Category: Thriller

The Experiment

Cast: Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Cam Gigandet, Clifton Collins Jr., Ethan Cohn, Fisher Stevens, Travis Fimmel, Lavell “David Banner” Crump, Jason Lew, Damien Leake, and Maggie Grace

Written By: Paul T. Scheuring (screenplay), Mario Giordano (novel)

Directed By:  Paul T. Scheuring

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Release Date: July 15, 2010 (South Korea), September 21, 2010 (U.S.)

MPAA Rating: R

Summary

A group of men, all in need of money for various reasons, sign up for a psychological experiment that pays $14,000 (if they make it the entire two weeks). Half of them are assigned the role of prisoners, the other half, guards. They are given a few rules, and then essentially abandoned by the people running the experiment.

Power changes people. That’s about all I can tell you about the plot without spoiling too much.

Adrien’s Role: Travis Lee

Travis is laid off from his job at an elder care facility. He has also started a relationship with a woman named Bay (Maggie Grace), who invites him on a trip to India. He spots the experiment in a newspaper, and it seems like the answer to his money woes.

Travis is assigned the role of prisoner during the experiment, and is soon fighting for the rights of the detainees. He endures a lot of backlash, to say the least.

Sadly, this is the type of movie where almost anything I say will give away plot points. What I’ll say is, Travis basically goes through Hell.

In Closing

I’ll level with you: this movie is hard to watch. Seeing the mistreatment, and the gross conditions, is enough to turn your stomach.

However, the performances are good (especially those of Brody and Whitaker), and the story is compelling.

If you can handle it, give it a watch.

Scores

Movie in General: 6/10
Brody Performance: 8/10

Trailer

Giallo

I put this one off for as long as I could. It’s time to face the music and get it done. I really didn’t want to re-watch this one, but I finally bit the bullet. Horror isn’t really my genre (other than maybe the Halloween movies).

To be honest, Giallo wasn’t quite as bad as I remember, but it sure isn’t good.

Here we go…

Continue reading “Giallo”

The Jacket

Cast: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kris Kristopherson, Daniel Craig, McKenzie Phillips…

Written by: Massy Tadjedin, Marc Rocco, and Tom Bleeker

Directed by: John Maybury

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Running Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Released: January 23, 2005 (Sundance Film Festival)

MPAA Rating: R

In my top 10 Adrien Brody movies, The Jacket is number six. So, obviously, I enjoy it. There are just nitpicky things (or maybe valid) things that keep it from scoring higher.

Continue reading “The Jacket”

The Village

Noah and Ivy

Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Brendan Gleeson, Sigourney Weaver, Jayne Atkinson, Cherry Jones, Judy Greer, Fran Kranz, Michael Pitt, Jesse Eisenberg…

Written and Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Drama

Running Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Released: July 26, 2004 (U.S.)

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Synopsis

It’s difficult to tell you much about The Village without spoilers, so I will be vague, and put most of my focus on Adrien’s performance.

The safest synopsis I can give you is: People in an isolated community live their lives according to specific rules handed down by the elders. However, younger residents seek to challenge said rules for the good of others.

There, I think that’s a general enough summary.

Continue reading “The Village”

Bullet Head

I’ve been careful to go in chronological order here, but I thought it might be nice to mix things up and review something that’s being released next week on BluRay/DVD (and is already available in digital markets, such as iTunes).

Thanks to my friend Shirley Ann for encouraging me to do so.

Here we go

Cast: Adrien Brody, John Malkovich, Rory Culkin, Antonio Banderas, and Han Solo as “DeNiro” (the dog).

Written by: Paul Solet

Directed by: Paul Solet

Genre: It’s like a Crime, Thriller, Action, Drama

Running Time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Release: December 8, 2017 (Lithuania)

MPAA Rating: R

Continue reading “Bullet Head”

Oxygen

Cast: Maura Tierney, Adrien Brody, Terry Kinney, Laila Robins, James Naughton, Paul Calderon, Dylan Baker, Frankie Faison, Michael Henderson…

Writer/Director: Richard Shepard

Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime

Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes

Released: November 12, 1999

MPAA Rating: R

A side note

I want to start off this post by recommending that if you get your hands on a DVD of Oxygen, you listen to the commentary track. It features writer/director Richard Shepard, along with the movie’s stars: Maura Tierney and Adrien Brody. It is so entertaining. Really. Funny in parts, informative in parts, and deliciously awkward in parts. It’s a must hear.

A Familiar Feeling

Oxygen is what you might call “Silence of the Lambs Light,” with Adrien’s character getting into a seasoned police officer’s psyche almost as adeptly as Dr. Hannibal Lecter would. There is a sense of urgency in both films that drives these otherwise guarded women to allow these men (Lecter and “Harry,” respectively) in. To permit themselves to think like a monster for the good of the case. The story lines of the two films aren’t much alike at all, it’s the psychological aspect I find comparable.

Continue reading “Oxygen”