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| Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald since 1992. The Tri-City native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 250 movies each year. He believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and should be seen there and not on television screens. Have a question for Mr. Movie? Click on "Add Comment" below. |
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closeSteve Zahn (Sunshine Cleaning) and Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) are honeymooning in Hawaii.
While backpacking on a remote trail they learn murderers are on the loose. A couple they met on the trail played by Timothy Olyphant (Hitman) and Kiele Sanchez (Lost) fit their description.
That ratchets up the paranoia.
A great cast helps sell the concept. Zahn whines and worries about their safety causing his beautiful bride, Jovovich to fret. The always-charismatic Olyphant is just under over-the-top, and Sanchez’s southern charm is disarming. The plot crawls for the first hour and then hits a zone, dangles on details in all the right places and finishes with a flourish.
Jovovich fans will be disappointed. One of filmdom’s two butt-kicking queens — Angelina Jolie is the other — Jovovich shows off her less-interesting sweet side. She looks great, but she's much more fun when toting machine guns and wasting zombies.
A Perfect Getaway isn’t perfect. Not even close. It is, however, better than most psychopath-on-the-loose flicks.
Though his film is gratefully short, writer/director David Twohy, whose most famous work is The Fugitive, still takes too much time working through the standard suspect check list before getting to a terrific twist.
Mr. Movie rating: 3 1/2 stars
Rated R for mature themes, violence and language. It opens Friday, Aug. 7 at the Carmike 12 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
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