Swelter (2014)

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is not a Jean Claude van Damme vehicle (putting this out, because I can imagine that some countries might try to sell it that way). He's taking back seat with a more chilled out character and lets others go crazy. Lennie James whom I really noticed in "Hung" (nice small role in that TV show) is taking center stage.The story is pretty bog standard, but it works for a small budget movie. It tries keeping the story flowing and doesn't take any prisoners (a bit of a western analogy can be made). The flashbacks are there to help us and move the story forward. Some character relationships are a bit too complicated and might not work entirely. Still nice effort and the tension it builds is decent enough

10-years ago five pulled off a robbery. Four got caught and went to prison. The 5th got away with the $10-million. Now the Four have completed their sentences and go after that 5th person. The twist is that the 5th person cannot remember where he put the money. Of course, the Four don't believe him. John-Claude Van Damme is the top name in here, but he doesn't have much to do, actually hardly anything. His name is here to draw us in. I bit. This story is really about Bishop (Lennie James) who is now the Sheriff in Butler a town outside Las Vegas, Nevada. He is that 5th person, and we are led to believe he really doesn't know where he hid the $10-million. We know he is the 5th man because we see him in flashbacks as part of that robbery years ago. This takes too long to become interesting. No one really stands out. Bishop comes the closest, but we see that Cole (Grant Bowler) appears to be the leader of the Four, but he fizzles too quickly until the last 10-minutes. The main guy was supposed to be Stillman (Van Damme) but he just sat around and didn't say much at all. He wasn't "the guy." I think the main problem with this movie is that too much screen time was spread around too evenly and we were at a loss to decide who to key in on. See? But, we still went with Bishop as the main guy. There should have been some cat and mouse stuff between the Four and Bishop. This was like a short story made into a full length novel and there really was no place to go. The plot was a very simple one and there wasn't much material for a full length movie. See?The script needed work and no one took the time to make it right. The acting all around is good with the supporting cast including Josh Henderson and Alfred Molina, but the last 10-minutes is all the movie you needed to see. Everything before that was slow and boring with quickie scenes that sometimes seemed to be unrelated to the main job of getting to Bishop. It all took too long.Oh, you will find out where Bishop hid the money.And, another thing: when you see a movie with a goofy title as Swelter, stay away. (3/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.

Swelter is an interesting movie, but do not expect the classic action movie with JCVD. If I had to compare this film with others, I would say "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." There are clear references to the "spaghetti western genre", in fact many of the characters are modern versions of classic roles of those films (see the old man with the pick-up truck collecting corpses, the preacher who has a past to hide, the good doctor we can find in all the villages of the old west, the sheriff deputy who is absolutely stupid and the prostitutes in the brothel ... The warm atmosphere and the sweaty faces, the constant creaking of fans who remind the hinges of the doors of the old saloons, the Indians that seem to come from the 1800s: all these elements make us forget very often "when" the story takes place and take us forcefully into the genre films.The four outlaws are assorted like 4 aces in a game of poker, some by accident, some by luck and the sheriff is the fifth card that has little to do with the others. Do not ask why the four are together: they are just part of a game, as the bandits in the old west, they are together because they have nothing else to do, or maybe just to exercise their arrogance and their greed for gold. Metaphor of American history, the town of Baker is a border post where humanity emerges in all its misery and where time has stopped in the mid-nineteenth century when Americans survived on a horse and with their gun. Remarkable in this film is a very good photography, a respectable cast and intuitions directing the epic story that follows perfectly the spaghetti westerns genre, both with the themes but especially in the way of "making the movie" (someone surely will understand what I mean).Finally a few words on the acting of JCVD ​​that will surely turn up their noses at the hardcore fans, used to seeing him perform in his famous split. Have you seen "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke? OK, you get the idea of the attempt JCVD is making to engage in deeper and more exciting roles than those shown so far. Finally, if you expect a "classic" JCVD movie because the posters and DVD covers show basically only him, blame the distributors and the marketing department ;) Recommended for fans of the spaghetti western.

Back in the day, a movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme was an action flick with lots of martial arts. He was the good guy in it. And it actually starred Van Damme.More recently, Van Damme has made some movies with him as a flawed protagonist, and then several more as the main bad guy.This movie is a decent Drama/Suspense film, with Van Damme as a secondary character, and a tries-to-be-good bad guy. He is just above the "character actor" role, probably in my mind only because he is JCVD.The bad guys here go looking for the guy who barely escaped and still has the money, after some hold-up years ago where everyone else goes to prison to stew and fester about their revenge. There are enough variations on this basic idea to keep the viewer interested. Lennie James does a good job as the town Sheriff, easy going, hard to ruffle, and who you somehow know you just don't want to mess with. There is actually a little action here and there, but it is realistic (no martial arts) and serves mostly to add to the suspense.With no JCVD, this would be a movie worth a watch. An interesting plot, with good acting, and nice cinematography. Seeing JCVD do his "actual acting" thing is also fairly enjoyable. He manages to entertain with his french (Belgian) accent and a simmering manner that seems to add depth even to a character that has little.