ThatGirlOnTV

Let’s face it, it was bound to happen eventually…

After being able to borrow money, cars, houses, and spouses in some instances, it only makes sense that the future would hold a society that loans artificial organs too. And of course, when you can’t make payments, the Repo Men must reclaim their company’s property. Whether the loaner is inside you, or not.

Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are two best friends that double as The Union’s best repo men. The company, which sells and loans out quality artificial organs to the masses, gives each customer a set amount of time to pay their bills. Like any car dealership would do if you can’t make the payments, The Union takes back their organs once the due date has passed, and Remy and Jake are first in line to hunt down those evasive clients.

On one assignment Remy is severely injured, and he wakes up to find himself a new client and recipient of an artificial heart. The new heart comes with a hefty debt, and soon Remy is the one dodging payments and other repo men. The former stoic workaholic must decide if his heart is still in the repo game, while his best friend Jake is left determining what it really means to say “a job is a job”.

A dynamic duo, Jude Law (The Holiday, Sherlock  Holmes) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, Vantage Point) do this one in style, with  impressive stunt work, lots of knives and guns, and exchanges to keep the pace of the film as quick as the action is happening. It’s funny, engaging, and about as lively as you can be with blood and guts in almost every other frame. The charisma and talent of the incredible cast, complemented nicely by Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Alice Braga (I Am Legend), do more for the movie than the actual script or story line.

It’s an unclear song and dance between a tragedy, a comedy, and a sci-fi thriller, but it is certainly entertaining. This film from relatively unknown but frequently futuristic director Miguel Sapochnik (Dreamer) could be an interesting commentary on the current state (and quite prominent reform) of the American health care system. Yeah…that would be an “ooh…that makes sense” moment, wouldn’t it? But honestly, that is entirely too complex for what anyone will take from this movie.

Instead, you’ll either love or hate his style. Personally, I love the raunchy and overbearing music (“Sway With Me”, anyone?) more than the actual film. Then, the grotesque eroticism, and borderline masochistic portrayal of cutting open a body will either taunt or completely disgust you, but will certainly be the part you remember the most.

Repo Men is full of  twists and turns, scratches and burns, a few jokes and a lot of blood.  Though it fulfills the objective to entertain, that is about all the movie will do for you.

Rating: 2.8/5

(+) Fast pace, witty one-liners,  Jude Law’s biceps

(-)  Seemingly incomplete story line, no real explanations, lack of development for Forest Whitaker’s character, conflicting and unclear film genres (in a bad way)

It’s the combination of reality and the ugly truth. Indifference, mixed with a challenge of the “no one ever really dies” mantra. Raw, honest, and dreary in the style of Crash, the blurred line between good cop and bad cop resurfaces in Brooklyn’s Finest, but this time we’re not sure if there’s even a line drawn.

What makes you a good cop anyway? Is it the years of service one gives to the force….risking life and limb (and sanity for that matter) in order to sustain the vision of police work one had as a child? For Eddie (Richard Gere) the end isn’t justified by the means.

Or perhaps it’s the ability to provide for one’s family, like Sal (Ethan Hawke) has to do…when money is scarce and bills are running high, is it the badge that’ll protect the family from misfortune?

But there’s always the question of whether it’s even possible to be a good friend and a good cop at the same time? Because for Tango (Don Cheadle), there’s only room for one title when you’ve got one foot in the law pool and the other in the drug pool.

When it comes down to it…three different cops with three different ties to the force struggle to figure out what their badges are really worth.

Brooklyn’s Finest doesn’t do anything to make police work look good. In fact, it almost makes the profession as cold hearted as the bad guys they chase after. But the honesty, as presented by director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter) is a much appreciated and familiar one. Though there’s nothing original about the way this movie is drawn, and nothing noteworthy about the way it attempts to characterize the hood, the forte is the cast- led by a trio of award winning, extremely talented and versatile actors- Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Richard Gere.

In addition, a triumphant return to the screen for Wesley Snipes, as the high rolling Caz, a man about his money, his business and his loyalty. The scenes with Snipes and Cheadle are the highlights of this movie, as they relate to each other in a remarkable way.  If you take away any lines from this movie, they will probably be from a scene with these two.

I’ll give it a little leeway. Brooklyn’s Finest is not about ending the age-old problem of police brutality, or violence in the inner city neighborhoods. It’s not about shooting up bad guys, or busting intricate drug deals. It doesn’t glorify being a cop in a bad city, or even being a drug lord and owning the streets. It’s a bit more realistic than all that. This movie is simply about asking what we’re willing to live for, and what we’re willing to die for.

And if they are the same thing, in the bitter picture that Fuqua has painted… you’ll never make it alive.

Rating: 3.6/5

BlacktreeTV (and TGOTV)  sat down with the stars of Cop Out, to talk about their new buddy cop movie, bromances, and actually doing their own stunts…

Our favorite month is finally here!

Amidst The Oscars (yay!), March Madness (Go Syracuse!),  Springtime, and Saint Patty’s Day, it seems there aren’t enough weekends to contain the potentially amazing movies that also occupy the month with their release dates.

In just this first weekend, March 5th gives us everyone’s favorite creepy Hollywood bromance, as Johnny Depp and Tim Burton team up again for Alice in Wonderland, a 3D experience including another Burton favorite- Helena Bonham Carter, and a cast of big names like Anne Hathaway and Alan Rickman.  Also opening, if Cop Out didn’t do it for you check out Brooklyn’s Finest, a more serious cop movie starring some of the best bad boys around- Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Don Cheadle and a hopefully triumphant return for Wesley Snipes.

Then, March 12th gives us a bit more to choose from. Taking us into the early days of the Iraqi War, Green Zone stars Matt Damon as an army inspector on a search for the so-called weapons of mass destruction. On a more lighthearted note, also opening is She’s Out of My League, starring funny favorite Jay Baruchel, as an average Joe that gets lucky and bags the chick of a lifetime. Also, America Ferrera and Lance Gross (along with Forest Whitaker, Regina King and Carlos Mencia) star in the comedy Our Family Wedding, a glimpse at what can happen when two different cultures clash loudly when brought together for a wedding. Finally, a different and more alive love story for Robert Pattinson- Remember Me opens, starring the Twilight favorite, along with Pierce Brosnan and Emilie de Ravine.

March 19th has a great one for the family- Diary of A Wimpy Kid opens, based on the  best-selling illustrated novel by Jeff Kinney. Opening to limited theaters this weekend, The Runaways, starring Twilight’s Kristin Stewart and Dakota Fanning in the story of the icon band of the 70s with the same name. Also, Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler star in The Bounty Hunter, a quirky romantic comedy about a bounty hunter who gets the assignment to track down his evasive ex-wife. And most notably, Jude Law and Forest Whitaker star in Repo Men, an on-the-run futuristic thriller.

To close out the last weekend, Hot Tub Time Machine. opens on March 26th, the comedy about four best friends who magically end up in the 80s after a few drinks and a wild boys night in the hot tub. Also opening, another family friendly film- How to Train Your Dragon, the animated film with voice work from Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera and Gerard Butler (all of whom have other movies opening this month), based on the novel by Cressida Cowell.  Mid-week, opening on Wednesday March 31st, is a Nicholas Sparks inspired Miley Cyrus movie- The Last Song, also starring Greg Kinnear and Kelly Preston.

Cheers to spending the entire month of March in front of a screen,

C.A.M.