A Score to Settle

Right, well I had very little expectations to this 2019 movie from writer John Stuart Newman and director Shawn Ku. Why? Well, it is a Nicholas Cage movie, need I say more? I can't claim to be a fan of his in any way. Sure, he puts on the occasional good movie, but they are few and far apart.

Regardless, I had the chance to watch "A Score to Settle", so I sat down to watch it, as I tend to watch movies that I haven't already seen before.

And glad that I did, because this movie was definitely one of Nicholas Cage's better performances, and a movie where you actually get to see him having acting talents. And while the movie itself was sort of mediocre, Cage actually managed to lift it up and out of mediocrity with his impressive performance.

The storyline in "A Score to Settle" definitely had potential. Sure, it didn't offer much of anything new to the genre, but it was still enjoyable enough for what it turned out to be.

Aside from Nicholas Cage, the movie has some nice performances by the likes of Benjamin Bratt, Noah Le Gros and Karolina Wydra. I can't claim to be familiar with neither Noah Le Gros or Karolina Wydra, but they definitely performed well in this movie.

"A Score to Settle" is an adequate movie if you have nothing more pressing on your to-watch-list. While it wasn't outstanding, it was still good enough for a single viewing.

My rating of "A Score to Settle" would have been a very mediocre five out of ten, given the flatlining storyline, but Nicolas Cage's performance lifted the movie up a notch, who knew!?

Film tries to be deep and clever with a "plot twist" that anyone with eyes sees coming from a mile away. Cliches of course abound, so expect to see all the generic quotes and tropes you've seen/ heard before. The only twist being that this film blurs the genres of films it steals it's quotes from.

All of this said is it a terrible film? No. It's ok. Just about. Watchable if you're not really paying attention.

Also, whatever you do, don't question the timelines, e.g. how a young adult can go to jail for 19 years but come out an old man.

Anyway, the terrible cliches, inconsistencies in timelines (forcibly injected so the characters fit the proper cliches), and a pretty average script let this film down.

5/10

CF

People tend to jump on the hate train too quickly that they fail to see that this movie had great potential. If only they had a director that knows what he is doing, plus with the budget they had. This is not a bad movie BUT there were some pretty bad moments that pretty much ruined it. This is not an action film but is centered around the Nick's character. So dont expect guns-blazing-mindless-action. Its really not that bad.

Nicolas Cage is still a great actor. just gotta find the right movie to act in.

"A Score to Settle" is another disappointing film with Nicolas Cage in the lead role. However, as a fan of this actor, I dare to say that he has a good performance. But the depressing story has a weak plot point and the direction and the screenplay are not in a good pace. Instead of a thriller or an action film, the viewer sees a boring and heavy drama with deceptive conclusion. Nicolas Cage needs to find better stories and screenplays. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): Not Available