Mon Ami

This is a story about a couple of guys who kidnap their boss's daughter for a ransom. The trouble is that they are appallingly inept kidnappers and things spiral out of control to a seriously bloody extreme.

This is a crime comedy with quite a bit of bloody violence. But it definitely plays things primarily for laughs, so the violence is never all that disturbing. It's only sporadically funny though and could best be described as amusing rather than hilarious. Some jokes are dragged out too far, such as the protracted 'how are we going to kill her' routine or the incessant phone calls from the wife of one of the kidnappers. The criminals themselves are incredibly unconvincing as guys who would ever carry out this type of abduction but I guess it's a comedy so I should really give it some slack on that front. Things end up in a big blood-bath that is reasonably well done, although pretty stupid at the same time.

This is a decent enough effort but nothing great. I think when you consider it was made for peanuts you have to give some credit though, as it's not bad at all when you take that into account.

A True Hype production in deed. Mon Ami delivers for the horror/suspense fans as well as the comedy lovers. Very few movies can take you from laughing out loud one minute, to crippling suspense the next but Mon Ami is a non stop roller coaster from fade in to fade out. The comedy duo of Mike Kovak and Scott Wallis had the whole audience holding their breath and routing for them. The film had a tone similar to an Edgar Wright film (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), with fast paced editing and comedy sprinkled throughout the film. All in all great cast, great film, great directing, great editing and a guaranteed great time for all. I cannot wait for the next True Hype production.

Best friends and co-workers Teddy & Cal are bored and disgruntled with their dead end job. Bored because it sucks and disgruntled as Teddy is passed for promotion in favour of the company owner's sons.

One day they decide that a great way to solve their problems and get rich quick would be to kidnap their boss's daughter and extort a ransom, thereby making enough $$$ to live on easy street for life. The only problem is, that if you looked up the terms "inept", "horribly disorganised" "bumbling", "Likable but kinda dim" and "worst kidnappers in the history of kidnapping", you would undoubtedly find the faces of Teddy & Cal staring back at you, probably while grinning inanely too.

And when you have two people whose planning capability could be written on the back of a postage stamp with room to spare, deciding to engage in an actual kidnapping, then you just know things are gonna end in tears. And blood. And dismemberment...

Mon Ami, while clearly shot on a shoestring budget is still a solidly enjoyable comedy horror that comes across as semi experimental and has a nice sense of unpredictability to it. It does have its flaws, with it being more restrained than I would have liked, although in fairness this was probably due to budgetary constraints. It also could have benefited with some slight trimming,with some scenes going on overlong. I personally found some of the performances akin to the hysterical performances of the screwball comedies of the 30s/40s, which I found slightly grating, and also probably due to budgetary constraints, the film relies on classical music for a score, which doesn't always work for it. That having said,it has a ton of heart,some decent dialogue and good believable chemistry between our two bickering buffoons and is in tone at least, nicely nasty in parts.

Overall it's a solid and ultimately satisfying lo fi indie comedy horror from the ever underrated Canada and worth checking out for any fan of indie comedies, horrors or thrillers and any horror fan who enjoyed the likes of Trent Haaga's Chop (2011) or The Cottage (2008) should have a reasonably good time with this. 7/10, a solid little film and an enjoyable watch.