This is under N because of Nicolas Cage.
Writer: Shawn Ku, John Stuart Newman (Screenplay)
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Benjamin Bratt, Noah Le Gros, Karolina Wydra, Mohamed Karim
Plot: An ex-enforcer for a local crime syndicate has vowed to enact retribution on his mob bosses after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment. The only thing diverting his violent plans is a new found relationship to his beloved son.
Tagline – Revenge is coming.
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Strange Movie
Story: A Score to Settle starts when Frank (Cage) gets released from prison due to his medical condition, he wants to reunite with his son Joey (Gros) to make up for the lost time with him and starts making enquires about his former boss, the man who he took the fall for.
As the reunions continue, Frank must decide to go out for revenge or look for peace in his life, leaving the world his own way.
Thoughts on A Score to Settle
Characters – Frank is an ex-con that is being released from prison after taking the fall for his boss, he wants to reunite with his son and look for the people who left him in to rot in prison for longer than promised. He is torn between fixing the past or moving forward with future, even if he doesn’t have much time left in his life. Q is the man that used to work with Frank, he is out of the business now and is helping Frank with the connections with the underworld. Joey is Frank’s son that has come to him in an attempt to help him get back on his feet, the two are making up for lost time, with Joey showing how hard he has worked to get out of his own hole. We do meet other people involved in the world, with most being in a position where they are out of the world or higher than they deserve.
Performances – Nicolas Cage is the main reason people will watch this film and this one is saved from being terrible with his odd ball actions through the film. Noah Le Gros does well next to Cage, but the rest of the cast are mostly forgettable through the film.
Story – The story here follows an ex-con who is released and looks to make up for lost time with his son and looks to get revenge on the people that took this time from him. This does look like one of the standard get out of prison and get revenge movies, only it does end up taking things in a different direction, this works for the final third of the film and saves everything from being completely bland, which the first two thirds are, there just isn’t a spark in the reunion as you always feel like something isn’t quite right and are waiting to see what it is, most of the people seem to be acting like they are out of the business, where they end up being just a quick conversation without going any further.
Action – The action is very simply, not much, we have shoot outs that don’t bring anything original to the table.
Settings – The film puts Frank in the high rent apartment for a good time a moment of luxury with his son and with his first time since prison, other nothing else seem fresh for locations.
Scene of the Movie – Defeating the dragon.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It just doesn’t feel connected in how the story unfolds.
Final Thoughts – This is Nicolas Cage trying to save a movie without getting the chance to make the impact being the only redeeming factor in the whole film.
Overall: Disappointing Thriller.