Seraphim Falls - 2006

Icon Productions

Directed by David Van Ancken

Cast:

• Carver – Liam Neeson
• Gideon – Pierce Brosnan
• Hayes – Michael Wincott
• Railroad Foreman – Xander Berkeley
• Minister Abraham – Tom Noonan
• Parsons – Ed Lauter
• Henry – Kevin J. O'Connor
• Kid – John Robinson
• Madame Louise – Angelica Huston
• Rose – Angie Harmon
• Charon – Wes Studi

Story: It is three years after the end of the Civil War. Carver, a former Confederate officer, is on a manhunt. He is chasing Gideon, a former Union officer, the man he holds responsible for the death of his wife and family. His four hired guns are warned not to kill him, aim for his limbs only. But capturing Gideon proves a bit more complicated than it would appear. He is a highly resourceful man, able to live in the wild. Along the way, they encounter homesteaders, traders, robbers, and a railroad crew, and while several times it appears Gideon is at the end of his rope, he manages to escape. Carver is driven by pure revenge, Gideon by pure survival. Who will win in the end?

Review: A morality play with two Irishmen as Civil War soldiers? As improbable as that may seen, this film opens quickly with a pursuit through the snowy mountains of the Sierra Nevada mountains and continues across to the desert. Liam Neeson portrays Carver, a former Confederate officer who had returned to his wife and family and put away his uniform, only to be discovered by the Union, who sent Gideon (played by Pierce Bronson) to arrest him. After a series of unfortunate mistakes, Carver's wife and family are burned alive in their home while Gideon watches helplessly. Bronson's performance is a man running from an unspeakable horror and his part in it, Neeson's performance is the man who has allowed revenge to consume him. The remainder of the cast is solid in their performances. Angelica Huston and Wes Studi have interesting roles as surreal traders along the way in the desert, and you have to ask yourself if they are really there, or simply the facilitators of this climax between our two subjects. Tom Noonan gives an exceptional performance as the minister who is leading a flock to better fields. Rated R for violence and language, this is a film that will intrigue the intellectual and die hard oater fans alike. Collectible if you are a western or civil war fan, or just like watching Pierce and Liam hide their accents.

Knockaround Guys - 2001

New Line Cinema, Lawrence Bender Productions

Directed and Written by Brian Koppelman ,David Levien

Cast:

• Matty Demaret – Barry Pepper
• Chris Scarpa – Andy Davoli
• Johnny Marbles – Seth Green
• Taylor Reese – Vin Diesel
• Teddy Deserve – John Malkovich
• Sheriff Decker – Tom Noonan
• Benny “Chains” Demaret – Dennis Hopper
• Brucker – Kevin Gage

Story: Matty Demaret is 13 years old, and he has to make a decision. Teddy Deserves has Benny Boulevard in a basement trussed up like a prize turkey and tells Matty this is the guy responsible for his dad, Benny Chains, being in prison. Teddy hands Matty a gun and tells him its time to step up and be a man. But Matty is 13 years old, and can't pull the trigger.
Now Matty is in his early twenties, and he and his three friends are finding life just a little more difficult than they thought. Matty has the education and some experience in sports and wants to become a sports agent, but when his dad's name is brought up, its “thanks, but no thanks”. Chris Scarpa runs his dad's restaurant, Taylor Reese works as an vending machine distributor, and Johnny Marbles is a cokehead who has his own airplane. Their fathers, all old school mafia, have brought them up “privileged”, so they have never been involved with the dirty end of the business. Matty, since he can't get a job in his field, decides he wants to work for his father. A job comes up, a job that requires almost no effort. Benny needs a loan, and the guy loaning the money is in Seattle. Matty gets Marbles to fly out to Seattle to pick up the money and fly straight back. But when he stops for fuel in Wibaux, Wyoming, he gets paranoid when he sees the local sheriff and his deputy in the terminal and drops the bag in the baggage for a departing flight. Marbles screws up, and Matty, Scarpa, and Taylor have to fly out to Wibaux to find the bag and the money before the local authorities do.

Review: This films proves the consistency of Murphy's Law. If anything can go wrong, it will, at the worst possible time. Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Seth Green and Andy Davoli are all the privileged sons of mob bosses and it shows. They are caught in between their fathers' world and the straight word, and neither world has a place for them it seems. Dennis Hopper and John Malkovich play the boss and underboss to the hilt, two old school “Gumbas” who have a heavy rep and a lot of street cred. When Matty and his “crew” are finally given a chance to prove themselves, Marbles, who swears he is off the nose candy, screws up and forces them to come to his location to bail him out. Seth Green is Marbles, and out of the entire cast, he is the most believable character. I mean, face it, Seth Green has made a living out of being the perpetual screw up, and will likely continue in that role forever. Barry Pepper makes an effort to come off as the crew leader, but he is relying on everyone else to make decisions and call the shots for him. Vinnie comes off as a typical enforcer, a street thug who does have one of the best scenes in the film when he beats the hell out of Brucker, the small town hood who “runs” Wibaux. Andy Davoli has the smoothness of Hugh Hefner when it comes to the ladies, but lacks the mobster mentality. You have to ask yourself what he is doing in the crew. Tom Noonan gives an adequate but two dimensional performance as the Sheriff, and the entire movie comes off like a bad cartoon. Rated R for violence, drug use, and language, this one can stay on the shelf for a long time before anyone rents it, and then its gonna be someone who really likes one of the great actors in the film. Not collectible, and I am sure some of these actors are trying to buy up the copies.

Manhunter - 1986

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), Red Dragon Productions S.A.

Screenplay and Directed by Michael Mann

Cast:

• Will Graham – William Petersen
• Molly Graham - Kim Griest
• Reba McClane – Joan Allen
• Dr. Hannibal Lecter – Brian Cox
• Jack Crawford – Dennis Farina
• Francis Dollarhyde – Tom Noonan
• Dr. Frederick Chilton – Benjamin Hendrickson
• Lt. Fisk – Frankie Faison
• Freddy Lounds – Stephen Lang

Story: Will Graham is a former FBI agent who recently retired to Florida with his wife and son. Graham is a 'profiler' of criminal behavior, and tries to think like the killers he profiles in order to capture them. He is called out of his retirement by his former boss, Jack Crawford, to help the FBI catch an elusive serial killer, known to the press as the 'Tooth Fairy', who randomly kills whole families in their houses during the full moon and leaves bite marks on his victims. While searching for clues to the Tooth Fairy's identity, Will meets with Dr. Hannibal Lector, an incarcerated serial killer who Will captured years earlier. His early dealings with Lector nearly drove him insane, and almost cost him his life. He discovers secret communciations are being routed in newspaper personal ads between Lector and the Tooth Fairy, and Lector may be behind a plot to kill his family for revenge.

Review: This is the first of four reviews I will do on the movies involving the character Hannibal Lector, the horrifying creation of Thomas Harris who even now ranks among the most terrifying villains imagined. A physician and psychiatrist who not only manipulates and murders his patients, but eats them as well. In this first screen appearance of Dr. Lector, he is little more than a footnote. Most of the film concentrates on the toll taken on Will Graham in his return to the FBI and his pursuit of the Tooth Fairy. The film contains the classic Michael Mann “darkness”, and the action is brisk and to the point. Petersen, Cox, Farina, and Noonan give splendid performances, and the overall feel is better (in my opinion) than “Red Dragon”, the remake of this film. Rated R for violence and language as well as disturbing content and images, this is definitely not a family film.