![]() But in practice, everything is more or less exactly what it appears to be, in part because each story development and stylistic decision feels like a borrowed move. In theory, this means that nothing onscreen is exactly what it appears to be. Their chief gambit is a time-shuffling, nested-flashback structure that divides the story into three parts, with each new chapter clarifying and complicating the one prior. ![]() ![]() Although picked up for Stateside release by Magnolia, “Three” will add up to very little commercially.įrom the moment professional assassin Charlie Wolfe (Pegg) opens the movie with a loud “Fuck me!” and proceeds to tell us how he came to meet his death on a gorgeous stretch of beach in Eagles Nest, Australia, you can feel Stenders and screenwriter James McFarland straining to lend their story as much rude personality and self-conscious attitude they can manage. Playing like a beach bum’s “Double Indemnity” with a few sub-Tarantino chronological backflips thrown in, director Kriv Stenders’ tiresome tale of scheming adulterers, cruel spouses and one bemused hitman ( Simon Pegg) feels like poser noir all the way, never achieving the darkly comic flair or freshness of style needed to sell its fatalistic twists. And while the actors all have their moments, nobody gets much of a chance to develop a flavorful character in a film that tries too hard on every level.Screen violence doesn’t get much cheaper or more gratuitous than in “ Kill Me Three Times,” a sun-drenched, blood-spattered Australian thriller that seems to fancy itself the first movie ever to feature characters shot to death at point-blank range. Pegg’s cold-blooded killer, smirking with amusement at all the small-town villainy, is a less likable peg (sorry) for comic-strip carnage than everyone seems to think. ![]() But Kill Me Three Times is too self-conscious to be anything much beyond smart-assy and tiresome. There’s nothing wrong with McFarland’s plotting, which is more than sound enough to work, especially with Stenders and editor Jill Bilcock hustling the action along at a driving pace, accelerated by Johnny Klimek’s music. He witnesses a series of attempted murders, scams, deceptions and acts of violent revenge, intervening with a blackmail scheme of his own when he spies a chance to double his fee. The humor derives mostly from Charlie finding himself not the expected executioner so much as the observer. The main players in a town whose other inhabitants are mostly kept offscreen are Nathan Webb ( Sullivan Stapleton), a dentist in deep with gambling debt and manipulated by his ruthless receptionist wife Lucy ( Teresa Palmer) wealthy bar owner Jack Taylor ( Callan Mulvey), whose violent jealousy has pushed away his battered bride Alice ( Alice Braga) her buff surfer-mechanic boyfriend Dylan ( Luke Hemsworth), who is planning their escape together and corrupt cop Bruce (a self-parodying Bryan Brown). McFarland and Stenders piece together the events that led to Charlie’s demise with puzzle-like dexterity, only gradually revealing who hired him. But this ain’t no sun-kissed restful paradise. Cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson turns this imposing natural setting into a dynamic canvas for sinister deeds, with a muscular shooting style and vivid embrace of color and light. That would be Eagles Nest, Western Australia, a sleepy coastal hamlet with miles of pristine beaches, presented here with wild bushland, desert sands and red rock gorges all within reach. In an opening voiceover, private detective and assassin-for-hire Charlie Wolfe ( Simon Pegg) announces his astonishment at dying in a place like this. ![]() Add in overdressed sets that call attention to themselves, heightened performance styles, skewed framing and cartoon violence, with the camera lavishing glossy money-shot adoration on every ribbon of bloodshed that explodes whenever bullet meets flesh. It continues with the non-sequential storytelling, divided into three time-shifting chapters (“Kill Me Once,” etc.) of overlapping action that allow key developments to be covered from different perspectives. That starts with the bold retro-graphic titles and swingin’ surf rock soundtrack, full of fat guitar licks. But everything here feels borrowed from readily identifiable sources. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |