The Samaritan

Samuel Jackson shows off his acting chops in this gritty action thriller, with supporting actors doing a great job. He plays a man fresh out of prison after twenty five years who wants to go straight, but as it's mentioned in the movie, cons always say that at first. His past catches up to him in a huge way. Sure, we've seen plenty of this before, but the action moves right along with suitably dark sets and mood music to accompany all the nifty twists and turns. A nice surprise is young Ruth Negga who more than holds her own with the veterans. All in all a good effort, well worth the time to seek out, especially for Jackson fans.

I am stumped as to why an actor like Samuel L. Jackson, who regularly appears in big budget Hollywood movies, would be doing in a low budget Canadian movie. Apparently he was very attracted to this project, since he's also listed as one of the movie's producers. And the movie does have some positive attributes. Though low budget, it looks pretty slick, with good cinematography and intricate camera techniques. The acting by Jackson and the no-name Canadian cast is also pretty good. However, the screenplay is kind of inadequate. To be fair, it puts in a couple of twists that I didn't see coming. But for the most part, the movie travels down a very familiar path that will have you repeatedly saying, "I've seen this before." This isn't a terrible movie, but it's not very successful. By the way, this is one of the few Canadian movies to be set in Canada and involving Canadian characters... but the Canadian aspect of the movie is presented in such a soft and blink-and-you'll-miss-it manner that most viewers will think the story is taking place in the United States with American characters.

After seeing "Meeting evil", I was concerned this was another dud for Samuel Jackson. He always gives a great performance, but the story isn't always up to par. I had never heard of this movie so I had lower than low expectations. Wow, I was pleasantly surprised. Shocking twists and turns kept me interested from beginning to end. I don't want to give a synopsis because I think it's better if you go in green like I did. But now I'm struggling to fill 10 lines without any spoilers. Glad I didn't check the reviews on IMDb else I would have never would have rented it. The 5.5 is totally undeserved, but I understand it. Many judge movies based on how many explosions and CGI it contains. And I've never seen Oldboy so it didn't feel like a remake. Bottom line, this is a great drama and all the characters are believable.

It is another action / noir - or whatever you wanna name it - film. Things are explained in half a second and the action, drama and love scenes take long minutes. A typical "you don't nedd to understand it, simply enjoy the action" thing. But you know what? That's what entertainment seems to be. Not that I like it, but it is what it is. And the film brings Samuel L. Jackson, one of everybody's favourite actors, so it is worthy trying "The Samaritan". The twists in the plot , mainly in the last minutes, play a good role and make the 90 min projection a good time.

Try it, but don't expect a lot.

The plot: An ex-con looking to go straight is blackmailed into one last grift.

I'm a huge sucker for film noir, so it's not like I could pass up a chance at watching a gritty crime thriller with Sam Jackson. I was a bit apprehensive when I saw the critical disdain, but I figured it'd be worth a try. I think some of the critics were a bit harsh, but this isn't really a great movie. There are certainly some good aspects to it, but the aggressively derivative elements really drag down the score. If it had been less of a pastiche (and outright ripoff) of certain movies, this could have been good. Unfortunately, to mention its primary inspiration would be a huge spoiler.

If you're tolerant of "homage", not looking for a unique story, and are a fan of either noir or Sam Jackson, then there's a fair chance that you'll enjoy The Samaritan. I found it quite watchable, but I was not impressed with the directing or writing. The acting, on the other hand, was fine. There are only two or three scenes with Sam Jackson's trademark outbursts of angry yelling, so you might want to load up Pulp Fiction again if that's what you're looking for.

Any true Sam Jackson fan has sat through some really terrible movies. This is nowhere near the bottom, but it's somewhat frustrating in that you can see how this could have been a good movie if they'd tried a little harder.