The Settlement

I love finding lesser-known films that I haven't necessarily heard of before. The beauty of owning a DSS with a full premium movie package is that these kinds of films pop up regularly, although for every one worth watching you'll wade through five that stink. I ran across "The Settlement" last night and was actually quite impressed.

The gist of it: John Reilly and William Fichter play two guys who run a shady business wherein they buy out life insurance policies from dying customers. The clients get some cash before they die, and when they eventually kick off Reilly and Fichter collect the full benefit payout on the policy. Their business has hit the skids, however, and on the brink of bankruptcy in walks Barbara (Kelly McGillis). She's a terminal cancer patient with three months to live. For a $500,000 buyout she'll sign over her $2 million dollar policy.

As this is a much bigger deal than they are accustomed to and since they are nearly broke, Reilly and Fichter have to resort to some questionable means to obtain the $500,000. Reilly's character wants out of the business altogether but has a family to worry about. Fichter is the single, shoot-from-the-hip sort who acts now and worries about the consequences later. He has to convince Reilly that this is the deal they've been waiting for and that it will solve their financial problems once and for all. Conversations between the aggravated Reilly and the ever-scheming Fichter are well-written and very funny.

Barbara turns out to be something other than she first appears to be, and the movie takes off from there. It's well filmed and acted, and does a nice job of building suspense and the appropriate moments. The storyline is unique and made me wonder how Reilly and Fichter, who seem like decent enough guys, could have gotten involved in such a sleazy line of work.

I gave it 7 out of 10. My only real complaint is that the ending seemed hurried and a little too serious to fit the overall tone of the film. All in all, a good flick and worth your time if you get a chance.

I founded and own a successful Viatical and Life Settlement Brokerage, having been in life insurance since the '60's. This movie is a very good combination of black comedy, political and sexual satire, film noir mystery, and morality play. From my perspective, it gets better each time I watch it. Those of us in the industry know, of course, that key elements of the business side of the film are completely impossible, but it's easy to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride. About the only complaint I'd make is that the audio is at times very difficult to pick up, and I recommend boosting treble and minimizing bass to get all the interchanges between the two main characters. Lots of luck finding this movie via rental as not even Netflix carries it. I bought lots of copies for my Settlement business colleagues and a select few of my friends. If you liked Pulp Fiction, odds are you'll like this one...and vice-versa.

I too enjoyed this film. It was just dark enough to make me question whether it was a drama or a comedy. I don't think this movie will ever make my top 100 list, but just as you cannot stop reading a good book, I couldn't stop watching this flick. It stayed within itself very well, which helped to make this a very solid and entertaining movie.

A nice surprise! A ballsy, unethical movie about ballsy, unethical people, but it's not a turn-off. John C. Reilly projects such amazing grace on-screen that it's easy to pass off what he does as standard. As an actor, he's solid, nonchalant and natural, and also very sexy (but, blessedly, not textbook handsome). Reilly always seems to have an extra card up his sleeve, and he's unafraid to be quiet just after racing through a foul-mouthed tirade. Here, he's in partnership with William Fichtner in a life insurance operation which is given a run for its money by a mysterious woman who says she only has three months to live. Low-profile film certainly afforded Kelly McGillis the best role she's had in years, and the twists in the screenplay are delicious. This went straight to cable. Too bad...it's more inventive than many other pictures which get a wide distribution. **1/2 from ****

As I said to my girlfriend as we were going to bed after watching The Settlement, I thought the person to blame for the way Hollywood films are today is none other than the loveable and extremely talented Steven Spielberg. He raised the bar so high that it's almost mandatory that every film be a special FX extravaganza. Then along comes a film like The Settlement. There are no aliens, no genetically gargantuan shark, no lost religious artifacts to be uncovered. What it does have is great dialogue and a great relationship between the main characters. John C. Reilly and William Fitchner run a sleazy business of buying terminal illness patients's life-insurance policies. The patient gets some cash to fulfill they're dying dream and when they die the partners get the full amount of the policy. It's like making a business out of death pools. Disgusting as this is, it doesn't matter. The guys are extremely likeable and when they're business starts to falter, I found myself pulling for them as they have one last chance to get out of financial ruin. The other great thing about The Settlement is the use of irony between the main characters. In the beginning,John C. Reilly's character is the weak, pessimistic one and William Fitchner is the strong optimist, than through one of the twists in the film the roles are reversed! I thank Premier magazine for recommending this film and others that I plan on viewing in the near future. I highly recommend this film. It was definately one of the freshest and entertaining movies I've seen in a while.