Die in a Gunfight

IN A NUTSHELL: In New York City, a young guy falls for the daughter of his father's nemesis. Mary and Ben are the star-crossed black sheep of two powerful families engaged in a centuries-long feud. When the pair reignites a romance after many years apart, their forbidden love draws a motley assortment of schemers and killers into their orbit, and as fists and bullets fly, it becomes clear that violent delights will have violent ends. The quirky romance is directed by Collin Schiffli. While critics are hating this movie, audiences really like it.

THINGS I LIKED: It's a modern romance inspired by Romeo and Juliet.

I've always enjoyed Alexandra Daddario in movies and so I'm happy to see her in another one.

Diego Boneta did a great job as an extremely flawed, annoying protagonist.

The standout characters that were the most entertaining were those played by Travis Fimmel and Justin Chatwin. They were both hilarious, offering the comic relief for the film. Justin Chatwin actually performed his own stunts. He's an extreme sports fan and motorcycle enthusiast in real life!

I liked the musical score.

Snarky humor.

Fun fact: There were only 23 days of filming.

Billy Crudup's name is included in the cast, but he only provides the voice-over narration.

If you like Guy Ritchie's take on movie-making, you might get a kick out of this film, full of unique style and violence.

There's a creative animation element to the movie that makes it fun and whimsical.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: It's hard to feel sorry for self-absorbed, rich people.

The protagonist is a real jerk.

All of the characters feel poorly developed.

So much exposition.

The script is badly written with super cheesy dialogue and plot.

SUPER lazy ending.

A lot of the humor doesn't land.

The film starts strong and with great promise but then quickly starts taking a nosedive.

I quickly became bored.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Tons of bloody violence Disgusting sound effects when some people were killed Various weapons used Crude language, profanity, and F-bombs Pre-marital "relations"

l.

It was a fun story, but all the overshooting attempts at flair and pizzazz, got stale and annoying real quick. It felt more cartoonish than a romantic thriller. I don't mind commentary in a film, but there were too many attempts at humor that failed, as it did with some of the dialogue. The entire "loves to fight and lose" concept was infantile and unnecessary. Diego Boneta's character was really annoying in most of the film. I think the novice filmmakers - especially the two writers, couldn't pick a theme and stick with it. Had the cartoons been absent, and the story's tone more serious - throughout, it may have been more enjoyable. The pacing felt slow with the many long dragged out scenes, that were more filler than substance, that the 92 min runtime felt much longer. Nevertheless, the casting and performances were good for the most part, especially Travis Fimmel, and the cinematography and score probably the best features.

This movie tries hard to be a mix of a Tarantino / Guy Richie / Wes Anderson type of vibe.

It fails dismally. Lazy & unimaginative writing, uninteresting characters, poor acting, inconsistent plot.

Overall, you'll have to force yourself to see it through to the end. Don't bother.

Within the first 10 minutes, this movie establishes a few things: The main character is unbearably and pointlessly annoying. The narrator sounds like your stoner friend in college. Every character in the film, no matter how irrelevant, needs to be introduced with a Guy Ritchie rip-off freeze frame. The sound editing is laughably amateur. The script is so full of cringe it hurts. The only thing impressive about this film is how badly it fails after trying so hard. I'm sure a large portion of viewers watched because of Alexandra Daddario, but even if you're her biggest fan, this is one performance you'll want to skip.

Some movies are cool. Some movies are quirky. The biggest problem with this movie is that it tries too hard to be both of those things. The story is a modern day Romeo and Juliet, not done nearly as well as Baz Luhrmann's amazing rendition. The attempt to frame shots and scenes in a way that shares the hipness with the audience just falls flat here. Alexandra Daddario is always good and this one is no exception; however, her performance is not enough to save this one. There are some fun scenes. The movie is disappointing but not the worst. I think the failure is not in the script and performances, but in the Direction and Cinematography.