William Fichtner in 'Drive Angry'. Courtesy Maple Pictures.
Drive Angry – I’m a sucker for big, action-packed B-movies, and Patrick Lussier’s Drive Angry is one of the most over the top, hilarious, wickedly crazy flicks to come along in sometime. Milton (Nicolas Cage) returns from hell to hunt down the religious cult leader (played by Billy Burke) who killed his daughter. He’s followed out of hell by “The Accountant” (William Fichtner), a helper of Satan who is supposed to get Milton back into the fires below. Things quickly get nuts, and when Milton teams up with Piper (Amber Heard), a young waitress who drives a sweet muscle car, the action goes overboard and soon everyone and everything is flying off the screen (Drive Angry was shot in 3-D and it actually works well). The premise might sound far-fetched, but Cage and Fichtner are so cool and badass onscreen it’s hard not to get caught-up in the excitement of the film and go along for the ride. **** out of 5 stars.
Hall Pass – If we needed any extra proof from Hollywood that men are stupid, Hall Pass is it. Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis star as a couple of married guys who think they can get any woman they want if it wasn’t for their wives. So their wives (played by Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) do what any normal woman would do — give them a week off from marriage to get it out of their system. Of course the men fail at hooking up and realize being married is what they really want (this is demonstrated through a series of silly, obnoxious scenarios that generate only a few laughs). Besides the lame script, the biggest problem with Hall Pass is the cast. Wilson comes off very uncomfortable in his role, and Fischer and Applegate both appear to have been made to look 10 years older by the make-up department. Sudeikis does a decent job with what he has to work with, but his character could have been an extension of any of the many he plays on Saturday Night Live. Directed by the Farrelly brothers, I had high expectations for Hall Pass. Unfortunately it failed me on every level and is one of their worst movies to date. ** out of 5 stars.
Also opening this week is the highly acclaimed foreign film Of Gods and Men (Toronto and Montreal).
