Bruce Willis and Cole Hauser star in "Acts of Violence," Brett Donowho"s action thriller about three brothers who take the law into their own hands when a thành viên of their family is abducted.
We can only hope that the upcoming Death Wish remake will rescue Bruce Willis from the màn chơi of B-movie hackdom that’s become his stock-in-trade. The latest example features the iconic star of Die Hard and its numerous sequels in a rote thriller indistinguishable from the countless others he’s cranked out in recent years. Receiving a limited theatrical release to lớn elevate its standing on VOD listings, Acts of Violence evaporates from your mind while you’re watching it.
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Willis isn’t actually the star of the film scripted by Nicolas Aaron Mezzanatto và directed by Brett Donowho. Rather, it’s his frequent co-star Cole Hauser (Hart’s War, A Good Day khổng lồ Die Hard), who plays Declan MacGregor, a war veteran coping with post-traumatic stress. Declan seems khổng lồ be faring much worse emotionally than his younger brothers Brendan (Shawn Ashmore), a fellow vet now happily married to Jessa (Tiffany Brouwer), và Roman (Ashton Holmes), engaged to the beautiful Mia (Melissa Bolona).
The MacGregor clan finds its world turned upside-down when Mia, partying at a nightclub with her bridesmaids, is kidnapped by the henchmen of arch criminal và human trafficker Max Livingston (Mike Epps). The two younger brothers seem willing lớn let the police handle the matter, with Brendan plaintively asking, “What are we gonna do?”
“We go to lớn war,” Declan responds, in an example of the film’s hackneyed dialogue that seems mostly designed for its promotional trailer.
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Watching approvingly from the sidelines is Det. Avery (Willis), a cop so macho he doesn’t even bother khổng lồ protect his ears while shooting a gun at the firing range. Since he and his partner (Sophia Bush) are hamstrung in their pursuit of the bad guys by their superiors in the manner familiar from so many generic cop thrillers, Avery proves all too willing to let the brothers pursue their own brand of vigilante justice which claims more than a few victims, some of them innocent, along the way.
Its screenplay feeling not so much written as mapped out on an Etch-a-Sketch, Acts of Violence displays both unearned self-importance — demonstrated by an early scene in which Declan has an angry encounter with a VA therapist — and a straining for action-movie cred, including the apparent mandate khổng lồ include at least one scene mix in a strip club. Unfortunately, such lines as “Sayonara,” uttered by Willis’ cop character as he lets a suspect fall to his death from a rooftop, don’t exactly have the memorable panache as “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!”
Director Donowho (Salvation) stages the violent mayhem with reasonable proficiency, but it’s all so narratively unconvincing that it inspires yawns. It’s hard not lớn notice, however, that Ashmore’s character displays a particularly unlucky tendency to lớn get shot.
Willis walks through the proceedings with his by-now usual bored expression. Hauser, Ashmore và Holmes at least lend some conviction to lớn their performances và have the added advantage of actually looking credible as siblings. The film also benefits from its location shooting in Cleveland, Ohio, which provides the opportunity for the action to be phối in gritty settings that haven’t been overexposed.
Production companies: Emmett Furla Oasis Films, Colecar Productions, River cất cánh FilmsDistributor: Lionsgate PremiereCast: Cole Hauser, Bruce Willis, Shawn Ashmore, Ashton Holmes, Melissa Bolona, Patrick St. Esprit, Sophia Bush, Mike EppsDirector: Brett DonowhoScreenwriter: Nicolas Aaron MezzanattoProducers: Randall Emmett, George Furla, Anthony Callie, Mark StewartExecutive producers: Ted Fox, Vance Own, Brandon K. Hogan, Marc Goldberg, Barry Brooker, Stan Wertlieb, Henry Winterstern, Arianne Fraser, Delphine Perrier, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Robert Jones, Martin WileyDirector of photography: Edd LukasProduction designer: Kristen AdamsEditors: Frederick Wardell, Ryan EatonCostume designer: Stephanie PowersComposer: James T. SaleCasting: Lillian Pyles