Another Jason Statham thriller. I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s an odd movie, since it starts off very well, but as it moves into the core of the plot, it becomes more clear that the meat of the story just isn’t as interesting.
Jennifer Lopez plays a down-on-her-luck real estate agent. The amount of focus she gets feels especially strange, since she feels like an ornament on the primary plot.
The best part of this movie is the save-the-cat moment. Usually these moments make me cringe, even as I understand the necessity of them. In this one, Statham is disguised as a priest at a state fair. A little girl is sad because she isn’t able to win at a carnival game. The barker tries to rope Statham into the game. He reluctantly agrees. He throws darts at balloons, doing three perfect hits. He wins the stuffed animal for the girl, and got to demonstrate his skill. A very well-done bit.
I know it sounds like faint praise to focus on so trivial a moment, but was effective, it was short, and it accomplished two things for the price of one very short sequence. I like this kind of efficiency.
I can’t point to much that made this movie bad. It wasn’t bad. It was entirely competent. I guess it just wasn’t as awesome as I had hoped. The opening was very promising.
I realized that I haven’t had much exposure to Jennifer Lopez. She seemed… okay. There was an awkward scene where she’s forced to strip down to prove she isn’t wearing a wire. That seemed a little forced.
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