Haute Tension

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Kevin Zegers (Paul Dynan) is a young college student, whose mother is facing eviction from her home after the bank foreclosed on it. He teams up with two other young people and kidnaps the kids of three wealthy men, hoping to extort a ransom. Naturally, things don't go to plan.

It's a bit of a lottery these days, which film projects are finding their way to the big screen and which seem to just fall by the wayside and wind up as mere fodder, on a one way course to the bargain bin. Although it had the potential to be turned into a far bigger budget film, this is the direction The Entitled appears to have been thrown. Which is a shame, for although it begins a little tepidly, it soon develops into a genuinely tense, if a little flawed, piece of work.

Although the set up is entirely plausible, and an interesting concept to launch on, early on the script suffers from some improbable scenes here and there, which send it down the pan a bit. Yet somehow, as it develops, it does create a genuine air of suspense and excitement about how things are going to work out, and as apparently clear cut characters receive surprise revelations in the script that make them appear not as they seemed. Somehow, by not playing out exactly as you thought it would, it still keeps you hooked and gripped to the end, even as the end outcome REALLY becomes a lot to take in. ***

What happens when spoiled rich kids go to uni and make enemies? Watch and see! This movie is not a run of the mill rehash like so many put out today. This psychological thriller kept me on the edge of my seat for its entirety. It tells the story of an average young man and his family struggles. It also shows a bit behind the veil of students with low/no self esteem, as well as the effects of various social stressors such a financial difficulty, jealousy, and the effects of being a social outcast due to antisocial traits. Hence it provides a plausible explanation for the genesis of such evil acts. The plot twist is not one you will see coming! I must admit that the scary part of this movie is in its similarity to real life! Well worth the time to watch this flick.

A group of under-privileged kids starving for money and attention; a group of over-privileged kids starving for action and attention; a group of over-privileged adults trying to be content with their current state of life. That's "The Entitled." One group wants what the others have and the others just plain want. If you want an intelligent, thought-out thriller, you've got it.

The film starts out a little pedestrian and juvenile with pointless scenes and then a few scenes continuously pointing out that our main hero was poor. But as it turns out, those scenes weren't pointless or over-done, you just had to wait until the end to figure it out. Everything contributes to the final result.

Our main hero is Paul Dynan (Kevin Zegers) — broke, jobless, defeated, and almost option-less. A last ditch effort to save his mother and their house, he abducts three local rich kids, uses two misfit friends to torture them, and tries to get money out of their fathers.

The brilliant aspects of this film which they did so well were the different relationship dynamics. The group of rich, entitled kids consisted of two males and one female. One couple but all three were friends. The group of poor, angry kids was exactly the same (just minus the money). The three fathers had the same relationships that their kids had, just a taller, older version.

Continuing in the vein of brilliant relationship dynamics, the plot of the kidnapping was propelled forward by how everybody acted within their own group. Apparently the key to a successful crime (or not successful) is knowing how all the individuals will act. The key to a successful crime thriller is making sure that your characters act in interesting ways.

The lead acting was very impressive, just as I was frequently in awe of how impressively smart the turns were in this thriller, I was amazed by how natural and creepy Zegers could be. Ray Liotta and the two other actors playing the fathers were equally as arresting.

The minor actors couldn't overcome the sometimes awkward and painful dialogue. Now don't get me wrong, the screenplay by William Morrisey is actually pretty good story-wise, he just doesn't give a good voice to the over-privileged, entitled rich kids. But then again, who does? I still think the opening sequences could have been tightened up to help me realize how important they actually are to the story. But above all else, "The Entitled" made me think and I like watching films about some characters who do think and some characters who don't think. And I'll let you figure out which groups they belong to.

I watched this film with the fear that I was going to encounter yet another budget movie thrown together with a loose plot and mediocre acting. Well, needless to say, I was proved wrong on all counts. The background story was built up nicely and the plot laid out for you to see clearly, but then it twists and makes you think, then twists again making you doubt your theories of what is really going on. Liotta, Garber and McHattie were brilliant and worked perfectly together. I wouldn't mind seeing this trio working together in the future. Dustin Milligan was a surprisingly competent and believable actor which was a breath of fresh air as I don't recall ever seeing him in film before now. All in all a very good thriller/suspense that kept me entertained. Give it a watch is all I can say, hope this helps!

"I played by the rules. I wanted to play by the rules, but that's the big lie. It's not enough anymore so maybe, just once, you gotta break them...right?" After Paul (Zegers) gets turned down for a job and his sick mom gets a foreclosure notice on the house he becomes desperate. His plan is to kidnap three kids of rich families and hold them for a million each. When the plan goes wrong he must find a way to stay clean and get the money. This is a very surprising movie. This is the type of movie where you put it because of the cast and end up really enjoying it. I'm not saying this is an Oscar type movie, but it is very entertaining and fun to watch. This movie also had an ending that fit the movie and is one that is hard to totally figure out before the reveal, which makes it that much better. A realistic look at what a kid on the edge can do if he is pushed. Very much worth watching. Overall, a very entertaining thriller that leaves you wondering who to pull for. I liked it a lot. I give it a B+.

Would I watch again? - I think I would, to catch clues about the ending.

*Also try - Endure & Hostage