Stretch (2014)

Simply Perfect

Awesome Movie

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

StretchSimilar to its premise, the night is overlong, stretched and exhausting for the viewers no matter how many tactics the makers install to woe the audience, it all nullifies down to zero in the end as there is not a single piece of craft to explore in here; everything is a bang, everything explodes. The mind-numbing action and chase sequences with predictable twists and turns, pretty much gives it away within the first few minutes of the feature. Addition to that, the ridiculous effort to create something funny out of these series of events makes it more disappointing. The writing is patchy and pointless throughout the course of it and neither is gripping enough to hold the audience despite of being merely of around 90 minutes. Joe Carnahan; the screenwriter-director, doesn't even convince the audience for a second look and the primary reason is its lazy pretentious execution skills that focuses on anything but crucial points. Addition to that, the performance too isn't up to the mark which comes as a shock especially coming from Patrick Wilson who is a potential actor. It isn't even shot decently and neither is its camera work something to aspire upon. Stretch is accurately titled that throws off the audience from the first act and never even attempts to seek attention after then.

A fine director who burst onto the scene with the terrific yet underseen Tom Cruise backed Narc, then went onto direct the so-so big budgeted A-Team redo and one of the most underrated thrillers of the modern era in the form of the pulse pounding The Grey, director Joe Carnahan has had an eclectic career behind the camera, no more personified by Stretch, a film virtually dumped by its studio and left to live a life of relative obscurity in the libraries of forgotten movies.Aiming to find the success and balance of humour, violence and darkness that pulses through the veins of films like Snatch, Crank and the oddball exercises of the Coen Brothers, Stretch sees Carnahan try his hand at satirical insights into the world of Hollywood and the dark underbelly it entails but under the guise of Patrick Wilson's hard luck wannabe actor turned gambling debt riddled limousine driver Stretch, Carnahan finds himself on shaky ground and while the director has found success with action orientated thrillers in the past, his skill set is not used to great effect here.Stretch often feels forced and uneasy, Wilson in particular seems unsuited to the role that continues his long line of disappointing acting choices when films like Watchmen and Little Children show off his potential while supporting actors such as Jessica Alba, Ed Helms and the horribly over the top Chris Pine can't score a touchdown for a film that was searching for its greatest win from its cast. Wilson's Stretch isn't also a creation that seems overly enjoyable and while films of this ilk often harbor a fairly dire central figure, Stretch isn't funny enough or stupid enough for us to really care whilst the narrative's "what a crazy night" type scenario never takes off even though it throws jockstraps, big bodied Russian's and celebrity cameos (another winning Norman Reedus moment a highlight) our way in abundance.Stretch is without a doubt a wild ride and a unique one in many respects but Carnahan's misdirection and the films unbalanced tonal shifts certainly don't help its causes and at the end of the nights adventures it's not hard to see why the studio dropped this film like its hot, as it's not exactly clear at who Stretch was aimed for or what it was trying to achieve.2 angry Hasselhoff's out of 5

Though I guess if you cast Miss Alba as the "Ugly Duckling"/Secretary, you obviously have some pull in the hiring of actors department. There are some nice additions to that (Ray Liotta as "himself") and some others (Chris Pine going completely over the top, though he's playing someone different than himself).The action is really good and the dialog is finely tuned. Obviously there are a lot of coincidences happening and a lot of stuff all at once. There are "twists" that you can see coming from the start, but it's still a fun ride, if you forgive the pun. Maybe Joe is channeling something from his own Hollywood experience or something from someone close to him. One thing is for sure: You can feel for the main character and what he's going through ... so much that you want him to succeed even in the strangest odds and with the weirdest decisions (he's making) .... will he prevail?

There are so many freaky stuffs here as though they jammed an entire game of Grand Theft Auto or even a compilation of surveillance cameras from an asylum called Hollywood. It's nothing short of glorious. Stretch is unapologetically full of sharp sarcasm, witty quips and a lot of profanities. Once it gets any momentum, Stretch leaves a trail of involuntary gasp reactions, otherwise known as "WTF" remarks, with its broken down mutilated-by-fate limousine.Story follows the titular Stretch (Patrick Wilson), a limo driver with a serious identity crisis and a bit of mental disorder. He's about to embark on an overnight journey worth of Hangover, Collateral and Transporter combined. It's amazing how the usual haunted man from Insidious and The Conjuring delivers so many chuckles, although he is still technically haunted in here.The cast are nice, each character has very different wacky personality, borderline over-the-top. Still, these characters that seem like they escape video game realm are ridiculously fascinating. Some of them don drug dealer or angry cop personas, while others portray themselves as the elites of Hollywood. Most importantly, they appear to be enjoying themselves in this strange escapade.Script is thoroughly and amazingly witty. They exchange banter with insult jab and hefty amount of laughable internal as well as external screams. It's the stuffs you hear behind the closed door of therapy session or rich men orgy. Wilson delivers his inner thought monologues with the despair of broken man and he is sullenly convincing.The pace is fast, but it does need some time to rev the engine. Its crude nature might not be for everyone either, it has little to none restraint, so as they say, viewer discretion is advised. However, these are minor issues and can easily be overlooked since the film is just incredibly fun. Stretch delivers more than enough laughs, partially bitter laughs, in expense of himself and everyone in the film.