One Day as a Lion

A solid crime/thriller movie (the comedic part is probably only the result of the seemingly clueless but lovable Jackie "Some" Powers, interpreted beautifully by Scott Caan). Great lead duo with strong-as-strontium Marianne Rendón, Powers' adventure companion and only chance to get his son back.

J. K. Simmons is very believable in his role of a ruthless "cowboy" (thumb down to the costume designer for the horrible cheap and too big hat, though...). Several reviewers have denounced the empty plot or the sub-plot involving Frank Grillo; on the contrary, this seamless story is very enjoyable to follow.

The good: solid direction, great acting performances and a lovely, quirky story, with likeable characters and true to life dialiogue. I would have setttled for less!

I love these kind of quirky gangster comedies. It's been awhile since I have seen a good one and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start till finish.

It's not a Quentin Tarantino wannabe, but it has got the same reverance for the characters as is the case in all of the Tarantino movies (or in any great gangster movie for that matter). Because in every great gangster movie (comedy or dramatic) one needs true to life characters, whom I can sympathize with.

And the characters in this movie are to die for! However "gangsta" the characters all might seem to be on the outside, they all have a gentle, loving heart (hilarious, but true) and they all would f8*k up boiling an egg if it comes to being a real gangsta.

The story: Scott Caan plays a total f8*k up moron "gangster", who messes up the only hit job he has to execute.

Now he is on the run for his crime boss who wants to kill him, providing for some absurd and very witty situations, involving a man on a horse, a fake marriage, a son in jail whom he wants to rescue and a few fist fights...

Recommended for those fans of this comedy gangster genre, who love offbeat characters and quirky dialogues.

The ONLY reason I decided to watch 'One Day as a Lion', was a glimpse of hunky Scott Caan in his underwear - with that gorgeous body - in the trailer!

I got to see more than enough of Scott's great body to satisfy me. His character, Jackie Powers, also turned out to be the only character in the film I cared about. The rest of the characters were all weak and unbelievable. And speaking of unbelievable, the premise had me raising an eyebrow on several occasions.

So, Jackie's thirteen year old son Billy has been imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, but everything about his son were so vague that I didn't fully grasp as to what the actual circumstances were. Jackie was asked by Pauly (Frank Grillo) to kill Walter Boggs (J. K. Simmons), who owes Pauly a great deal of money. Being an amateur - and a good guy - Jackie misses his target but accidentally kills a cook at a restaurant. He then kidnaps the waitress, Lola (Marianne Rendón).

Lola has a back story of her own. Her wealthy mother has cancer, and Lola can only inherit if she is married, so she helps Jackie, and tells her mother they are engaged. Nothing about this set-up was believable and can off course only work in a comedy that makes no sense... if that makes any sense...

As it turns out, Pauly didn't really want Walter dead; he just wanted to scare him. Ok, so now the story makes even less sense. What if Jackie succeeded? Surely Pauly didn't know Jackie was going to miss his target?? Oh, and speaking of Pauly, this was one of the worst characters ever! This was one of the weakest antagonists I've ever seen in a crime film - or any film for that matter. All this guy did was sit around swearing, stand around swearing, walking talking swearing... Every third word coming out of his mouth was f..k this, f..k that! And why was a physical actor like Frank Grillo cast as Pauly when this guy did absolutely nothing but talk-talk-talk-talk. There was not a single fight scene involving this antagonist.

Speaking of casting choices; why was Oscar winner J. K. Simmons cast as Walter? What on earth made him accept this part? He needs a new agent. Frank Grillo as well. Jackie was the only character keeping everything together, and I thought Scott Caan was well cast in this role.

There's some feel-good emotion here and there, but in general the film is just too ridiculous to matter. If it wasn't for Scott and his awesome body, 'One Day as a Lion' would have been a complete waste of time. The film became so preposterous towards the end that it was almost unwatchable. And all that foul language... no, thanks!

Aside from a couple Swab trademarks and easter eggs (eg; chocolate bar with a Candy Land wrapper), it didn't really feel like Swab to me. Seemed a bit misguided and going nowhere. The script is a weak point, nothing daring, and the plot fairly nonsensical. Some of the acting was pretty good by the big names, and it was shot pretty well, but I didn't personally care for the pretentious nonthingness that made up the script. Swab is a bit of an acquired taste, and he has done several better films than this one. Big name bit parts aside, Marianne Rendon was a standout performer here, even with this script.

Jackie Powers (Scott Caan) is pushed into a hit on Walter Boggs (J. K. Simmons). He misses badly and kills the cook instead. He takes waitress Lola Brisky (Marianne Rendón) who is the only witness. His son is stuck in jail.

Scott Caan is trying his hand at writing. It's a bit of hit-and-miss. This one is trying to be a sly crime drama. The studio declares this to be an homage to Tarantino and the Coen brothers. That may indeed be the target, but it falls short. The dialogue and the flow need more work. It's a little rough. I do like these actors, even Frank Grillo, but they do struggle with the script.