Non-Stop

Non-Stop - Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra (2014)

"If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it…But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

"I'm Martin Harris…I didn't forget everything."

"I'm not hijacking this plane. I'm trying to save it!"

Despite entering into his 60's, Liam Neeson has remade himself into one of Hollywood's premier action heroes. Standing at 6'4, Neeson certainly possesses the physicality needed to be a believable ass kicking machine. Years of dramatic experience has given him the credibility and gravitas that many of his compatriots lack. He'll need every bit of those talents for Non-Stop, a movie every bit as ridiculous as Neeson's last couple efforts Unknown and Taken 2.

Neeson is Bill Marks, a Federal Air Marshal who has descended into alcoholism following the death of his daughter and the dissolution of his marriage. Marks is in the last place he wants to be, a non-stop international flight from New York to London. Things only get worse when he receives a threatening text message that someone on the plane will die every twenty minutes unless $150 million is transferred to their account. The mysterious mastermind has it all figured out to the point that for every step Marks takes to protect the passengers, the more it looks like he is the one hijacking the flight.

The screenplay, credited to John W. Richardson, Chris Roach, and Ryan Engle, is filled with plot twists, each one more unbelievable than the rest. In spite of all the plot holes and logic gaps, Non-Stop never experiences explosive decompression as director Jaume Collet-Serra (who previously teamed with Neeson on Unknown) knows how to ratchet up the tension. Collet-Serra frames his close-ups and medium shots to accentuate the claustrophobic feel of being trapped in a flying metal tube. Text messages appear as pop-up graphics to ensure the audience isn't just watching people stare at their phones. The action is perfectly adequate with Neeson bulldozing through opponents with the same martial arts blows he's previously employed. He doesn't leap into the air while firing two guns at once, but he does fly through the air and catches a gun as the plane rapidly descends.

This is a finely tuned whodunit and there is no shortage of suspects. The filmmakers wisely filled the supporting cast with tremendous ensemble and no single person stands out as the obvious villain. There's Julianne Moore as a friendly frequent flyer, Corey Stoll from House of Cards as an NYPD officer, Nate Parker as a tech expert, Scoot McNairy as a school teacher on his way to Amsterdam, Anson Mount as a fellow air marshal, supermodel Bar Paly, and Linus Roache as the captain. Plus, you have Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery fame and recent Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o as flight attendants though the latter only gets a handful of lines. Top it all off with a freckle faced little girl to really lay it on thick.

Non-Stop isn't exactly thought provoking cinema. It is an entertaining action flick and if you've enjoyed Liam Neeson's other offerings, this is an easy recommend.

Rating: *** (*****)

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - Dir. Jonathan Levine (2006)

When a film sits on the shelves for an inordinate amount of time before being unceremoniously released, there's a stigma attached to it. Maybe the movie just wasn't very good. That's not always the case. It took four years for Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret to see the light of day because of disagreements between the director and the studio over the final cut. The Cabin in the Woods, written and produced by Joss Whedon, was delayed for two years due to the financial trouble of MGM. Both pictures received strong reviews.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane was another horror film that underwent a long, arduous journey to the silver screen. It debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in 2006 where it was snatched up by Harvey Weinstein for $3.5 million, over four times the $750,000 budget. However, Harvey and brother Bob disagreed on how to market and distribute Mandy Lane. This, coupled with initially poor test screenings, led to the Weinstein Company to sell the rights to the German-based Senator Entertainment. Senator released the picture overseas, but the company folded before they could do the same in the U.S. As luck would have it, the rights to Mandy Lane made their way back into the hands of the Weinsteins thanks to their new distribution arm Radius-TWC.

Nobody really paid attention to Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) until she blossomed over summer break. At this point, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane may be a more appropriate title. The sweet-natured Mandy and her outsider friend Emmet (Michael Welch) are asked to a pool party by hunky alpha male Dylan (Adam Powell). When his advances fail, a drunken Dylan is convinced by Emmet to dive off the roof and into the pool to impress Mandy. His foolhardy gesture leads to his death.

Nine months later, Mandy has been embraced by the in-crowd while Emmet has been further ostracized, even by his former friend. Popular stoner Red (Aaron Himmelstein) invites Mandy to his parents' cattle ranch along with jocks Jake (Luke Grimes), Bird (Edwin Hodge), and pretty girls Chloe (Whitney Able) and Marlin (Melissa Price). Despite being under the watchful eye of handsome ranch hand Garth (Anson Mount), the kids consume plenty of alcohol and drugs. The fun stops when a psycho with a shotgun begins picking them off one by one.

