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Director: C.J. Renner
Writer: C.J. Renner (Screenplay)
Starring: Amanda Day, Andrew Stecker, Richard Keats, Peter Christian Hansen, Douglas Sidney, Gwen Ruhoff, Anna Stranz
Plot: When a prohibition-era gangster discovers his whole world is just a staged play, he must dodge not only cops but stagehands – he must save not only his crumbling empire, but his last hold on reality.
Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Stylish Twist on the Gangster Film
As the comfortable world starts to crumble around Elston, he wants to find a way out of this life, that is until he learns the truth about his own life.
Thoughts on Gunn
Characters – Elston Gunn is the right-hand man in the mob, he has been loyal and gets the jobs done, he is in a position where he can offer to help the control of power, he is planning to get out of the life of crime and his confidence in any situation shows how he was able to rise and how he could escape it too. Winnie is the boss’s daughter in a relationship with Elston, she wants him to leave the life of crime as she is seeing her father’s position of power start to disappear. Sam Foster is the boss, the leader of Midtown, he has face competition before, though this is the biggest one to date, he is an alcoholic and lets Elston do most of the dirty work for him.
Performances – Andrew Stecker in the leading role is clearly the star of the show here, he completes the gangster needs to the strongest of the whole cast and in the final act he gets to outshine everyone. When we look at the supporting cast we have strong performance from the likes of Anna Stranz, Amanda Day and Richard Keats.
Story – The story starts and plays out like a gangster film, we get the righthand man wanting out of the life of crime when he sees things going wrong, this is all that makes sense for what we know in gangster films. The story does have a major twist in the final act which does make this film feel different. This is also a story that will leave you asking questions with the final shot. When we look at the gangster side of the story we may have liked something outside of the generic side of things, but this again does get explained by the final act.
Settings – The has the settings which make things not look right, the car clearly isn’t real, the house never feel like they are in rooms, this does play a part in where the film goes, which does make everything work for the film.
Scene of the Movie – The final act.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The musical number felt slightly weird.
Final Thoughts – This is a uniquely told gangster movie which does a twist which explains everything that looks out of place throughout the film.
Overall: Gangster Film with a Twist.
Rating
