The Liability (2013)

So much average

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

As the German title suggests ... though it does sound a bit like doomsday or something else. Whatever you think of a title, "Liability" is more accurate than the German title. The thriller is pretty straight forward. The story is self explanatory, but Tim Roth does add a lot of Gravita to it. You could almost say he kind of saves the movie all by himself, even though the female lead is beautiful.The female lead might have a reason for being on screen, but ultimately she is just put on. The very ending feels like it is being dropped on the viewer, which is a bad feeling. The main bad guy, does a great job, but he isn't on screen that much, which is kind of a shame. A nice little thriller, nothing more nothing less

There's way too much love for this movie on IMDb though I can't help noticing that most major reviewers haven't bothered writing about it. And they're right not to. This is derivative rubbish with underwritten characters, and plotting that doesn't pass muster even if it tries to get by as a black comedy. Tim Roth's character has to be the least interesting assassin on celluloid (or whatever they're using these days): "I haven't killed a woman since 1983." How endearing. Jack O'Connell's character is a moron with sadistic impulses: "Was 'cos I fancied her, that's why I couldn't do it." Presumably, he can only kill women he doesn't fancy. Another charmer. Peter Mullen gets to act nasty with a Scottish accent and use the c-word a lot. Stephanie Beacham lookalike Kierston Wareing is wasted as Mullen's wife. There are no interesting villains, and the only person to root for is on screen for the least amount of time. Each scene is at least twice as long as it needs to be, and the visuals don't make up for the lack of dialogue. I'd rather be eighty-sixed than sit through these 86 minutes again.

Tim Roth stars in The Liability as a hired assassin who takes on a rich gangster boss's stepson on as a driver. The nineteen year old boy, Adam, is eager to learn about the criminal world. Roy(Roth) has the kid drive to a desolate area for a hit. His first test is to cut off the victims hand with an axe to emulate the pattern of a serial killer preying on the area. A beautiful woman with no name (Talulah Riley), a stunning actress, by the way, shows up and throws a monkey wrench into the crime scene. It then becomes a cat and mouse game between the three with some violent moments with occasional dry British humor mixed in. The three main players are all excellent, and although the ending is a bit too predictable, Roth's laid back wise ass attitude makes the film worth watching.

The Liability is rather atypical British crime film, no Guy Ritchie or Danny Boyle, resembles rather Scandinavian ones - no big criminal groups, focus on landscape, long journeys, no funny lines/dialogs. However, the famous British black humor is present... The plot is versatile, at times even too confusing - for a film less than 1,5 hour - but very good male performers: Tim Roth, Jack O'Connor, Peter Mullen. All proved quality in British movies with twists. Roth is the best, most renowned and he was the reason the film caught my eye. Actresses are not catchy, Talulah Riley is just a beautiful chick, her character is too arid. Thus, I have quite ambivalent feelings about this film which is definitely not to everyone's taste - too dark and gloomy.