Review #1214: Blown Away.
Cast:
Jeff Bridges (Jimmy Dove/Liam McGivney), Tommy Lee Jones (Ryan Gaerity), Suzy Amis (Kate Dove), Lloyd Bridges (Max O'Bannon), Forest Whitaker (Anthony Franklin), Stephi Lineburg (Lizzie), John Finn (Captain Fred Roarke), Caitlin Clarke (Rita), Christofer de Oni (Cortez), Loyd Catlett (Bama), and Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Blanket) Directed by Stephen Hopkins (#548 - Predator 2 and #1143 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child)
Review:
Perhaps there was an interesting suspense thriller idea somewhere in the development process. After all, there are three writers (John Rice, Joe Batteer, and Jay Roach) listed in the credits while being released a month after Speed, another bomb action thriller that happens to be far more interesting with delivering suspense and capable characters. That's not to say that this film doesn't have anything going for it - pairing Bridges and Jones together does sound like a winning idea. Actually, I must amend that, since they are playing Irishmen, complete with attempts at Irish accents that likely won't be too accurate at the least. Actually, the basic idea of making a movie of two people affected by their experiences within bomb-making could have worked out fine. Make it an independent film or one actually shot in Ireland (or here's one better, cast Irish actors), and you have something that would stand out from other things. Heck, watching an actual bomb squad show or movie would likely prove better use of time. But hey, this is a film that wants to be an action thriller, so how can I blame them for aiming for explosive entertainment. It sure is a shame that this film isn't really that much fun, being fairly ridiculous with its execution over the course of its two hour run-time that can't quite provoke much in terms of actual suspense nor investment in these characters. They never seem to come alive, and the threat presented by the bombs seem more mundane than anything. One particularly ridiculous sequence involves Amis and Lineburg in which they arrive at their house just after Jones leaves it, having decided to call Bridges after blowing up two of his friends, while jumping on the bed and messing with some toys. Obviously the idea is try and make us think he put a bomb in the house, since the movie wants to try and inspire tension over where he may have put it. Things such as opening the fridge door or turning on the stove sure seem riveting if you think there's a bomb in there - actually not really. It's easy after a while to not really take this movie seriously and just have it sit there as background noise that makes moderate effort at getting attention, such as Jones playing with some crabs after fixing a kite. Bridges and Jones are both okay, but they each can't really elevate this film to anything other than generic with their respective roles. At least you get to see two Bridges in the same film, even if they are playing off an nephew-uncle dynamic. Whitaker and Amis are also okay, but not too particularly memorable. The climax isn't too entertaining either, save for a bomb that gets armed by a Rube Goldberg type of mechanism, which gets shown as a close-up to try and evoke suspense, I guess. At least you'll get a few explosions for your trouble, alongside attempts at Irish accents and occasional shots of Boston. On the whole, this is a movie too mild in what it wants to do to actually go anywhere interesting with action, lacking energy to make anything other than a way to kill time you'll forget about later.
Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.
