I'm embarrassed to say I actually liked this film.
Let me say up front, despite some of the reviews here, I had no trouble following it.
I also admit I did figure most of it out. This, however, did not keep me from being entertained.
I am surprised Pacino and Hopkins signed on for this as neither role is especially great.
Someone, somewhere, greenlit this thing and gave it a decent budget, even though it's a first-time director (Shintaro Shimosawa).
The story concerns am ambitious young man, Ben Cahill (Josh Duhamel) who goes after fraud perpetrated by a pharmaceutical company owned by Arthur Denning (Anthony Hopkins). Cahill has been cutting corners to make his cases all along; this one is no different, as he obtained the information illegally from an old girlfriend (Malin Akerman). Ben's boss (Al Pacino) gives him the go-ahead to pursue it.
Things unravel pretty quickly, as Ben is threatened not only with danger to himself but his wife (Alice Eve); he finds his ex- girlfriend dead and goes on the run.
Okay, I happen to think this was an excellent plot clumsily handled by this director, who maybe should have started with something simpler. This is a very complex story to put across, and while some of the camera angles are interesting and I would say this man has talent, it wasn't put together quite right. He tried for a Pulp Fiction thing that didn't quite come off, for one thing; and for another it's just too all over the place.
Another problem is that every suspense or mystery movie nowadays has to end with a twist since Usual Suspects. Well, now the twists are expected and passe, so what writers are doing now are putting twists within the twists. It's too much.
The acting was okay, but the husband-wife thing between Alice Eve and Duhamel was sketchy and not fleshed out. Not sure who to blame there.
Nevertheless, this was a good rental - not sure how I would have felt with these big names attached if I had paid $12 in the theater.
Let me say up front, despite some of the reviews here, I had no trouble following it.
I also admit I did figure most of it out. This, however, did not keep me from being entertained.
I am surprised Pacino and Hopkins signed on for this as neither role is especially great.
Someone, somewhere, greenlit this thing and gave it a decent budget, even though it's a first-time director (Shintaro Shimosawa).
The story concerns am ambitious young man, Ben Cahill (Josh Duhamel) who goes after fraud perpetrated by a pharmaceutical company owned by Arthur Denning (Anthony Hopkins). Cahill has been cutting corners to make his cases all along; this one is no different, as he obtained the information illegally from an old girlfriend (Malin Akerman). Ben's boss (Al Pacino) gives him the go-ahead to pursue it.
Things unravel pretty quickly, as Ben is threatened not only with danger to himself but his wife (Alice Eve); he finds his ex- girlfriend dead and goes on the run.
Okay, I happen to think this was an excellent plot clumsily handled by this director, who maybe should have started with something simpler. This is a very complex story to put across, and while some of the camera angles are interesting and I would say this man has talent, it wasn't put together quite right. He tried for a Pulp Fiction thing that didn't quite come off, for one thing; and for another it's just too all over the place.
Another problem is that every suspense or mystery movie nowadays has to end with a twist since Usual Suspects. Well, now the twists are expected and passe, so what writers are doing now are putting twists within the twists. It's too much.
The acting was okay, but the husband-wife thing between Alice Eve and Duhamel was sketchy and not fleshed out. Not sure who to blame there.
Nevertheless, this was a good rental - not sure how I would have felt with these big names attached if I had paid $12 in the theater.