Customer Reviews

Fighting With Anger

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I borrowed this movie from the library (Thank God I didn't spend any money on it!). Although I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, I had some hope for a reasonably good movie. My hopes were smashed with an unutterable cruelty.

Kelli Fleming may have some martial arts skill. Yet, there was an unmistakable deliberation that came across as slowness or even cluminess. Her acting is an abomination, and an insult to the whole art form and every one of its practitioners.

I can only imagine that Willie Nelson really needed some money when he agreed to do this movie. OK; he played a weather-beatten, worldly wise, and wizened old man. No problem with this, and he wouldn't really need to act. But he just couldn't make his character believeable in any way. And the fight scenes,,, sorry folks. It was too embarassing to look at (not to mention the sloppily dubbed in sounds of bones breaking when he'd hit someone. Please!)

The villans (whose names I can't bring myself to remember) were pitiful and two dimensional. The script was not even worth the paper it was printed on. The directing, editing, cinematography,,, all amaturish by any standard.

Don't waste your time.

Well its not a Willy Nelson western, but its an OK movie. Have seen better, but I've also seen a lot worse.

Prior to watching this film, I wasn't too familiar with Willie Nelson's movie career, but upon seeing this one, it's hard to believe that he's been in some really good pictures (e.g. The Electric Horseman), for this film makes even his rather trashy outings (e.g. Starlight) look stellar by comparison. If you want to save some time reading, the rest of the review can be boiled down to the fact that it's one of the most blatantly cheap-looking films I have ever seen in my life, and that's coming from someone who loves DTV cinema. Even if you're a fan of Willie's to begin with, there's no fun to be had here. Leave this one in its rightful place in the bargain bin.

The story: Ray Shin (Kelli Fleming) is a tough assassin-for-hire with a dark past who's approached by a weathered old jobber (Nelson) offering her employment for a shady underground businessman (Jon Boatwright). In need of money to help her chronically-ill brother, she accepts a number of jobs, but when these become morally unacceptable and Ray has second thoughts about who she can trust, it will take all of her self-taught talent to renege on her agreement and escape with her life.

The very best thing about the film is Kelli Fleming in the lead role. Though her abilities as a thespian are limited, she brings a few momentary glimmers to the otherwise dark void of the movie with her fight scenes. These are hit-and-miss and are poorly-shot as a rule, but she shows off some respectable kicking ability which ought to earn her some future physical roles before long. The rest of the action scenes are composed entirely of very bad shootouts and, well, Willie Nelson miming his way through a few karate moves during the finale. You'd think that this latter instance would at least be cool in an "OMG Willie Nelson's doing kung fu LOL" kind of way, and while it's true that Nelson has studied the martial arts outside of film, I don't think anybody has ever needed a stunt double more than the 74-year-old country star, whose opponents look terrified of touching him for fear of injuring him.

Beyond this, the film is only remarkable for its hazardously low production values. Let me count 'em: cheapo digital effects that look like they were made on a PC, lazy one-camera cinematography, sets that the filmmakers obviously had no need to rent, a soundtrack that frequently drowns out the characters' dialogue, endless repetitive flashbacks... Not to mention that the characters and storyline are so unintriguing and minimalistic that it becomes hard to keep paying attention before you're even halfway into the movie. Endless yammering between Kelli and Willie is the means the filmmakers use to try to build a mentor-teacher relationship between them, but actual action of any sort would have worked much better. Seriously, Willie spends half of his scenes in a bar, chatting when he should have been trying to convince the audience that there was a reason he's in this movie.

Topping the whole lackluster package is the annoying fact that something in the film's digital transfer must have gone awry, leaving the frame rate noticeably jerky during the faster-paced scenes. This effectively puts an exclamation mark on really poor of a movie this is; it's literally as though you're watching someone's college project, but only after having paid for it. I really can't think of anyone to recommend this film to, save Willie Nelson fans who need visual proof before believing that yes, even their hero can go wrong every now and then. Steer clear, guys.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Willie "phones it in." (I liked him in Barbarosa - maybe the tax problems got him involved?) The female lead is terrible - she can't act and her martial arts isn't any better (maybe just on film?). The support cast - not any better. The story 'blows'.

.....these three previously written reviews made the movie worthwhile. Maybe it was the tension from a horrible movie, but these reviews made me laugh more than I have in quite awhile....