The Entitled

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Kevin Zegers (Paul Dynan) is a young college student, whose mother is facing eviction from her home after the bank foreclosed on it. He teams up with two other young people and kidnaps the kids of three wealthy men, hoping to extort a ransom. Naturally, things don't go to plan.

It's a bit of a lottery these days, which film projects are finding their way to the big screen and which seem to just fall by the wayside and wind up as mere fodder, on a one way course to the bargain bin. Although it had the potential to be turned into a far bigger budget film, this is the direction The Entitled appears to have been thrown. Which is a shame, for although it begins a little tepidly, it soon develops into a genuinely tense, if a little flawed, piece of work.

Although the set up is entirely plausible, and an interesting concept to launch on, early on the script suffers from some improbable scenes here and there, which send it down the pan a bit. Yet somehow, as it develops, it does create a genuine air of suspense and excitement about how things are going to work out, and as apparently clear cut characters receive surprise revelations in the script that make them appear not as they seemed. Somehow, by not playing out exactly as you thought it would, it still keeps you hooked and gripped to the end, even as the end outcome REALLY becomes a lot to take in. ***

Paul, Jenna and unstable Dean are busy in conjuring up a devious plan to make some fast cash. Paul, Jenna and Dean who are not even close to being rich as Jeff, Nick and Hailey manage to kidnap the latter mentioned trio and hold them up for ransom at Nick's dads holiday home in the countryside. Richard, Clifford and Bob the rich business tycoon dads of the victims are taken by surprise when they receive a ransom call about their abducted teenage kids. Richard and Clifford are the only ones around when Paul call them up and make demands for 3 millions USD for the safety of their children. Bob is never punctual. Today his bad habit results in Jenna shooting down his son Jeff. The money transfer would be a walk in the park we think since the families are rich; however this does not turn out to be so. Richard runs short and is unable to fund the cash and neither is Clifford able to help since he uses his cash reserves for his part of the payment of the ransom. Their only hope is Bob who turns up late. Bobs son is already dead; how will he handle this news? Will he help his long time friends? Or will the children suffer the ill fate of death?

Canadian director Aaron Woodley does a great job with this script. Although a common plot, a movie that is thoroughly enjoyable if you appreciate the newbie cast with the exception of Ray Liotta and Victor Gaber. Newbie does not necessarily imply that the cast is in their debut production. However it implies that they are not Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet. My passion for Ray Liottas work made me stumble upon this limited budget Canadian production; THE ENTITLED. I am hoping that my piece along with many others who have written on this movie aid her to reach out to viewers who don't watch movies without a star cast. In fact I just did watch a movie with a star cast that was not as entertaining as THE ENTITLED; however she is more widely accepted. What if the cast of THE ENTITLED is interchanged with CONTAGION? Both movies would have made the news. Instead only one does.

Woodley's direction and the resources he uses work for him at times and on the other hand do not work at all. The areal angled footage of the drive to the woods, the pleasant scenery and the gloomy lake house sets the perfect tone for the perfect thriller. Kevin Zegers convincing and precision performance that is supported by Devon Bostick all gels in alarmingly well for quite new faces. The veterans across on the end of the forest are equally doing well with Ray Liotta, Victor Gaber & Stephen McHatttie. What Woodley misses is what goes on in between the 2 locations. No pun intended but what Woodleys misses and loses points are the moments in the woods. This sudden drop of the thrills kind of makes one wonder if they should continue with the movie any longer. As much as the finale is a surprising treat the climax to it does need more tweaking and fine tuning. A commercial soundtrack most certainly would win more points in the right direction.

Nothing More Nothing Less

Title: The Entitled Directed by: Aaron Woodley Starring: Kevin Zegers, Devon Bostick, Tatiana Maslany, Stephen McHattie, VIctor Gaber & Ray Liotta. Rated: R for language some violence and brief drug use. Rating: 6.5/10

What happens when spoiled rich kids go to uni and make enemies? Watch and see! This movie is not a run of the mill rehash like so many put out today. This psychological thriller kept me on the edge of my seat for its entirety. It tells the story of an average young man and his family struggles. It also shows a bit behind the veil of students with low/no self esteem, as well as the effects of various social stressors such a financial difficulty, jealousy, and the effects of being a social outcast due to antisocial traits. Hence it provides a plausible explanation for the genesis of such evil acts. The plot twist is not one you will see coming! I must admit that the scary part of this movie is in its similarity to real life! Well worth the time to watch this flick.

Entitled takes your basic movie kidnapping ransom plot and freshens it up through good acting, plot twists and accessibility.

Excellent casting. Each actor felt natural in their part and with some restraint to avoid overacting they gel nicely. The first character death is almost welcome due to the annoyance of his behavior.

Here's the best part of the movie: As the plot moves along and the viewer watches with anticipation of the stereotypical progression, we are happily dealt nice little twists. No twist is over the top or pushing the limits of belief. A subtle film noir feel is mixed with an everyman identification.

I'd like to see another movie like this one...

"Are you kidding me" ? Ray L. in top form and overall superb acting by every one else too. I could sit through entire movie, and that is something. The character development was laid out very nicely. With the opening statements from the lead character, I could see without much effort, that perhaps This movie is a "real" down to earth film with the kind of depth most folks can easily consume. Also delivered in a language that is easily understood. Somewhat organized dialog but needed be for the act of justice, in a growing unjust world. Plot- Take your dream up a notch and chance it. The well thought out plan has a much better chance of coming through because , well your worth it. Expect the unexpected too, and also factor it in. As Ray put well in his business ethics talk in mid movie. We are all getting squeezed anyway. Some Great Flick here! Thanks.