Deadfall (2012)

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Blistering performances.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I so badly wanted to give Deadfall a glowing, untarnished review of unconditional positivity. But I can't, because it doesn't have an ending. It gets to a point where the conflict is partially resolved, and we see things begin to fall into place, and then it just... ends. Now a certain level of ambiguity works in some cases, to add mystery. But here it overthrows the entire dose of suspense and leaves us wondering sickly what will happen to the protagonist's arc that the film left unresolved. It's like they had a missing reel and no one noticed in time for the premiere lol. Nevertheless, it's 90 percent of a great film, a snowbound thriller (my favourite kind) that's character and actor based, with a lean, mean mentality that bites as hard as the winter cold that the characters wrestle with. Eric Bana, an actor who lulled us into a false sense of security with unassuming roles, then blasted off with Star Trek, in the best work of that film, explores his dark side further here as Addison, a ruthless bank robbing criminal with a poetic morality that serves as a mask to the malicious beast beneath. Along with his dimwitted but leggy sister Liza (sultry Olivia Wilde) he narrowly escapes a bank robbery, fleeing into the snowy northern wilderness bordering Canada, only to be derailed by a horrific car crash and forced into the blizzards on foot. They are pursued by Sheriff Marshall T. Becker (Treat Williams) and his deputies, including his daughter Hanna (Kate Mara) who he bitterly resents for being a female police officer. Mara is an excellent actress who gives the role the intuition it deserves, when she ends up being the only cop on the small town force with a brain in her head. The chase envelops an ex con boxer (Charlie Hunnam) on his way home to spend thanksgiving with his parents (Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek). Hunnam does his usual irritating swagger, and carries his end well enough I guess (Not a fan of his, personally). But Bana owns the film with his ferocious, palpably evil portrayal of man with utterly no conscience and a survival instinct that drive him to corrupt and obliterate anyone in his path. His gruff, menacing turn brings to mind tough guys of yesteryear, like Lee Marvin and Robert Mitchum. There's also a startling incest angle with the relationship to Liza that I would like to see explored more. It's a carefully constructed thriller with weight, tangible menace and unique, almost Elmore Leonard or Jack London style atmosphere, until it shits it's pants in the final minutes of the third act. If you can forgive it this (which I'm learning to do, only because I'm such a huge fan of the rest of the movie before) you'll get an icy kick out of it.

Enjoyed/entertained. Perhaps setting is Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Sissy Spacek is immediately familiar, but I couldn't place/recognize the gifted 1960s composer-musician Kris Kristofferson until reading over the cast. I watched film twice as I was multi-tasking the first time. Film did not bore. I like the action, including the violence, the local folks-extras are realistic, and the plot is not predictable. It is an exciting ending. The sheriff made his pretty daughter a deputy, yet a truer male chauvinist than should be allowed. The villain/bad guy is a killer. He does have a clever if not somewhat charismatic personality, but really portrays a slime-ball.

'Deadfall' is one of those films that sits somewhere between what you'd expect to be released 'straight to DVD' and a theatrical cinema release. It has a few relative famous names in it and is directed with enough style to make it rise slightly above your average B-movie.Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde are a brother/sister team of robbers whose getaway goes wrong, forcing them to split up and try to make it across the border into Canada.It's not a long film (a tight 90 minutes) and there are quite a few characters introduced to us, therefore not all of them are entirely as fleshed-out as they might have been if the story was longer. Plus it does jump from one set to the next making the story bounce around a bit. The film shows us that - good or bad - everyone is flawed in some way. I read another review that said an alternate title for this film could be 'Daddy Issues,' as most of the characters have some issue with their father.It's certainly violent enough and there is a bit of action, but it's mainly a thriller as we see whether the police will finally catch up with the pair before they cause even more carnage than they've already created.A minor gripe from some (mainly American) viewers is that Bana and Hunnam sometimes struggle with accents not from their native countries. However, if you just fancy an easy-going little crime thriller then this one is just high enough above the rest to make it easy watching.6/10 generally, but it could stretch to a 7, depending on your mood, or if you're a real fan of one of the main stars.

Criminal Addison is on the run to with accomplice Theo and sister Liza. Theo hits a deer, loses control of the car and dies. and Addison splits money with Liza and tells her to get to the border while he takes an alternate route.Former boxer Jay, who was jailed for throwing a fight, is released from prison on probation and calls his mother to inform her of his homecoming. While driving home, he sees Liza and gives her a ride. They fall for each other instantly. The local troops are hunting Addison, but he seeks refuge in a house he comes across.Belonging to Jays parents.....I was hugely surprised by this movie. I was expecting another Heist gone wrong movie, with the cops chasing Bana, and ending in some glorious shoot out that would try and emulate Butch Cassidy.Its so much more than this. Its about siblings who have come from a god fearing background, where one of them was obviously abused, and the other saved them, causing some bizarre, almost incestuous bond between them.When they are separated, one turns psychotic, and the other forms a sort of fantasy world with Jay, and they refer to other people as their siblings names.Thanks to the winter setting, it's very claustrophobic, and each set piece is very intense, and slightly unsettling, as Bana portrays Eddison as a good person, but one who has a serious mental health problem, verging on psychosis.Wilde is at her best here, as another delusional person, but for her, her delusions are if the more sexual nature.Add a subplot involving Mara trying to get her dad to take her seriously as an officer of the law, you really get an interesting narrative on family life, and how small things can cause such a huge dysfunction.And oddity, but well worth trying out.