The Bag Man (2014)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Boring

Absolutely Fantastic

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Recorded on the DVR, I've probably watched it six times already. The Bag Man quite obviously isn't for everybody. Maybe expectations. Maybe there's just something missing with some who "didn't get it", or don't have that *something* inside them that finds the allure.Analysis is tough on this one. It's not a sophisticated storyline. The script only has moments of clever dialogue. Mostly, it's the overall mood, I suppose. It's in directing, the soundtrack, cinematography, etc. that gives it its appeal for me. I gave it a "7" rating, because I don't abuse and overreact. An 8 has to be exceptional. A 9...genuinely phenomenal. I've never yet given a film a 10. Conversely, a 6 still has some merit. A 5 is so-so, but some definite cringe-worthy moments. And so forth. Point being, I saw quite a few 1s in the reviews (and 2s and 3s). A 1 is virtual static on the screen in my mind, or something that looks like a 2nd Grade movie project that somehow made it to the big screen. IMDb raters...sigh. Well, a rating is in the eye of the rater. For those of us who "get it", I bet we'd agree that those who didn't just don't have the receptors to pick up on the Director's vision.Cusack's as an actor was my initial attraction. His roles in Identity and others drew me in. His performance in TBM was as intriguing as any of his other best films. Sorry, but Cell was a bummer. His acting was lackluster and the film was just weird (the ending was just funky, as hard as I tried to play along). But in TBM, he was at the top of his game. I didn't "see" acting. I saw what I love about him most; a natural born actor who takes me into the life of the character. Can't ask for more.De Niro: Another reviewer is correct to an extent - that he can play a gangster in his sleep. Agreed, but ol' Bob is also in major cruise mode in his career, being his Golden Years. I've seen the passion receding over the last 15 years. Even in more significant roles like Silver Linings Playbook, I've detected less than 100% from him like in his most impacting historical roles. That wasn't the objective here, to play a character like Leonard in Awakenings, or Rupert Pupkin in the King of Comedy. However, there was only a fleeting moment or two at best when I felt he wasn't fully immersed in the smaller role of Dragna. I got the impression he really liked this role. Interestingly, he looked physically better than I've seen him in years. He was tan, had super cool hair, slick and hip glasses, and he slipped right in to the image of that character. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why he accepted the part. I'm not convinced it was the script that captivated him. Even his opening lines are relatively straightforward. Yes, some of his later banter was medium-witty, but nothing that will leave one changed forever. Regardless, he was cooler looking than I've seen him in years. But don't get me wrong. I'm not interested in seeing De Niro look cool. His character's cool worked perfectly with the mood of the film.Crispin Glover was captivating. So smooth and believable as Ned, the motel clerk. If one thinks of the non-event checking into a hotel can be, Ned makes it the polar opposite of that. In short, the character of Ned is loaded with character. And while other reviewers speak for you and me, "...you can't help but think...", I'll speak for myself: I love Crispin in this role. I haven't seen him in a while, but I still remember his impact on me in his role in the movie Teachers. He was powerful then, and hasn't lost anything in his dedication to his roles.Rebecca Da Costa: A very intriguing choice in casting. An odd voice (accent), and at first, wondered if her acting was up to par. In the end, I believe her acting was fine. It was just her odd personality, which added to the unusual chapter of Jack's (Cusack) life. It augmented the realism of finding oneself amidst a troubled, yet fascinating person. Some people aren't attracted to those types. Maybe that makes the difference...the secret desire to live a chapter of Jack's life. That's what a film should do - take us inside it and live that life for a couple hours; have us wonder whether Rivka (Da Costa) was a cheap hooker, or someone we could fall in love with; a caring, smart and compassionate person. A foreigner who just so happens to be uniquely beautiful, awkwardly trying to seduce, yet too often showing her genuine self and sincerity as a human being.On the surface, if I didn't get "immersed", I'd probably give it a 5. But I got sucked in. I got it. A solid 7 for me. Bravo to those who made this film. I'll be watching it again.