It's easy to see why the Weinsteins had difficulty drawing up a marketing plan. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane isn't your typical hack and slash affair. The gorehounds won't find enough gratuitous violence to satisfy their cravings, yet the movie doesn't deconstruct the horror genre the way Cabin in the Woods or Scream did. Screenwriter Jacob Forman does seem to find a happy medium. Mandy Lane conforms to the standard tropes of teenage debauchery being punished by a mysterious killer. Still, it doesn't feel like a horror movie at first, aside from the eerie prologue. With its focus on the treacherous social dynamics of high school, Mandy Lane is clearly influenced by John Hughes as much as it is by Tobe Hooper or Wes Craven. The rural setting and grainy quality of the film recall Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Jonathan Levine, who would go on to direct The Wackness and 50/50, makes his directorial debut on Mandy Lane. Not bad for a guy who was working in a mail room at the time. Levine had greater success melding horror with teen romance in Warm Bodies, but clearly displayed a knack for capturing the sometimes painful experience of youth. His indie sensibilities shine through even in the soundtrack with an eclectic selection that includes the Go-Go's and 60's crooner Bobby Vinton.

Mandy Lane hinges entirely on Amber Heard, who has gone on to high-profile roles in Pineapple Express, The Rum Diary, and Machete Kills. Of course, Heard is gorgeous enough to you believe every guy in school wants to get into her pants. She also conveys a vulnerability that makes her easy prey.

If John Hughes made a horror movie and shot it in the style of Tobe Hooper with a dash of Terrence Malick, it might look a little like All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. It's about time this low-budget gem found an audience.

Rating: *** (*****)

Safe

Safe - Dir. Boaz Yakin (2012)

"You got some balls, Luke."

"Yeah, amazing I can even walk."

If you want to get me to fork over my ticket money, all you need are two simple words: Jason Statham. The British butt kicker isn't a classically trained Shakespearean thespian, but he does possess a strong screen presence that makes him one of few actors capable of being a top action star. Safe is the latest entry in Statham's oeuvre, a gritty action flick set in the New York underworld. Safe was written and directed by Boaz Yakin, whose diverse previous efforts as director have been Remember the Titans and Uptown Girls. His writing credits include Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and The Punisher. Not the Thomas Jane one, but the Dolph Lundgren version from 1989. That last picture is probably the closest in tone to Safe.

Statham plays Luke Wright, a homeless bum who was once an MMA fighter and before that a top cop in the NYPD. His life has gone downhill ever since the Russian mob murdered his wife after botching a fixed fight. Things change when Luke spots his wife's killer as they pursue a young girl named Mei (Catherine Chan) through the subway. Mei is a math prodigy grabbed off the streets of China by the Triads and put to work as a human computer for Han Jiao (James Hong). Mei and Luke are eventually embroiled in a turf war between the Chinese and the Russians, both of whom are after a coded sequence the girl has memorized, which will lead to a hidden cache of money. There's also a team of crooked police detectives, former comrades of Luke's with connections to the mayor (Chris Sarandon), looking to cash in as well. Luke pulls a Yojimbo and attempts to play all three sides in an effort to protect Mei and redeem himself.

If you've seen one Jason Statham movie, you've seen them all. Safe doesn't do much to distinguish itself from The Mechanic, Killer Elite, or any of the Transporter movies. The only surprising element in Safe is the fact that former Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score. Yakin isn't a spectacular action director, but he doesn't lean on the shaky camera and quick editing that the majority of American directors overuse. Yakin devotes the first half hour of Safe for the setup, taking his time to introduce a plethora of characters and subplots. Front loading the movie turns out to be a shrewd choice as it saves all the mayhem for the second and third acts. For nearly an hour, Statham embarks on a path of righteous fury, engaging in violent shootouts and fisticuffs. There's a close combat fight sequence on a subway train and chaotic carnage at a trendy restaurant with Statham suplexing a man through a table.

The relationship between Luke and Mei borrows a little from Luc Besson's Leon though Catherine Chan is no Natalie Portman. Safe has more in common with the current crop of action flicks churned out by the Besson machine with its leaden dialogue and by-the-numbers plot. If not for Jason Statham, Safe would have been relegated to forgettable, direct-to-video status.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)