Revolver Review
Revolver
Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Andre Benjamin
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Rated: R
.5 stars
Two years ago at the Toronto Film Festival, Guy Ritchie premiered his new film Revolver. Everyone hated it, and it never opened in the United States. Fast-forward two years, and some brilliant studio executive has decided to release the movie at the same time as all the Oscar contenders:
It really is inconceivable just how bad the film is. When one sees the stream of bad reviews, one expects perhaps a lesser version of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch, Ritchie’s two previous crime flicks that are among the best films of the past 10 years. Instead, the movie is an exercise in pseudo philosophy undoubtedly inspired by Ritchie’s dabbling in Kabala (he used to be married to Madonna).
The plot follows a gangster, Jake Green (Statham), who becomes beholden to loan sharks – one of whom is played by Andre Benjamin (aka Andre3000 of Outkast) – because he has only a few days to live. Somehow they can cure him of his otherwise incurable disease. The film goes downhill from there. People start dying, characters appear out of nowhere, and by the end of the film, the plot has lost all direction whatsoever.
The only reason Revolver received even a half star is for its outstanding camerawork. While the story is beyond terrible, if one were to go into the theater with earplugs, the film might be enjoyable to watch solely for the interesting visuals. Several scenes use a heavily tinted light scheme where the picture appears in mostly shades of green or red for example. Unfortunately, nothing can save this movie when all of the dialogue consists of phrases like, “You’ve become very ambitious in your maturing.”
- Kevin Koplan