Tuesday 21 June 2011

Tough Luck


Despite all the best efforts of Her Majesty’s Royal Mail my self created Norman Reedus season is still ticking over nicely.  This evenings dvd of choice was Tough Luck

PLOT:  Archie (Norman Reedus) is a petty thief who fails to pull off a con at a travelling fairground and is given a job by the owner Ike (Armand Assante). Archie falls for Ike’s wife Divana (Dagmara Dominczyk) and the two begin an affair.  After Ike offers Archie $25,000.00 to kill his wife things get complicated as the usual game of who’s playing whom begins.  Archie gets screwed.  Archie screws Divana.  Archie gets screwed by Divana……and the winner is…..END PLOT

Tough Luck follows the same basic plot of most con films and it’s up to the audience to figure out who is leading the hustle.  The film pulls this off quite well but doesn’t add anything new to the genre as the story isn’t particularly original.  Tough Luck does pick up the pace in the last act when all the cons and scams come to a conclusion head. 

The cast are fine - Norman Reedus is able to pull off the likeable everyman with ease.  If you could kindly ignore the fact that this sentence is the second worst sentence I have ever written I do mean it.  Reedus season is only just starting but I have yet to see him play a character I haven’t fallen in love with - the man could out charm Bradley Cooper without even trying.

I can't pretend to recognise any of the supporting cast but Dagmara Dominczyk is absolutely stunning and was a more than capable co-star.

Tough Luck has that Independent look about it which I am really warming to.  It is dusty, natural and lacks the Hollywood shine - although it looks all the better for it.

Tough Luck is a good film which suffers due to the people that made it.  This is the director, Greg Ellis’ first and only directorial effort and I think if he ramped up the tension and suspense slightly he would have created a much stronger film.

The frustrating thing is that on another day this film could have been more successful as it offers no more or less than other thrillers that are knocking around.  I suppose it really is just Tough Luck……….kindly ignore the fact that this is the worst sentence I have ever written......

2 comments:

  1. I know this guy. He's the reason why I'm still watching "The walking dead" , oh! nah. I'm lying..

    he and that kid :)

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  2. I do love Norman Reedus!

    You should check out Six Ways to Sunday with him in it as it is my absolute favourite Reedus film: http://karina-mundanerambling.blogspot.com/2011/06/six-ways-to-sunday.html

    He isn't too shabby on The Walking Dead either!

    Thanks for commenting :-D

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