Death Sentence (2007)
Director: James Wan
Cast: Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund
20th Century Fox / Unrated / NTSC R1 / Widescreen 2.40:1 / Dolby / Language: English / Subtitles: English, French, Spanish / 111 minutes / Purchase: DiabolikDVD.com
The Hume family is a very loving upper middle-class family; dad Nick (Bacon), mom Helen (Preston), and their 2 sons Luke and Brendan. Brendan is the athletic favorite and Luke is the forgotten “egghead” who desperately loves his big brother. Late one night after a game, Nick and Brendan find themselves lost in the bad part of town and low on gas. While dad fills up, Brendan goes in to pay and is gunned down by a masked thug purely as an initiation to get into a gang. As the gang takes off, they leave the lone gunman to fend for himself and Nick wrestles his mask off and sees his face before the criminal is hit by a car and arrested.
Prior to the hearing, Nick’s lawyer tells him that they are going to take a plea deal that will guarantee 3-5 years in prison but Nick wants him to pay for the rest of his life. So instead of being the sole witness to the crime, he declines and they let the baby gangster go. But don’t think he is free and clear. Dear old dad follows the gang to a hang out and finds the punk by himself and stabs him. The gang soon finds out who the killer is because a man in a suit was seen outside the building. So they plan their own retaliation to settle of score. The game of revenge is played until the lines are blurred and it is hard to tell who is the vengeful family member and who is the bloodthirsty murderer.
James Wan, the writer and director of the original Saw, comes at us with an updated revenge movie from the ’70s and ’80s (the author of the book, Brian Garfield, also wrote Death Wish). It is pure violence, grit and utter nihilism. The hard-edged action and intense drama that unfolds is gripping to say the least. Wan uncovers the ugliness of anger and the power of the bonds of family. Throughout the movie he shows us both sides of the struggle to make things right. It’s an unbelievable ride of twists and turns that will have your stomach clenched and your fist pumping in the air as the mayhem plays out in style.
Wan’s stylized over-contrasted look with the washed out colors looked fantastic and added that SawReservoir Dogs). Kevin Bacon was fantastic (as usual) as the mild-mannered-dad-turned-mutha’ fuckin’ Charlie Bronson and Kelly Preston was, well, a M.I.L.F. But in my opinion Garrett Hedlund as Billy, the lead thug, stole the show. He was menacing as well as weirdly vulnerable. It was badass to see John Goodman as the dirty, hard as nails boss of the gang of bad guys. The overall casting was perfect.influenced flavor that adds so much to the mood of the movie. Speaking of style, just as an aside, I am a sucker for the slow-motion gang walk (think
The only ever-so-small bitch I had (noticed I said “had”) was how corny the opening of the movie was. Showing how incredibly loving and sickeningly functional the family unit was. After sleeping on it, I think that the extremes of the Nick character are in the spotlight because of these scenes. They show the absolute change in the man. I loved James Wan because of the Saw franchise, but I think I love him more now because this movie may indeed be a better movie overall than even the first Saw installment. So sit back, relax and glow in the fact that you can now link Kevin Bacon and John Goodman in one degree.
I agree with your review. For me, director James Wan has done no wrong yet. I caught this in theatres and I picked up the DVD earlier this week. Great revenge movie.
Great review. The violence was raw and really spoke to the emotions that provocked it.