Fear the Viper

I thought this was a great movie .... Dark and atmospheric. Josh Hartnett is very good in the first thing I've seen him in for sometime.

Not any good? The acting aint bad. The story aint particularly bad either, although it is all over the place, with too many characters and too many storylines to become a focussed drama.

The bad: it is simply a bit of a tedious watch. Nothing worse than getting bored...

I was pleasantly surprised when I started watching this movie. I was not expecting anything and 15 minutes into it I was interested in what would happen next. Not a fast movie or great action, but more of dark picture in the life of opioids dealing family, a subject not depicted on-screen often. The actors work with what they have, no Oscar performance but also no one that makes you cringed(FYI Josh Hartnett has the Kristen Stewart problem, has the same face regardless of the scene, but the story was written in a way that he did not have to).

The big plus of the movie is the direction. Too often movies are forgettable soon after you have watched them. This movie I will remember how it started, the middle and how it ended, which is a testament to the director.

Fear the Viper or inherit the viper ... there may be another title for this in the country you are hailing from ... and are watching this of course. But it seems like the viper remains ... as is the poison of said snake. Sometimes you kind of know what to expect, I reckon.

But even so, it may not mean that you can be fully prepared. I'd say this is quite predictable when it comes to the fate or where the road leads for our main characters. That being said, it is still more than decent. Even if it didn't really grab me as much as I think it had the potential to do ... especially the impact certain things are supposed to have. The acting is more than solid and the cinematography was really good too. It just felt like it was missing something special to put it over the top ...

Josie... promise me something. Protecting this family comes first. When it's time to quit, we quit. No questions asked.

Everyone knows the principle of the "American Dream". The ideal image of a hard-working American who, regardless of his origin, can reach the top through hard work and commitment. "Inherit the Viper" shows the other side of the coin. A film about American citizens who experience the "American Nightmare". They are part of agglomerations located in remote areas where poverty prevails and survival instinct is a necessity. An additional problem in recent years in the U.S. is the opioid crisis that causes an unprecedented number of victims. This widespread addiction is the Conley family's important source of income. Apparently they inherited the business from their deceased father. Although, the storyline about what happened to him wasn't really clear to me.

"Inherit the Viper" is primarily a crime thriller in which the Conley family, consisting of sister Josie (Margarita Levieva) and her two brothers Kip (Josh "Pearl Harbor" Hartnett) and Boots (Owen "IT" Teague), try to make ends meet by running a thriving drug-dealing business somewhere in Appalachia (especially the opioid pills OxyContin) and to sell pills to the locals massively. Even though the subject lends itself to the elaboration of a solid crime story, this film is rather a family drama in which the dynamic between the different family members is central. A family triangle with opposite character traits.

Josie is the tough little cookie from the family whose numbness has reached shocking proportions. Without hesitation, she puts a freshly sold pill back in her pocket that she finds next to the body of an addicted old woman who just died. Self-interest has more priority to her than compassion for a fellow person. Hence the explanation for a later initiative she takes and which shows how numb she is. Kip is an ex-soldier. A hardened and fearless gut-eater who knows the tricks of the trade. Yet he's the one who would prefer to stop with the family business in order to build a safer future with his heavily pregnant girlfriend. And finally, you have Boots, the benjamin of the family. This impetuous teenager wants nothing more than to get into the family business as quickly as possible. Because this is still being put on hold by brother and especially his sister, it's Boots who takes an initiative. Unfortunately, things are not going the way he'd hoped.

"Inherit the Viper" isn't a masterpiece, but still it fascinates. It's a gray, dark (literally and figuratively) portrait about despair and how to survive in a run-down and soulless corner in American society. A life without a future that requires the protagonists to make unworthy decisions. No shred of compassion is shown. It's all about supporting the family. Although you feel the tension constantly and the Conley family is slowly but surely confronted with threatening situations (a police investigation is in progress resulting in an accusing finger pointing at them and revenge-seeking city dwellers who have lost someone thanks to the Conley's threaten them) there are very few action-rich or criminal scenes. This is largely compensated by the interesting interactions and the realistic appearance of the film. The most colorful role is that of Bruce Dern as the obscure, critically ill bar owner where Josie deals pills. A local character who isn't amused with the fact that corpses are piling up in his bar and whose metaphorical story actually uncovers the essence of what this film is about. And also it's an explanation of the film title. Although I am not 100% sure about that either.

The denouement managed to surprise me in a certain way. And I was also pleased to see that Josh Hartnett hasn't slipped off the grid. If you come across "Inherit the Viper" on a VOD service, I recommend to give it a chance. This dark film is worth a watch.

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