The Reunion

Script is part old hack and part OK that's kind of new. The actors are all much better than this. The director did nothing wrong. I just get the feeling that this was an extended screen test to see if someone could make a movie. Then the studio threw together a budget that would have been great in the 80's but totally failed in today's dollars. It doesn't suck but ehhhh....

Okay, so there are no major movie stars featured, there is no 200 million dollar budget, and no, Steven Spielberg nor Martin Scorsese directed it. What The Reunion DOES have though is a nice story, so just remember it is a story and not a biography, and as such there are liberties taken with how lawyers behave, and how Mexicans seem to always miss their target and then get shot themselves.

Even with the films low budget by Hollywood standards of only 6 million dollars, I really liked The Reunion. This is a story about three brothers and one sister all who apparently were sired by the same brutish father who was a drunkard, and each by a different mother. The father dies and in his will he instructs for each of his four (4) children to inherit $3 million dollars with the caveat being that they must work together for a period for no less than two (2) years in a business of their choosing.

Actress Amy Smart plays Nina Carey, the daughter of the deceased father and also the executor of his will. Two of the three brothers namely Leo Carey played by Ethan Embry and Sam Carey played by wrestling star John Cena are polar opposites both in career choices and their physical stature. The third brother and youngest of the Carey family is Douglas Carey played by Boyd Holbrook a relative newcomer to Hollywood, but he plays the abandoned sibling who just got out of prison where he receives a standing ovation by all the prisoners who apparently really liked Douglas Carey because of his charming personality and his ability to relate to people.

Not only are the four Carey family members enjoyable in their roles, there is also a strong supporting cast such as the two gangsters who kidnap a wealthy businessmen. The two gangsters are studio actor regulars Michael Rispoli who plays Canton, a technology guru responsible for the ransom wire transfer, and his partner in crime named Nealon played by Jack Conley who is a former FBI agent and he is familiar how to execute a kidnapping successfully. The kidnapped wealthy businessman named Wills is played by character actor Gregg Henry.

During the adventure the three Carey brothers decide to rescue the kidnapped businessman Wills for the reward money and they gain the trust of a local Mexican resident the beautiful Theresa Trujillo played by Lela Loren who currently stars as Angela Valdes in the television crime/drama series POWER.

I also liked the story line and I thought writer/director Michael Pavone did a great job in bringing his picture to life with the very limited budget he had to work with. The film ending also has a few twists and turns worth hanging in there to see. This film is above par for crime/action films and I would rate it much higher than most crime/action films that have budgets more than ten times greater than The Reunion had to work with.

I will most likely watch this film again in the coming years with fondness and admiration. It is well worth watching and I for one was most pleasantly surprised. I give the film a 7 out of 10 rating.

When we think of WWE we think of yelling, threats, boasting, deception and all around monkey business, so when we realized this was a WWE film we didn't expect much. To our surprise, we found this to be very enjoyable romp. Plenty of action, humor and some pretty good lines in a plot that was just a bit different. Upon the death of their father, four siblings who have a mutual dislike for each other — make that can't stand one another — are forced to work together to a greater end. This opens the door to some pretty good situations. There were some good scenic shots too, along with with pretty girls and horses. What more do you want in a DVD?

I went in thinking this was going to be a check your brain at the door and hopefully enjoy the movie in spite of bad acting. Turns out this movie was really good. I went in with super low expectation. I like bad movies. I know that they are bad or cheap it does not mean I can't enjoy. However, this was well done funny, great characters, well-acted. Stuff blows up, people get shot and there are warm fuzzies. Eye candy for men and women. John Cena you surprised me I was expecting a big dummy. This is not Oscar worthy stuff, but still done well. I would have paid to see this in theaters. Sit back enjoy the ride and be happily surprised.

John Cena stars as the oldest of three bothers, whose father just died and creates a will that would make all three rich if they can get along together long enough to go into business together for two years.

It's sounds like a comedy, but Cena plays a cop while his brothers are a bail bonds man and a thief, who while trying to track down a skipped bail end up evolved in taking down kidnappers.

It reminds me of another movie, the Marine 3. It has the same format in which the WWE recruits one of it's superstars to head up one of their movies but the movie is littered with so much stuff that The wrestling superstar gets overshadowed a bit (as a safety net just in case he cannot hold the film down)

Although Cena is a way bigger attraction than The Miz, he was far more center stage in this movie and does not need as much help, but I guest they wanted to make sure as the film does have a lot of drama.

It's more complex: Three bothers who don't know each other well because of their drunken father, trying to get along, when they all got their own serious problems. A business man not paying attention to his son, cause he's too busy making cash, gets kidnapped by the people he screwed over, plus many more elements as the film goes on.

It's not that bad of a story, that adds dimensions to Cena's one track acting methods. He's not much of an actor but he stays in the Cena character, which is what you came for.

I wold have expected the focus on all three brothers would have met getting bigger names to play the other two brothers, but that's not what happen. Amy smart was the only other well known actor I see in the film, but her part its very small.

Otherwise it actually not a bad picture, better, definitely if you are a Cena fan.

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