Ambush

This basically sums up the film in general, but I will elaborate.

The Plot: Clive Owen ( before he was in "The Bourne Identity," "King Arthur," "Elisabeth: The Golden Age," and "Sin CIty" ) plays a "hire" who drives people places they desperately need to go.

Often times, they are working for something "top secret" and can only give our protagonist limited information.

Also, this is meant to show off the BMW car and is executive-produced by Tony Scott ( Crimson Tide, Spy Game ), Ridley Scott ( Alien, Kingdom of Heaven ) and David Fincher ( Panic Room, Alien 3 ).

In this episode directed by the late John Frankenheimer, our hero has to transport a con who has something his mob friends want.

Leave it to BMW to create a promotional DVD of shorts ("The Hire")featuring their cars. The directors list is stunning: Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Guy Ritchie, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The range of the shorts go from the giddy (Ritchie) to the vainglorious (Inarritu), yet all are entertaining. From a strictly commercial sense, the efforts put forth by Frankenheimer and Ritchie present the best balance of entertainment and product endorsement. Basic plot, great stunt drivers, fast paced sound track, tongue in cheek humor. Perhaps a better representation of advertising, than great short films, "Ambush" et al were first made available over the Internet through BMW Films.com. Frankenheimer will soon resurrect "The Exorcist" saga with fellow short film writer/actor William Wisher. One can't help but to think that this little short was a safe promotional boost after the highly disappointing "Reindeer Games". All in all, not a bad way to spend fifteen minutes.

John Frankenheimer was hired for this probably due the impressive car chases he filmed for RONIN rather than the last film he did the mediocre REINDEER GAMES. Fortunately he's in top form for this short film. In a mere 6 minutes we get an lean, mean vignette about how Clive Owen, as an unnamed driver-for-hire, does his best to escape from a van full of masked gunmen out to kidnap and kill the driver's passenger: a diamond smuggler who swallowed his precious cargo. While later films in the BMW series would get more ambitious in scope, it's AMBUSH that lays the groundwork for the later films to work from.

The film's style and approach to action is hard-edged, the actual car chase is exciting, and Clive Owen gives a sense of man who gets out of dangerous situations by a mixture of complete professionalism and ruthless self-interest. Only in later films do we begin to see a more human side to his character.

Before the review, a brief plot summary: The Driver, a chauffeur-for-hire, now has a new customer in his BMW: a mysterious old man from Cuba. As they drive, however, a van pulls up next to them, a gun sticks out, and it's drivers contact The Driver. His passenger is carrying a suitcase full of two million dollars in uncut diamonds, and they want The Driver to pull up and let the man out so they can have his suitcase. When the pleading man explains that he swallowed the diamonds, and that they will cut him open to get it, The Driver realises he can't let these criminals get a hold of his cargo, and a car chase ensues.

This short, which is really a commercial for BMW and the first in the "The Hire" series, is one of the most brilliant shorts ever. Directed by John Frankenheimer (of "Reindeer Games" and "Ronin") this ad has some of the best car stunts you can find on film. The acting is great, Clive Owen is a pleasure. "Gone in Sixty Seconds" can barely match this one. The climax is great, the suspense and tension build up quickly, and The Driver remains as mysterious as ever.

It even promotes safety! The BMW is powerful, and can outrun a van full of crooks, but always buckle your seat belt. Your kids will like it, there's no langauage or such, it's mostly just a lot of fun watching The Driver show the true power of the BMW.

Watch this film, as well as it's sequels, "The Hire" series. It's worth downloading, although I am blessed with a modem that downlands FAST. I pity those of you who must wait, but believe me, it's worth it!

Although the movie is just a few minutes short, it still is more adrenaline pumping than as for instance "The Fast and the Furious".

The movie is a great beginning of "The Hire" series! The car chase is well directed by John Frankenheimer who already showed with the movie "Ronin" how well he can direct scene's like that. The story is written by Andrew Kevin Walker ("Se7en", "Sleepy Hollow"), produced by David Fincher (director of "Se7en", "The Game", "Panic Room", "Fight Club") and the cinematography is from action specialist Newton Thomas Sigel. So there was lots of talent involved in making this short film and that is really notable. You can clearly see it had been made with lots of profession.

Clive Owen is perfect as The Driver. For some reason he is boring but cool at the same time. I most certainly wouldn't had mind seeing him be the new James Bond but it looks like that honor is going to someone else for the moment. The passenger is played by Tomas Milian who is best known for his role in "Traffic" and some smaller roles in "Amistad" and "JFK".

A very nice short with some excellent action in the car chase!

7/10

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