The Adventures of Beatle

First this first: a lot of people are under the impression that Guns For Hire is an action film. It is not. While there is some action sequences in it, it is really a dark comedy, and a fairly witty one at that.

As a small budget indie film the production is very good. Orlando Jones and Tony Shalhoub originally drew me to this title but it was a pleasant surprise to see Sarah Shahi in the cast as well. I have been a fan of hers since I first saw her in Sleeper Cell.

Without giving too much away, the story moves along nicely without too much padding or unnecessary exposition. The dialog does seem a little overwrought at times but the entire cast does an excellent job. There are some very funny lines in this film, mostly delivered by Jeffery Dean Morgan, that make is clear you are watching a very smart, dark comedy.

Athena (played by Ever Carradine) hires Beatle (Michelle Hicks) to kill her. However, Athena is already being stalked by a killer thanks to some dealings in her past. And that is the set up for the rest of the story. Normally I can pretty much tell how a film like this is going to end but I was pleasantly surprised at this ending. The payoff at the end was worth the wait.

The romance between Athena and Beatle develops naturally and does not seemed rushed or shoehorned in like so many other movies out today. I'm sure there will be some that object to any same sex relationships in films but this one does not seem to be gratuitous of there only for shock value.

With some witty dialogue, solid performances, surprising plot twists and just enough action to keep the story moving Guns For Hire deserves a look.

Wow.

From awkward over gesturing not matching emphasis or tone, to children's diagrams in the background of the detective office (like you need a diagram to visually map out the relationships between 3 people), to the poorly worded phrases like "in your infinitely wise logic that i'm too cabbage headed to grasp..." and peppered over a lesbian undertone for absolutely no reason.

This is quite possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It is actually bad enough to be funny if you're in good company and the right mood enhancers...

Review: What a boring, uninteresting movie! The movie seemed cheap and the storyline was awful. With a title like, Guns For Hire, I was expecting some form of action, especially as Jeffrey Dean Morgan is holding a gun on the cover but there's no action at all. Its about a suicidal blonde, Athena (Ever Carradine), who hires a tow truck driver/assassin, Beatle (Michele Hicks) to kill her. As Athena has no money, she signs over an insurance policy to Beatle, which will pay for the assassination. While there waiting for the paperwork to come through, Athena moves in with Beatle and they start to become close, even though the situation is slightly warped. Beatle regularly sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Vanderark (Orlando Jones), who thinks that her whole assassin story is in her mind and she has a strange relationship with a hooker/stripper, Carla (Sarah Shahi), who actually has feelings for her. They also have a brutal hit-man on there tail, Bruce (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who is hired by Athena's crooked previous employer, Kyle (Ben Mendelsohn). On top of that, Detective Holt, Raffaello Degruttola is following Athena and Beatles every move and he builds a case to try and stop Beatle in her tracks. Sounds exciting but it really wasn't. Most of the footage is about Athena and Beatles relationship, which is quite boring but the major twist at the end was surprising. I personally did lose interest after a while and the acting was quite bad from the two leading characters. I was expecting more from Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Ben Mendelsohn, who usually put in decent performances but the awful script didn't bring the best out of them. I couldn't really see the comedy side of the movie because there wasn't any wit in the script at all but I did stick with the plot because I really couldn't see were the film was going. When all was revealed I still wasn't that impressed so it has to get the thumbs down from me. Disappointing! 

Round-Up: This is the first and only movie directed and written by Donna Robinson, who really didn't do a good job with this film. There's a few unnecessary lesbian scenes and there wasn't much depth to any of the characters, which made if feel like this movie was made without much thought. There were some good actors on board, who really got wasted because of the awful storyline, so it has to go down as a bad day at the office.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/thriller/comedies starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Ben Mendelsohn, Tony Shalhoub, Orlando Jones, Ever Carradine, Michele Hicks, Sarah Shahi and Ivvana Milicevic. 2/10

Of course it's silly and ridiculous . . . and quite fun

OK, some of the reviewers here might be over thinking this just a bit, maybe?

C'mon, we're not talking "Gone With the Wind" here . . .

No, this isn't spectacular drama with intensely portrayed characters and deep probing plot lines.

Sometimes, you just have to dive in with no specific expectations and go with it.

And in this case, it works.

Well, I'll admit to having just a bit of a crush on Michele Hicks.

I mean, really, what could be more lovable than a way out on the fringe edgy tow truck driver and assassin with mysterious behavioral traits?

So, about the aforementioned plot lines (sketchy as such may be).

No spoilers, so not much detail offered here, except to say that the ending may be simplistically disappointing to some, and cleverly contrived to others.

But that's not really the point, at least in my opinion.

The meandering moment to moment scenarios are more like a series comedic vignettes loosely woven together to form a sort of quasi- quilt of an emergent story.

The concept is to simply enjoy the delightfully bizarre nature of this entire production, and just go with it.

Is this a 10? No, hardly . . . but as a low budget indie dark comedy with some kinky twists, I'll give it a solid 7.

Just my opinion.

I'll never know whether the story was interesting because I couldn't get past the pacing of the dialog: it's as though the actors were just taking turns saying words aloud, with an interminable beat between each turn.

Obviously a number of the actors and actresses went on to better gigs and enjoy successful careers, but this wasn't fun.

I'll never know whether the story was interesting because I couldn't get past the pacing of the dialog: it's as though the actors were just taking turns saying words aloud, with an interminable beat between each turn.

Obviously a number of the actors and actresses went on to better gigs and enjoy successful careers, but this wasn't fun.