Steve 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.