For a mindless thriller, this is the way to go. A sort of post-Coen Bros/Tarantino style dark humor bit with the old-fashioned clichés of thrillers mixed together, a pretty nice ensemble cast gets together to wreak havoc over Wichita... of all places. Actually that's the primary joke.
John Cusack plays the dispassionate lawyer hero of this story, the one who has stolen $2mil worth from his boss with the help of some weird guy named Vic (played by Billy Bob Thornton in a very Billy Bob Thornton way). The story follows Cusack's character as he wanders around town trying not to look guilty and meets a lot of weird people (one of which is played really well by Oliver Platt).
It's pretty funny, entertaining enough, and has enough of a good story to hold one's attention for about an hour and a half.
I'm not so sure about Connie Nielson's character. I really enjoy Nielson's acting but in this case her character was so fake (and supposed to be so--ARGH!) that any screen time with her was pretty much a real exercise in suspending disbelief. There was absolutely NO chemistry between her and Cusack. NONE. By the time the third act begins you pretty much hope that they'll never get together (keep watching, you may like what happens).
Watch it for a very droll Billy Bob Thornton, a very dispassionate Cusack, and some funny sketch-like scenes. Try not to bother figuring out the plot or the antagonist characters as you pretty much already know what they're all going to do anyway. And ignore Renata.
--PolarisDiB
John Cusack plays the dispassionate lawyer hero of this story, the one who has stolen $2mil worth from his boss with the help of some weird guy named Vic (played by Billy Bob Thornton in a very Billy Bob Thornton way). The story follows Cusack's character as he wanders around town trying not to look guilty and meets a lot of weird people (one of which is played really well by Oliver Platt).
It's pretty funny, entertaining enough, and has enough of a good story to hold one's attention for about an hour and a half.
I'm not so sure about Connie Nielson's character. I really enjoy Nielson's acting but in this case her character was so fake (and supposed to be so--ARGH!) that any screen time with her was pretty much a real exercise in suspending disbelief. There was absolutely NO chemistry between her and Cusack. NONE. By the time the third act begins you pretty much hope that they'll never get together (keep watching, you may like what happens).
Watch it for a very droll Billy Bob Thornton, a very dispassionate Cusack, and some funny sketch-like scenes. Try not to bother figuring out the plot or the antagonist characters as you pretty much already know what they're all going to do anyway. And ignore Renata.
--PolarisDiB