The Alibi

In 'The Alibi' Steve Coogan plays a 'reformed' con man who now runs a 'legitimate' business providing alibis for people when they're cheating on their partners. However, he comes unstuck when an assignment goes wrong and he's forced to cover up for a murder.

Therefore he's forced into many dangerous liaisons with gangsters, street hoods and cops if he's to get out of this (a) alive and (b) stay out of jail.

The film has all the makings of a cheeky guy Ritchie Lock Stock affair, but doesn't quite pull it off - not to say it doesn't have a go.

I love Steve Coogan just as much as the next Partridge fan, however, in The Alibi, Coogan has to play a suave, quick-thinking tough guy - a far cry from a DJ from Norwich. This is where it stumbles a bit. The Alibi isn't funny enough to be a comedy, dramatic enough to be a drama or action-packed enough to be an action flick. It sort of borrows from all genres and hopes the end result will be okay.

And it is... okay. It's not the greatest film of its kind, but it's definitely not the worst. All the pieces fit together at the end and if you can see Steve Coogan out of a knitted jumper and slugging it out with street punks in a dingy back-street American bar, then you're half way to finding some enjoyment in it.

THE ALIBI is a smooth, elegant, neo-noir expertly shot by guys who did pre-cog scenes in MINORITY REPORT. It is very reminiscent of Frank Tashlin's work. Tashlin was the Warner Bros. cartoonist who ended up doing vehicles for Jerry Lewis and Doris Day. While his cartoons were strongly influenced by live action cinema, his live action features had a distinctive cartoonish element.

Te same can be said for THE ALIBI which works as a very tightly knit yarn and feels as precise as a special effects sequence. This precision makes the film flow smoothly and the directors deliver Hollywood entertainment at its best.

The cast is top-notch and the attached talent is the major asset of this production.

The only major shortcoming of this feature is the complete absence of emotions and character depth. The only character fully developed is the main character and it is a shame because other characters are too flat so the story fails to emotionally resonate. The screenplay feels like the first draft and it seems that it was just a couple rewrites away from being fully developed.

This is why THE ALIBI is just a well made programmer while it seems that deep inside it possessed a much bigger potential.

'The Alibi' provides enough twists and turns to make it likable and somewhat enjoyable. However, I thought it could have used a little more slickness which could have made it a real film-watching treat. Director duo Matt Checkowski and Kurt Mattila do a decent job but at times the pace really slows down and then suddenly picks up at a drastic level where it even reaches a point that the leaves the viewer confused concerning certain plot points. But just bear with it as there is some good writing, the main plot is unusual and has a neo-noir feel to it and in the end it feels entertaining. The huge impressive ensemble cast that comprises of an unusual combination of actors is fun to watch. Steve Coogan at times looks uncomfortable in his part but does an adequate job overall. Rebecca Romijn is smoking hot and easily pulls off the smart babe. Selma Blair pulls off the cute seductress. James Brolin, Sam Elliot and James Marsden are fun to watch. Deborah Kara Unger and John Leguizamo make their presence felt in briefer roles. Perhaps some of the characters could have used more development which would have given the actors more scope to bring them out. The humour is very situational and a few of the comedy are dry and just fail to trigger laughter. The film itself is very short. The makers wanted to give it a 60's feel but at the same time apply that to todays world and I think it fell somewhere in between. As I said earlier, 'The Alibi' could have done with more slickness and style, used more character development, and more comedy but overall it isn't a bad film and can be quite enjoyable on a windy day.

"Lies & Alibis" is a 2006 film starring Steve Coogan, Rebecca Romijn, James Brolin, Sam Elliott, James Marsden, and John Leguizamo.

Steve Coogan plays Ray Elliot, whose former partner Jack has a $5 million contract on his life, so everybody wants to find him. Elliot runs a risk management firm on the face of it. In reality it is probably based on the real-life Alibi Network - like the real thing, Elliot's company helps wayward husbands cheat by giving them alibis, intercepting calls to the hotel where they're supposed to be staying, etc.

There are several subplots going on but the main one is that Ray helps out a client's (Brolin) son Wendell (Marsden) by allowing him to cheat on his fiancé. Wendell is supposed to be at a conference in San Francisco; instead, with faked identity showing he is Ray Elliot, he's living in up in Santa Barbara with a hot woman. Ray, as Wendall, is in San Francisco. Unfortunately, Wendell's girl is into kinky sex and, during one session, winds up dead. The cops want to speak to Ray.

I found this a funny, clever film, with the beautiful Romijn playing a new and valuable assistant of Ray's, Sam Elliot as a hit man with several wives who is after Ray's old partner, and James Brolin as a cheating husband. Leguizamo is a riot as the dead woman's boyfriend.

Lots of twists. This makes a good rental.

A dream service for those adulterous men and women out there. A service which takes your calls, handles all potentially tense situations of private eyes and that suspecting spouse, essentially taking care of you on the side while you bang. Sounds good? I think so too, at least in a business sense.

Ray Elliot (Steve Coogan) runs such a service. It's a money spinner, based on statistics that one in 4 men stray, and one in 10 women cheat. He advertises his risk management career through word of mouth, and takes pride in his job in bailing clients out of seemingly explosive marital situations. The pre-requisites? A calm cool mind that can spin out stories and tell them with a straight face.

Lola Davis (the hot Rebecca Romijn) is his new management recruit, and without much orientation, plunges into the job head on. Initially you might think the movie will develop on the above company politics scenario, and have the two leads get involved with each other romantically. But no, before you can get to see the next fling, the movie heads on to classic crime noir territory.

On his last field job, Ray's client accidentally kills his mistress in a bout of S&M, and it's up to Ray to clear the mess up, violating one of his principles that his company doesn't provide alibis for crime. However his reputation and integrity is on the line, and he has no choice but to cover it all up.

And you'll probably wince at the amount of challenges Ray goes through in having this done, and having a price put out on his head. It's essentially one heck of a caper, as we witness how Ray Elliot schemes and plot to get his rear out of situations that's seemingly impossible, and incredibly lucky to get out of. It's full of crossings and double-crossings, and while you might be lost at certain plot points, just hang in there as all will converge for the finale, leaving you with a smirk, quite satisfied with the outcome.

What's fun in this movie is the huge ensemble cast that play the many characters on screen. Another X-Men franchise regular, James Marsden (Cyclops) is here as the inept himbo Wendell Hatch, Ray Elliot's last client, and we have a myriad of characters like hit men, gangsters, cops, an unsatisfied wife, etc from a cast of Selma Blair, James Brolin, Sam Elliot, Jaime King, John Leguizamo, Deborah Kara Unger, and the likes.

One thing's for sure, having a huge network of those whom you have deposited emotional or material help with, certainly will help bucket-loads when the time comes. If you're up for a caper, then I'd recommend The Alibi, for its fun.