Consequence

Cool action and an interesting story holding it all together. Rick Schroder and Lola have some great scenes together. I like the role reversals too: Armand playing the good guy for once and Ricky the villain.

It's definitely a movie where you have to pay attention in the open. A lot of set up and it moves pretty quickly.

"Consequence" sticks Asante in the center of a convoluted noirish mystery-suspense-drama about a man who does an identity switch to collect insurance money and finds himself with a small army of bad guys on his tail. Obviously a low budget B-flick with Cape Town standing in for San Diego, the creative folks behind this flick do a good job of camouflaging the many plot holes, tight crops, and other obvious cost savers with a busy succession of intrigues, surprises, action, babes, etc all the way to the conclusion. When all is said and done, this little tv flick plays out as an entertaining couch potato no brainer. Currently on HBO. (B-)

I found myself liking this movie much more than I thought I would. It seems to be a basic B-movie thriller with a couple of aging, no-longer-in-demand stars. As it turns out it is highly entertaining, despite a few plot holes, and a smidgen of predictability. You'd think he would mail it in on something like this, but Armand Assante really gets a chance to show his chops in this one. Rick Schroder comes across as sufficiently menacing. Nadia Kretschmer was good enough in a semi-small part. I was just about blown away Lola Glaudini. I had never heard of her before, but she is awesomely beautiful, and totally nailed her role, a character that was not particularly likable. The director, one Anthony Hickox, nearly ruined the film with show-off directorial effects. I am sure he will sink further into well-deserved obscurity. If you can get past the directing, though, I think you might enjoy this movie.

How far would you go to get big money? That's what this movie is all about. "Consequence" shows what happens when greed gets the best out of anyone. Sam Tyler(Armand Assante) is a surgeon who assumes his brother's(Max) identity. And everyone is up for grabs for the big one. However, someone will be greedier than the other. Kye(Nadia Kretschmer), Sam's wife and Eva(Lola Glaudini) Max's lover are a few up for grabs. I liked the part where Eva is "pleasured" at the bank. And also the shower scene where Kye and Eva were getting it on. Telling Max that Kye was about to screw him over. Both Max and Eva ended up being fair game. Rick Schroeder playing Sam's right hand man John Wolfe was amazing, I liked the chase scene between the VW Bug and the other cars. AMAZING! Max fixed him when he put the bullet in his gun psyching him out good. Then I liked the bathroom scene where Max ponders about Eva's intentions. Though I think her body is more persuading than her words. And the surprise was that his brother was "alive". Guess assuming your kin is more dangerous than Max bargained for, then again Eva was a victim of her own greed. Big money, means big trouble. To me this movie was intriguing, I would say my life is more important than any amount of money, millions or billions! Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Without top caliber acting by Assante and Shroder I would characterize this as a poor man's Soderbergh film. It just can not seem to decide its identity. Some scenes (I suppose shot early when the money was plentiful) have a jazzy soundtrack and innovative photography (a la Out of Sight), while most have a distinctly Made-For-TV feel (Think of most films from Rob Lowe, Craig Scheffer, or Eric Stolz made in the past decade). In fact, I would say that watching this on TV, for free, is the only venue in which this film can be enjoyed. 5.5 / 10 stars.