Review: This movie starts off intriguing but then it goes downhill once Jack (John Cusack), reaches the hotel, where most of the film is based. Its about a hit-man whose asked by his crime boss to collect a bag and bring it back to him. All of the instructions are straight forward but he's not allowed to look in the bag, no matter what. Whilst waiting in a hotel for the collectors to get the bag, a bunch of random events makes the whole transaction harder than he thought. On top of that, a girl ends up in Jacks hotel room because she is trying to escape from her pimps. Once Jack has fort of the crooked cops and a couple of criminals, with the girl by his side, he then meets up with his crime boss to exchange the bag for loads of money but all is not what it seems. I was actually enjoying the movie before all the random events started to happen. I liked Cusack and DeNiro's character but the girl spoilt it because she distracted Cusack from the whole mission. I also thought that the storyline got out of hand after a while but when the story unfolds at the end, it actually made a lot of sense. By that time I had lost interest in the movie so I really wasn't that bothered about how the film was going to pan out. Anyway, the performances were average from Cusack and DeNiro and the script really wasn't that great. DeNiro wouldn't stop waffling on about rubbish, which got on my nerves after a while and I really didn't understand why Cusack just didn't open the bag when he first got it. At the end of the day, it was just a bad day at the office for these two veteran actors and I'm not surprised that this film went straight to DVD. Not that great!Round-Up: At one point in DeNiro's career, you would have never imagined his movies going straight to DVD but now it really isn't a surprise. I didn't understand why he had that awful wig and weird nose extinction in this film either! Anyway, this is the first movie directed by David Grovic who also produced the awful Dying of the Light with Nicolas Cage. Basically, its the second time that he had the chance to make a movie with some decent actors and he's made a right mess of it. There's a couple of twists near the end of this film which would have made the movie quite clever if the middle wasn't so sketchy. Anyway, I'm obviously not alone by saying that this movie really wasn't that great, judging by the movies takings but I really doubt that it will damage Cusack or DeNiro's reputation.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $462,000 (Terrible!)I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/drama/thrillers about a hit-man who has to collect a bag for his crime boss but he's not allowed to look in the bag, regardless of the circumstances. 3/10

This was not a great movie, but there was plenty of fun stuff going on. I laughed out loud a few times, and had fun almost the whole way. Not everyone will like it, sure, but I don't see how it is as bad as a lot of the reviews are saying, and I wonder if those people had mistaken expectations? Like they thought it would be tense and gritty, grim and threatening? But it's not--it's a left-field black comedy with some tight action moments and--yes--actual character development. Maybe you have to have the right kind of sense of humor to enjoy it--almost nothing in this movie is meant to be taken seriously, not even the weird romantic tension that develops, and certainly not the eventually revealed backstory that drives the plot. I would rather watch 10 quirky, off-beat, low-budget indie black comedies like this than 1 (imho) flat-footed, ham-fisted, self-serious big-effects-budget film like ... Skyfall.

I've been a huge De Niro fan since the 70's and have always enjoyed Cusak's work since The Grifters. But alas, they were not able to carry this film. Their characters were not at all likable. I didn't find myself rooting for either one of them, nor the girl. You don't see much of De Niro anyway, except at the beginning and again towards the end. The motel clerk was okay (thought it was Steve Zahn at first), but even he pooped out with his "don't touch my wheelchair!" scene.This is a dark movie - literally. Very dim lighting. Not easy on the eyes. You don't see any daylight until the final scene. I happen to sometimes like dark movies, and I also like "sleazy motel" movies, but there has to be some interesting stuff going on to make up for for what is missing visually. Witty dialogue would help, but there is none to be found. Plot? Blah. What is in the bag is way too predictable. Too much senseless violence. Okay, it has a surprise twist at the end, and I can bump it a half star for that. So... 2 stars total for me.PS: In reading through several dozen pages of the favorable reviews, it almost looks as if they were written by the same person employing many different aliases... same broken English, same adjectives, same rushed format. Surely I'm not the only one who has noticed this. Wow.