Meeting Evil

Psycho thriller with classic Sam Jackson at his campy best. All the acting was top notch, but the movie was hard to figure out. I loved that you never really knew where it was going. Neither did the protagonist.

And I really liked the main characters. They were believable and respectable.

The goal of this film wasn't to spell everything out for the viewer, but to take you for a ride. Not knowing what was going on the whole time was engrossing for me. That's what the protagonist was going through. So I identified with him and his decisions throughout.

Really, I don't know why there are so few good reviews on this film. Perhaps one thing to keep in mind is people lie and manipulate. Especially evil psycho people. They also tend to target someone, usually someone they're jealous of, to mess with. If that's never happened to you before, this film is going to mess with your mind!

I was looking for more symbolism in the story and visuals. But the messages were all in the characters' actions, including a great allegorical story in addition to the main story. Plus a nice philosophy at the end. Had a bad day, but the sun will rise again tomorrow.

Enjoyable re-watch. I love that it didn't stress me out with torture or suspense, but has multiple layers of depth. The movie is way better than I'm making it sound. Just roll with it!

Straight to video movies are always hit and miss, especially when they sport main stream actors. It always leaves you wondering why it didn't get a wider release, especially sporting actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Luke Wilson. Their latest film Meeting Evil came out of nowhere with little to no promotion. Could this be a case of just bad studio promotion or a hidden gem worth the rental?

Meeting Evil follows a depressed man who offers a stranger help with his car, but instead is thrust into a nightmarish murder spree leaving him to question everything he knows. This is one of those films that with any other cast would have just been another decent but forgettable rental. Thanks to the always brilliant Jackson doing what he does best this film steps up quite a bit delivering something a bit more fun. Jackson is better than ever here just unleashing everything that has always made him cool to deliver a truly evil character that you both loath and love all at once. Wilson does a good job with his character having to deliver a wide range of emotional responses as he evolves throughout. At first this film has a somewhat laughable quality to it with the way Jackson's character is dealing with people and you feel sorry for Wilson. As the story moves forward you start feeling more concern for Wilson as you realize the true nature of evil Jackson is delivering. A lot of these films sport some gruesome killing, but here we get more of the aftermath of the evil unleashed creating more of a mystery with the character.

This is one of those rare rentals that are worth the time. There are some holes here and there, but overall is an entertaining film. Jackson and Wilson have great chemistry and deliver to really great characters that butt heads like no other. This is a must see for any fan of Jackson as he pulls out all his inner evil to bring this character and film to life.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-dallas/bobby-blakey

Meeting Evil (2012)

*** (out of 4)

John (Luke Wilson) has his life ripped from him when he loses his job, falls behind on all his bills and sees no real reason to live but then he meets a mysterious Richie (Samuel L. Jackson) who asks him for help. Richie soon forces John into a wild and violent killing spree but for reasons that the troubled man can't figure out. MEETING EVIL isn't nearly as smart as it tries to be and in the end it's not a completely successful film but I must admit that I've never quite seen anything like it. The entire film is a very strange one as it contains a story that constantly keeps you off guard, some fine performances and a bizarre atmosphere that just hangs over the entire thing. Writer-director Chris Fisher deserves quite a bit of credit by taking a familiar set-up (good man kidnapped by evil) and doing something rather fresh and original with it. I'm going to avoid any major spoilers but I do think the film comes up somewhat short in whatever message it's trying to get across but there's still enough good stuff here to make it worth viewing. One thing are the two lead performances with both Wilson and Jackson turning in fine work. Wilson does a very believable job playing this loser who constantly lets people push him around. I thought the actor made you care for this character while at the same time hating him for not being more of a man. Jackson often falls into playing himself but that's not the case here as he completely loses himself in this character. Jackson plays the part with a certain edge that actually helps the film and especially in some of the darker comic moments, which there are a few of and he makes them very funny. As you'd expect, there's a twist at the end and in a rare case I think it actually works. What I enjoyed most about MEETING EVIL is that I never really knew where it was going to go next. The entire set-up is a pretty crazy one and it doesn't make sense all of the time but it did keep me interested in what was going on and I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next. The film isn't a complete success but I think it's good entertainment.

IMDb have provided a blurb so I'll just give you my opinion. I only review movies if no one else has done one yet.

Meeting Evil could be very vaguely described as "Changing Lanes with more carnage". I'm not sure why this film went straight-to-DVD. It's probably because the plot is a tad all over the place. Sometimes it's hard to understand Luke's actions and Sam's intentions. Some viewers may find this frustrating while others will simply consider it to be part of the fun. On the plus side, it's quite fast paced. You're barely 5 minutes into it before Sam pounds on Luke's front door and the thrills begin. Sam Jackson is quite clearly having a field day as the full-blown psycho who despises people with a lack of common courtesy. Luke plays the hero/victim and his character isn't exactly likable, but hopefully you'll be able to relate to him in some small way. He claims to be a nice guy and he's obviously accustomed to people treating him like a doormat. He's cheating on his wife... but then again she's cheating on him too. By the end of the film I still wasn't sure which one of them cheated first. They might've explained it when I tuned out for several seconds. I'd never heard of Leslie Bibb who portrays the no-nonsense wife and she gave a good performance so she's officially on my radar now.

I originally intended on giving this film 6 stars but when I think about it, I found myself empathising with Luke's character and hoping that either Luke or Leslie would lay their vengeance upon Sam at the climax. On that level it worked for me but if anything, that's just a testament to Sam's performance. If you're in the mood for a thriller and you can't find anything that tickles your fancy, you might as well let Sam Jackson take you for a ride. Let's face it, he RARELY steers us in the wrong direction. It also helps if you consider yourself to be a fan of Luke Wilson. If you hate him, you'll probably find this film to be average at best. I very much doubt it will change your opinion of him as an actor or a human being. Countless actor's could've played that role... but they didn't... he did... and he did a good job.

A pretty decent film with good production values and very good acting all around. Probably it's hard to avoid, but the story does suffer from the Hollywood effect - making every movie look like any another movie, since they all need to be sold somehow. In it's favor, 'Meeting Evil' starts out fairly loyal to its source material, and stays on track most of the way, despite some unneeded upping of the conventional stakes, and a couple extra back story complications. These don't really hurt the film, and it's a fairly exciting experience, up until the contemporary Hollywood twistiness at the end, which, though interesting, blunts the point of the Berger novel (at least as regards the main character). It tries to make its own point about evil in everyday life, and might have succeeded were it not for the logical problem it introduces with the Richie character's motivation. Though it's not in the book, I do think the concluding scene is actually pretty good; or it would be, if the viewer can get past the twist that doesn't really fit.

Update: Forgot I wrote this. Anyway, more time has passed, and a recent viewing has put more distance between any expectations I had from the book. I could see it more as its own experience, and that raises my estimation of the film. Give it a go sometime.