Paradox Effect

British Reviewer 4.4/10

The actors tried really hard to make something of a very thin screenplay. The plot was fine, the visuals actually great for what was clearly a tiny budget and the editing good.

Harvey Keitel was chronically underused but maybe that was a contractual thing and Kurylenko was quite decent although not believable as an ex-addict; too beautiful!

The main problem for me was the poor screenplay, script and pacing. The plot crawled along at an agonisingly slow pace at it's worst and the twist incredibly improbable.

Still, it's better than Twisters and A Quiet Place: Day One on a fraction of their budgets.

Disappointing.

First, let's discuss the title. At no point is there an actual paradox of any sort or any related "effects" of said nonexistent paradox.

I've been "in love" with Olga for several years. I don't know if she is no longer being offered good roles or if she is making really poor choices but this one is bad either way.

Harvey Keitel used to be pretty cool. His zenith was obviously as Winston, aka the Wolf in Pulp Fiction. This role is both minor and lame. How far has his career fallen that he would consider taking this role in such a stupidly written movie?

One of his many poorly written lines goes something like "in life you are given three choices. Two are made for you." Pure stupidity. If the choice has been made for you, it isn't a choice. Never mind that what follows is both stupid and unnecessary, the statement is idiotic to begin with.

All around, this movie fails on so many levels. I'm not sure why I even give it 5 stars.

Mother and Cop work together to get out of a sticky situation and under the threat of a mob leader.

Personally, I don't like when a script puts character in a position and their reaction is to be "incompetent". But sometimes it is realistic, and understandable. But it feels like this movie is consistently taking this line, which becomes frustrating after a point.

Not to mention the so-called "reasoning" behind the lead's pairing making little sense, as we have a father already in pain immediately subjecting someone else to the same suffering.. defies logic (and taking over half the film to get there).

The chain of events and execution of the premise leave a LOT to be desired.. I didn't enjoy this at all. Can't really recommend it.

This movie is, clearly, a grade B movie, and that's fine. We all know that directors/writers have to walk before they can run. Every great writer had to start somwhere, and a person's first attempt at writing or directing a movie, isn't likely to win any awards. However, it's downright shameful to pay for good reviews, and I can't help but think that that's what's going on here. Either the creaters, of this movie, are paying for good reviews, or the good reviews are from friends, family members, etc. Don't believe me? Just try watching the movie, and you'll understand what I mean.

This is a bad movie. I tolerated about twenty minutes before choosing to turn it off. Like I've said, it's grade B, and I wasn't in the mood to watch a grade B movie. So, I turned it off.

By far, the biggest problem, with this movie, is the writing. It's extremely amateur. It's not hard to tell, based on the dialog, as well as how unrealistic everything is; pertaining to the events that take place. It seems as if it were written by someone who's in high school. Perhaps the writer wrote it, while in high school, and then, years later, got enough money to actualy produce it. However, the source material was never critiqued and re-written, and the project was never reassessed. Otherwise, a choice probably wouldn't have been made to move forward with production.

I'm writing this review in order to provide honesty. It's what reviews are supposed to be about. I'm giving my honest review, so that moviegoers can know the truth about this film, and can assess whether or not they want to invest any time watching it.

If you're looking for a grade B movie, then this may be what you're looking for. However, if you're looking for polished entertainment --the kind of stuff that we're used to, then I don't recommend wasting your time with this movie. You'll, likely, be disappointed.

The scummy story is porous, obscured and weak. The best scenes are those with Olga Kurylenko, who saves this movie with a few exceptional performances and her beauty. She is however, the only stand out. The ham fisted direction alienates the viewer. Harvey Keitel performance was also not satisfying. I particularly disliked his extreme close ups. Without Olga, this would barely rate worth watching. She elevates an otherwise very poor overall experience to something worth your time. Another major irritation is the too frequent Italian voice overs with no subtitles, which irritated me greatly. I really can't recommend this movie, except to those who adore Olga.