enthralling apocalyptic thriller The Road comes a new modern day heist movie about a bunch of corrupt Atlanta cops and ex-soldiers who are about to pull off one last job for the Russian-Israeli Mafia. The gang’s leader Michael Atwood (a terrific Chiwetel Ejiofor) is pulled up sharp by the Mafia boss the ruthless Irina (a total scene-stealing Kate Winslet) who tells him that they will in fact have to stage yet another robbery or face very unfortunate circumstances which can get very personal for Michael as the mother of his child is Irina’s younger sister.Their new task is break into a Homeland Security bunker to steal the files from that, together with the contents of the Safe Deposit Box that they just raided a major bank for, will be enough evidence to free Irina’s husband who is currently languishing in a prison cell as a ‘guest’ of Vladmir Putin. When Michael appears reluctant to do Irina’s bidding this time around, she sends a ‘message’ in the form of one of his gang members who is so badly beaten up he is practically dead that Michael has no alternative to than to finish the poor man off, and agree to Irina’s demands.
This action packed thriller is an ensemble piece that has more than its fair share of talented actors : the other gang members are played by Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Anthony Mackie and include a stand out performance by a sinister-looking Clifton Collins Jr. Mackie plays Detective Marcus Belmont who is assigned a new partner at the Precinct a rather green and totally honest policeman called Chris Allen (a magnificent Casey Affleck). Chris’s uncle is the major crimes investigator on the force Jeffrey Allen (a wonderfully sardonic Woody Harrison) and he is determined to ape his success.
Plenty of high speed car chases through Atlanta, incessant gun battles and some sheer bloody minded violence keeps the whole thing rattling on at quite a fast pace, and the fact that not all of the plot twists are that predictable make this (almost) two hour high octane thriller very diverting. It is however without doubt the acting of its leads that lift it way above average, and Winslet and Harrelson in particular are a sheer joy to watch.
Labels: 2016, crime thriller, drama
