’s not entirely accurate. There’s about 15 to 20 minutes of good in it. Those scenes are dramatic and generally feature the 3 actors I mentioned above, particularly the two grown ups though Duff surprisingly has her moments. The real problem is that this isn’t a drama. It’s supposed to be a comedic satire.
They missed out the comedic part. It’s far too outlandish for its own good. Joan Cusack also stars and she is flat out awful, chewing the scenery, the camera, her own face, the audience…TERRIBLE. There’s “whacky” characters all over the place and silly moments that just don’t sit at all. Its like whoever wrote this never had a sense of humour, or is possibly German.
Ben Kingsley shows up too as a kind of bad guy boss character. I think he’s still trying to make up for playing Ghandi by being as god awful as he can in his decisions and characterisations. One scene has Cusack literally looking bored when something funny is supposed to be happening.
Besides the bad comedy, the satire itself is ridiculously heavy handed. The idea of corporations running the world isn’t a new one. Having advertising all over the military vehicles is fine. The soldiers don’t have to be bizarre hyped up caffeine freaks for no damned reason. And the commentary on companies and celebrity doesn’t have to be in a style that’s akin to having a copy of the Daily Star rubbed in your face while someone yells “ISN’T THIS REALLY SMART AND FUNNY!!!”
The sad thing is it could have worked. If they’d played it more or less straight, let the situations inherent insanity just sit in the background and gone for more subtle humour this would have been a very good film. Cusack is very good here and he has a couple of fantastic action scenes. Marisa Tomei is pretty damned good. I wasn’t even aware that WAS Hilary Duff, probably more down to the look of the character, and she acted quite well in the subtler scenes.
Unfortunately they didn’t go that way, and it shows in the suckyness. Avoid it. Maybe see if the Cusack big action scene from the middle where he fights a half dozen guys is on You Tube. The other 10 good minutes isn’t worth the 85 shite ones.
Next up: Lakeview Terrace
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