1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Pay For It, March 20, 2009
This review is from: Paid (DVD)
Much of this reviewer's view of a film has to do with how frequently he presses the fast forward button. A time or two, that's OK, most films have a sort of dead spot at half way where the film is now descending toward the end bookend. Well, Paid, had virtually a constant press on the fast forward button.
The film opens very badly. It's a flashback to when our hero Michel is witness to his whole family being murdered by a gunman. It's shown in blown out high contrast, somewhat monochrome sepia style. There is little sound, and the editing is really poor. Flag number one, the first 30 seconds of a film is poorly done, it's probably a stinker. We're immediately cut forward to a full color view of Michel, older, and living in Rio in a beautiful house. He is interrupted from talking to his house keeper with a phone call, he must go to Amsterdam.
There's a montage of an woman getting dressed, intercut with men getting together to talk about something mysterious. The woman walks down a hotel hallway, knocks on a door. The door opens. And the next cut is a man walking through the doorway. Clearly we've moved to another piece of the story line, but the cut makes no sense - it doesn't follow with a sufficient explanation of what is happening. Because, we've also lost the thread of Michel altogether in this first 10 minutes.
In the end the woman turns out to be an escort. She ends up with Tom Conti and is paid to stay for several days with him.
There's a number of twists and turns, all convoluted and not exactly interesting. Just after 30 minutes the fast forward button was pushed very hard. Clearly this film was going absolutely nowhere. There was an attempt to parallel the life of a young boy and Michel, that ended up being hokey. Michel had a signature kill that was repeated over and over again by characters. There is only one reason to watch this film, Anne Charrier, the escort (Laura or Paula - take your pick), is truly a gorgeous actress. Sadly the viewer has to see Tom Conti along with her.
This is not the world's worst film. It's certainly not a very good film. It had potential, but the director ruined the film in the editing room. The creative twists and turns did not work. They simply made the story difficult to follow, and then once understood, not worth following.
It's an R rated film on all levels, nudity, graphic violence, and language. It is on the tough side of R, but not really all the way to NC-17.
The DVD includes some movie previews. No bonus features. No subtitles.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A tough B movie with average performances, February 15, 2009
This review is from: Paid (DVD)
I got this for the store as several of my customers who follow Novela/Soap mentioned that a well known actor (Murilo Benicio) was starring in a crime drama. A decent cast supplements a weak story about a hitman with morals, a prostitute with rules, a drug lord who should have been dead years ago, and a recently orphaned child all crossing paths in Amsterdam.
To try and describe all of the small world subplots of sex, drugs and double crosses would stagger even the interested, but needless to say they all gave a valiant effort under the direction of an unknown crew. It might be worth the investment for some of the fans that follow these known actors in their respective environments, but this film is a minor compilation for them. The writing seemed so confused at times that the characters become unfathomable.
No extras on the DVD, and the ending was wholeheartedly irritating and contrived. Maybe next time.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Twists and Turns, February 23, 2009
This review is from: Paid (DVD)
Tom Conti and Corbin Bernsen star as rival drug lords and give chilling performances. French actress Anne Charrier is breathtaking and Murilo Benicio is very convincing as a hitman with morals. I thought the plot twists were very credible.
I also felt the beginning sequences and flash backs worked extremely well as the characters and plot twists and turns throughout.
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