The Samaritan

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.

Samuel Jackson, executive producer, takes a big gamble with this movie because of its genre: film noir. These movies aren't made anymore. At one time they were prominent with stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Jimmy Cagney, Humphrey Bogart. The bad girl, the man she strings along, the steal, the con. Film noir is one of my favorite genres and I'm sorry that we don't have the pleasure of seeing them like we did.

This is an indy film, and will probably be released to the art houses. It's a good movie. Smart script, good acting. Twists and turns and a major surprise about mid-way that may make you stop the tape, walk away take a breath, come back and continue watching. I saw this video on demand. Jackson gives a worthy Oscar-rated performance, but I doubt since this is an indy movie and won't be seen by many he will get it. The main female actress, Ruth Negga, is a standout as the lost soul who gets used by man after man and finally with the help of the con Foley (Jackson) gets a second chance in life.

I started to watch this film not really knowing what I was going into, I had watched the trailer and it looked good, but I didn't expect all the twists!

Samuel L Jackson is one of my favourite actors and he definitely delivers in this film, as do the rest of the actors.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and if you like films of this genre then you should enjoy it too. There were a few bits of the film that I guess weren't explored far enough (for me anyway, I pay too much attention to detail perhaps) but all in all I enjoyed it enough to want to watch it again sometime in the future.

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.

the built up story line was a let down...i wasn't expecting much BUT in the middle of it as the plot thickens things get interesting then it gets a bit better, then it just flops downhill..like the jack and jill nursery rhyme.

the way the story builds up is a standard cheat(common in thrillers, especially in TV series)you know that feeling somewhere along the line things were brought up out of sheer laziness, yea thats it. a cheap way to end a good build up. anyway thats all. do not watch this seriously for entertainment. just sit back and do not pay much attention even if this is a thriller...quarter way though will most likely disappoint.