Cash Only (2015)
Elvis Martini is in deep shit. His dilapidated Detroit apartment building is about to be foreclosed on by the bank; most of his tenants are behind on rent; he's in big debt to bookies and his daughter's school. He finds some ill-gotten cash in an evicted tenant's apartment and it briefly keeps the wolves at bay, but it brings out a bigger wolf, one that wants his stolen money back. When his daughter is kidnapped by the mysterious menace he's accidentally messed with, Elvis has 24 hours to come up with $25K - cash only.
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Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Absolutely the worst movie.
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
The acting in this movie is really good.
Elvis Martini (Nickola Shreli) is an Albanian immigrant who is not the brightest bulb in the pack. In the opening scene, he burns down his own home for the insurance money and oops, he actually forgets his wife was taking a nap. As a landlord with a daughter, he is in hock and owes money while nearly all of his tenants owe him money. We get to watch the locks get changed, his daughter ask him about Jesus, Elvis having sex, etc etc. and then trying to collect money. It was rather boring watching a bunch of bad people trying to figure out why we are rooting for the half-wit arson? Dialogue not exciting either.Guide: F-word. sex, brief nudity.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film on many levels.It was gritty and realistic. The film follows an Albanian American landlord dealing with "real life" problems with dead beat tenants. The acting was way above par and the story and narrative fast paced and believable. Style was simple yet very realistic. I am familiar with the areas this film was shot in and know many Albanians in this community so that brought a cool sense of realism to the film for me as well.I think the writer and lead actor does a great job as does the cousin and daughter. I would like to see more from this guy. A hard hitting thriller/Drama that goes by very fast and does not disappoint!Time well spent!
This is an enjoyable film that is full of interesting, gritty characters that are well cast and acted.The plot is somewhat familiar, lowlife dad puts daughter's safety in jeopardy, but has some added ingredients, mainly the Detroit setting, that elevates the film and holds the suspense.There are some pretty real scenes of violent acts which compliments the gritty atmosphere.Overall this is a hidden gem of a film. I particularly liked the lead actor and will look out for other movies featuring him. His deadpan delivery reflected the lead character's lack of responsibility for his actions until the stakes were raised to the point of no return and he had no choice but to face up to the situation he created for himself.
I have not seen any movies with Nickola Shreli before. He is certainly an overlooked actor. American cinema is in dire need of fresh faces who are not overexposed by media and possess great acting skills. I would suggest any actor to stay away from the limelight of mass media to maintain an appeal and mystery. Now back to the movie. It held my interest as an intelligent movie with a good story almost to the end. There were clearly some flaws in the story when I tough and quick-witted guy would do stupid things such as leave his daughter alone after he got a warning call. The rescue scenes are not believable and leave unanswered questions. How did the dim-witted "rescue" guys figure out the location so fast? The level of violence in the ending scenes was not warranted and added little to the story. As a female, I had to skip those scenes as they are damaging to any psyche. If this movie was intended to be a drama, not a horror film, then they should have stick to the drama genre. But overall this movie is watchable and the story is original.