Heatstroke

Heatstroke_360P

I believe this is a solid film that has a lot going for it. The actors did a fine job with their parts and the story was believable enough. I am not going to fault the story for be too simplistic because the layers were there in the details, in how the story was told in its style, direction and location. When the characters were on set they looked like they were somewhere. What was happening look real and the animals were somehow made available and in proximity of the actors. I don't know how the producers were able to pull it off, but it looked as though people were in real danger. And during the course of the picture there was also a wind storm that looked very genuine. A film-goer would have to become extremely jaded to come down too hard on this movie and give it a poor rating.

I'm not sure about the hate this movie seems to be getting, as it is far from as bad as what some people are saying. Plot In A Paragraph: Paul (Stephen Dorff) is a hyena expert who is preparing for a trip to the wilds of Africa to research them with his new Russain girlfriend Tally (Svetlana Metkina) and his teenage daughter Jo (Maisie Williams) from an earlier relationship. However things take a turn for the worse when they come across three villains led by Mallick (Peter Stormare) Dorff does as you'd expect, though he doesn't have that much to do, Svetlana Metkina does OK and carries the majority of the movie along with the awesome Maisie Williams, who stops Jo being the cliché of teenage brat/brooding step daughter.

I've never seen as blatant a lie as this in filmmaking. I can only imagine that the producers knew they could not legitimately advertise this movie on its on merit, so they actually took to staging a poster image that had nothing to do with the actual film. IMDb, however, was more than honest in the plot summary. This is where our trusts must remain. This is no spoiler because I'm telling you what's NOT in this film and what's not in this film is Stephen Dorff with a gun defending his girlfriend and daughter. Ever! This actually NEVER happens. Stephen Dorff's character doesn't even SEE a gun, let alone, hold one. I'm actually baffled and appalled. Stephen Dorff, very poorly I might add, played the role of a dead-beat dad with the parenting skills of a dead tick. This was NOT a Stephen Dorff film. It LITERALLY had nothing to do with Stephen Dorff. This was a Svetlana Metkina and Maisie Williams film. And who the heck are they?? No one good. Let me tell you, I tried to give them the benefit of not doubting unknown faces. But, the best either of these two girls had for them was their ability to shed tears. Other than that, the most flat and ill-fitted actors to be cast in an attempted thriller like this were in this movie. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THIS SCRIPT!! HA!! MY GOD IN HEAVEN! It's actually cringe-inducing. Seriously, you will cringe at how lame the dialogue is in this film. The actors, some of whom are reputable actors, couldn't even deliver these lines organically. Just don't pay for it!! For the love of all that is sacred in this life, just don't spend your money.

Wow. The producers should be sued for illegal logging, as this movie contained the largest display of wooden acting I've ever seen. Never mind the predictable outcome regarding step-kid hates step-mum, clichéd baddies and plod along plot, this cringe worthy excuse for a movie had my toes curled with embarrassment as planes fly overhead just as people jump into bushes - yet they somehow cannot be seen. Multiple times. Peter Stormare, who generally plays a terrific baddie in my opinion (Berlin in The Blacklist comes to mind), was director bashed into appearing as a high-school stage actor during the campsite scene when he stands between his partners in crime berating them with a little bit of finger waggle action. The script was bad, the direction was appalling, acting was nonexistent, even the scenic camera-work I can get on Youtube for free.. The only reason I watched this movie in full was due to sadomasochistic fascination at how bad it was.

OK. Let's start with the weaknesses. Formulaic plot. Jarring gaps in narrative. Stereotyped bad guys. Dumb behaviour causing the thematic problem. Now that that's out of the way, the scenery is fascinating, and the two female leads are absolutely fine in carrying out their roles. This is a part of the world we rarely see in film, and the settings are edifying. Also, the scientific material on hyenas is very interesting, and the development of a theme around their behaviour is pretty clever. This is a deeply flawed movie, but I didn't find it that hard to watch, and my memories of having seen it are mostly positive. It's worth watching if you're interested in African settings, animal behaviour and/or general adventure themes.

