Hard: Special Collector's Edition
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List Price: $39.95
Features
• Color
• DVD-Video
• NTSC
In Theaters : 2005
DVD Release : 11 October, 2005 |
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Hard: Special Collector's Edition Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Gets a "C" for effort
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About twenty-seven minutes into this film, and after several exchanged glances of rolling our eyes at each other, my roommate said, "This is the worst movie I've ever seen." And so we went on to something else, and while I didn't think it was the *worst* movie I'd seen, it certainly was swirling around the bottom of the barrel. It worked fairly well as a police procedural - better than *some* larger budgeted movies, television, or cable shows - but the dialogue written to carry the film sounded like a training video, rendering this positive null.
The next day I went back to the movie. There was only an hour left, so I thought I would see it through to the end. Everything was still sub par, but I noticed one thing. This was an earnest attempt to make a good movie. And that set it apart from others that might fall into the category of a B (or F) movie where actors toss out lines to get a buck, and the directors can the film to get their name listed. That wasn't happening here. It was apparent to me that everyone involved really wanted it to work. Everyone was giving their all.
However, an earnest attempt doesn't make a good film, and it still had the same problems. Logic was chief amongst these. For example, a detective, regardless of how new he is to the badge, would never - unless he was looking for a reason to be kicked off the force - agree to meet a potential witness at a gay bar based on a ten second phone call received in the middle of the night. Especially when the detective in question isn't "out". That phone call has red flags all over it. Also, a killer would never - unless they were looking to be caught - use a wash-it-yourself car wash to clean themselves and their clothes of blood from a fresh kill in broad daylight. I mean, seriously. And cops, when pulling someone over who doesn't have plates, proper registration or ID, generally wouldn't ignore a bleeding, obviously drugged out kid in the passenger seat who is mouthing "Help Me" unless they themselves were intoxicated or dumb.
Yet I saw merit. Unlike typical low-budget B films, there were themes present, mainly how a police officer deals with being outed, and the concept of expendable life. But while I appreciated the thematic content, the manner in which it was dealt was unsatisfying. I didn't learn anything new about what it's like to be outed as a cop that I haven't from watching Law & Order or movies that have dealt with the outing of military personnel. (Soldier's Girl comes immediately to mind as a 5-star example.) Some of his fellow cops harassed him, prancing around like, well, fairies, and they beat him to a bloody pulp while their Captain watched from his car with a disapproving look on his face. That perhaps said the most: the Captain wouldn't have anything to do with it.
The serial killer himself isn't a particularly scary guy, but he is probably the best acted character. That is, until the end when they unwisely have him laugh like a raving lunatic (what is it with bad guys laughing at the end of books and movies...I wish that authors and filmmakers would get it into their heads that a laughing villain is not a scary one). The problem I had with the serial killer is that we don't get a motive for him until the very end, and he gives that motive to us. I think it would have made for a more interesting film if his motive had been discovered, or deduced. If he left fingerprints somewhere, they could have done a background check, found that he was ... whatever ... and started to put together a profile. But they didn't have much of a profile, which in itself was odd.
My intention was to give this a one-star review. Then I watched some of the Extras, and let my emotion get the better of me. One of the actors in the film was also a technical advisor, an LA detective. He introduced the film at a screening, and explained that the film was made without a budget, that everyone donated their time and even producers did double or triple duty. When they were finished filming, they had trouble getting it printed because of the gay content. (Which, by the way, is not at all graphic. It's just there.) This detective emphasized how much of the filmmakers hearts went into the film, and that never before had a movie addressed coming out as a cop (I don't know if that's true) and especially the concept of expendable life. That gays or lesbians, if killed, are collateral damage. A coroner had a term for it that escapes me - it was abbreviated C.C. If anyone remembers, put it up as a comment?
Having myself felt that there was an earnest attempt to make a good movie, and then to hear that 7 credit cards financed the making of the film and the rest of the back story, I couldn't help but appreciate their effort more. They truly started with nothing. Not bad for starting with nothing and a trusty Visa.
2A stars, rounded up to 3 for an earnest attempt.
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