L'étranger

I went to see this movie because of the recognizable names of Shannon Elisabeth, Jason Patrick, and James Caan, but looking back at it, I'm not sure why. There was a time when having all three in a movie would draw a bigger crowd, but I'm not sure if all their 15 minutes of fame ever overlapped with each other. The movie is about a father who finds out his daughter's dead and goes to LA to ID a body that turns out not to be his daughter. When I read this description I assumed given the actors evolved that James Caan was the dad, Shannon Elisabeth was the daughter, and Jason Patrick had something to do with her going missing, but instead all three top names play mostly back seat drivers to some British actor behind the wheel who's most likely a bigger draw in the UK than he is here. The movie is very genetic and bland and kind of goes fully by the numbers for an action flick with nothing really sticking out to impress me. Although I did love James Caan in it.

Sleepy Action Movie with a Few Familiar Faces for Support and a Hulking Tough Guy from across the Pond. The Plot is as Haggard and Confused as the Driving Fights are Buy the Book Boring.

James Caan Struggles for Breath, not During a Confrontation but just a Conversation and Jason Patric is Forgettable as are the Two Beauties along for Eye Candy. Craig Fairbrass is the Star Sporting a Large Frame, Military Training, and a Thick Accent that makes things even Less Attainable.

Overall, it is Not Worth Much even for the Most Completest of DTV Action Junkies and those who are the most Forgiving of Fisticuffs and Firearms Fans, because this one has a Pacing that just Plods.

There was some promise in this film. But I have to say it got buried under poor writing, unimaginative cinematography, and a heavy-handed approach to film-making and storytelling.

Leto performed well, given the fact they handed him an impossible character. One which is supposed to connect with the audience on an emotional level, while also being a detached psychopathic killer. Believe it or not, there is a way to do this engagingly and 'correctly'. Leon the Professional comes to mind. They didn't do that here.

The overly-long transition scenes were a poor attempt at pacing. The acting rarely managed to deliver the goods, and the ending was trite and unimpressive. However, they clearly splurged on the scoring which was a welcome surprise. It's a Japanese lovefest all the way around, giving us all the the things traditionally associated with the country. But while I appreciate paying homage to an incredibly unique and beautiful culture, I don't think staining it with the horrific crimes of a small subset of the population was entirely appropriate.

Bottom line? I don't think this movie is worth your time. And I'm sorry to say that. It really had some potential, it was so unrealized.

This movie is a lot of fun, i mean i watched whole movie and i thought what if i had a remote in my hand and i would forward some scenes from it. I also think that this type of movie i have seen back in 2001-2006 year and i felt like that story writer doesn't have the knowledge to make a proper movie.This type of movies, story writer used to make back 5-10 years ago. Nothing new in this. It is like i wasted my time watching this movie. It is like no new ideas to make a movie. And 1 more thing is funny, over-acting that i grab in some scenes. Also, funny story again. And millionaire have a enough security guards to check any person whom comes in to its party when he has many person with guns and bouncers. And without checking they came in and that is the funniest thing i came to know. Guards inside the party available but not the outside to check for security well that funny. Well i have seen movies like Italian job and others. I salute this story writers and directors by not making mistakes like this big things. But this guy whomever the story writer must need to know one thing that when you write story then you or anybody, even the director must know and make a natural movie that may audiences attract. Make a proper movie and i am sure you will earn stars. For rightnow i have nothing but to give you proper 2/10 star.

Sorry..

The outline plot of this movie, and the fact that it had Craig Fairbrass in a starring role made me think this had the ingredients of a fun, action movie so I looked forward to this with much anticipation of a well spent hour and a half. I am not one for being too petty and analysing a movie and I'm sure many movie fans will spot something such as poor acting before I would.

However, there was so many elements of this film. That were below par, I just felt they had to be mentioned.

I was disappointed in the performance of the lead male, Craig Fairbrass.

He did not seem convincing, and his lines simply just did not seem natural.

In addition to this, the editing and sound were very poor along with the picture quality.

I gave this 4 out of 10 and I was possibly being a little generous.