You don't need a lot of glitz, and glamour to make a good movie, and with this simple cast of great actors that is just what the folks have gone and done. This has to be the first time that Stephen Dorff has died so early in a movie, and even with such a short time on film he still gives his usual excellent performance. Svetlana Metkina is really good in this as a journalist who is used to being in rough places, and dealing with the harsh conditions. Her character Tally really comes across as real, and she plays her so well that it is easy to believe that she herself could handle anything that the world throws at her. Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones is just excellent in this she is a spoiled little American girl who suddenly has her life ripped apart in the middle of nowhere and she only has Tally to rely on which we get to watch as she slowly learns that she can not just act like she would back home, and survive out there. The poachers led by Peter Stormare in one of his more scary, and far less violent rolls in a while, are a very good device for keeping the 2 women moving.. This whole movie is well filmed, as each shot is a sweep across the wide open desert, and the animals in the wild always circling, and ever present make up the remainder of the cast as a kind of scary comic relief. Over all this was a very Enjoyable movie, and I would recommend it to anyone, there is a bit of blood, and some animal, on animal violence, but that is just nature being nature. Anyone looking for a good drama with some very suspenseful moments in it, then this is the movie for you. Never really too slow, and always on the story, you will not be bored, and you might even learn to love the Hyenas too. Jesse of www.Jesse.ca

No spoilers in this review, but a brief summary of my impressions about the film: The movie was better than I expected, and I was a bit surprised by the low 4.8 rating (at the time of writing) on IMDb. Granted, it's not a very good film, but it's not that bad either: The dialogue is OK and it avoids many of the narrative clichés you often see in low-budget films (even big-budget films as well), and the acting is (in general) more than decent enough (more about that later). Thumbs up to the screenwriters for at least attempting to add some depth to the film: At first you may get the impression that this is some sort of action-film, but it's more like a thriller with some underlying "family" drama (with focus on father/"stepmother"-daughter relationships). I was less enthusiastic about the pacing of the last half of the movie: I think the film could have been shortened a bit, to add more focus towards the end. I also felt that the foreign accent of Tally was a bit distracting, even though English was not the native language of her character (or the actress herself). Peter Stormare was, as usual, quite funny. It's almost over-the-top, but he somehow manages to sell the performance because it seems to fit his character. Maisie Williams is a young and very talented actress. Her character starts off as an annoying, bratty teen, but the turn of events help to bring her into a more sympathetic light (a lesser script could easily have made the character much more two-dimensional and clichéd). Kudos to Maisie for bringing her character to life, even though she didn't have that much material to work with. However, one reviewer here wrote that "she does not have much acting skill. ... Maisie mesmerizes the audience with her eyes. People mistaken it for acting". The reviewer couldn't be more wrong, in my opinion: Good acting is not only how you act or perform, it's about how you *RE*act. And Maisie's ability to communicate and express emotions via her eyes is one of the very reasons why she's so talented. She listens and reacts. Maisie's performances are also emotionally honest and "real", and it's not often I see these qualities in young actors in their first screen roles. Overall, I think this film passed the "watch clock" or "falling asleep" tests: In general, if a film manages to entertain me enough to avoid these things from happening, then it usually deserves at least 6/10. Heatstroke started of well, and although it started to slow down towards the end, it still left a positive impression.

This movie could be used in filmclass on how not to make an effective dramathriller. The first third establishes Stephen Dorff as the main lead, at that point of the movie it's a familydrama. That changes though in the second third, where without spoiling anything "something happens" and Stephen Dorff "dissappears from the movie". Which of course is a surprise as the movie markets itself as a Stephen Dorff-movie on the cover and he's the dominating force in the first third as well as said. He's also sporting a gun in the cover to make you believe it's a actionthriller but in the movie he does not have a gun, he plays a very non-threatening hyena expert. The movie then pretty much out of the blue turns into a thriller with Dorff's girlfriend and daughter trying to escape badly written stereotypical "bad guys" played by Peter Stormare (who could play a role like this in his sleep) and 2 unknowns. The acting overall is uninspired and occasionally just plain bad, the kid does try and gets it right occasionally but she can't save this movie although I'm sure in another movie with the right director she can shine but it's just a lackluster production overall. 3.5 out of 10 from me, there are hints that there are some talent involved, but overall it just fails to entertain and make you care about what's gonna happen.

"They looked like they needed help. He said they is a little off the desert." Paul (Dorff) and his girlfriend Tally are taking a trip to Africa. His daughter Josie (Williams) is having trouble with the new relationship and reluctantly is dragged along. Instantly Josie and Tally clash until Josie asks to be sent home. On the way to the airport something happens to Paul and it is up to Tally to protect Josie and find a way to get her home safe. This is a movie that is hard to review. The movie isn't bad and moved at a pretty good pace but on the other hand it is really a overdone concept. The thing that does set this apart from others though is that the woman is the one who has to protect someone. While this may seem like an action movie it is much more drama then I was expecting. I was hoping for something like In The Blood but instead got more of a hide and seek type movie. Not that that isn't a bad thing but it needed something else to keep it from feeling as flat as it did. Overall, nothing amazing but nothing awful either. Really just a movie to put in when you have nothing else to do. I give it a C+.