Meeting Evil

Meeting Evil (2012) *** (out of 4) John (Luke Wilson) has his life ripped from him when he loses his job, falls behind on all his bills and sees no real reason to live but then he meets a mysterious Richie (Samuel L. Jackson) who asks him for help. Richie soon forces John into a wild and violent killing spree but for reasons that the troubled man can't figure out. MEETING EVIL isn't nearly as smart as it tries to be and in the end it's not a completely successful film but I must admit that I've never quite seen anything like it. The entire film is a very strange one as it contains a story that constantly keeps you off guard, some fine performances and a bizarre atmosphere that just hangs over the entire thing. Writer-director Chris Fisher deserves quite a bit of credit by taking a familiar set-up (good man kidnapped by evil) and doing something rather fresh and original with it. I'm going to avoid any major spoilers but I do think the film comes up somewhat short in whatever message it's trying to get across but there's still enough good stuff here to make it worth viewing. One thing are the two lead performances with both Wilson and Jackson turning in fine work. Wilson does a very believable job playing this loser who constantly lets people push him around. I thought the actor made you care for this character while at the same time hating him for not being more of a man. Jackson often falls into playing himself but that's not the case here as he completely loses himself in this character. Jackson plays the part with a certain edge that actually helps the film and especially in some of the darker comic moments, which there are a few of and he makes them very funny. As you'd expect, there's a twist at the end and in a rare case I think it actually works. What I enjoyed most about MEETING EVIL is that I never really knew where it was going to go next. The entire set-up is a pretty crazy one and it doesn't make sense all of the time but it did keep me interested in what was going on and I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next. The film isn't a complete success but I think it's good entertainment.

I must admit that S. Jackson tried very hard on acting to pull this movie out of a junk status. Weird scenario, weird acting line of some of the cast, strange and anointing soundtrack. I felt that I'm in a Cinderella movie, the walking dead serial or some stupid drama. Samuel please don't take these crappy acting proposals, cause you will end like Nicolas Cage. I didn't read the book, but i surely think it's quite more fascinating than this crappy movie. The directing looked like Uwe's Bools movies. I just wanted to see Jackson he's a good actor, but he should really worry about his reputation after this movie. I'm sorry that i made you angry people about this comment but I'm right.

The real estate agent John (Luke Wilson) is down on his luck: he has been just fired from his job; his home has been sent into foreclosure; and his marriage is going downhill. On his birthday, his wife Joanie (Leslie Bibb) has an argument with him and she takes their children for walking. Out of the blue, the stranger Richie (Samule L. Jackson) knocks on his front door and asks for help, since his car is not starting. John helps to push the car but hurts his leg, and Richie offers to take him to the hospital. Richie is inconvenient and along their journey, John realizes that the man is a psychopath killer that commits a spree killing everywhere they go. Then, Richie releases John on the road and tells him that he will pay a visit to Joanie and his children. Meanwhile, the police detectives Frank (Muse Watson) and his partner Latisha Rogers (Tracie Thoms) suspect that John is the serial-killer and they pressure Joanie to tell where John might be. Further, they discover that John and Joanie are cheating each other with a colleague and with a worker respectively. "Meeting Evil" is a weird and inconclusive movie with non-likable and non-charismatic characters. When Richie appears, there is a scene where he is ready to shot John and sees a blonde girl; then he gives up of his intention. In this moment, I thought that he could be evil and the girl an angel, but I was completely wrong. The two police detectives are stupid morons with their aggressive attitude and ridiculous conclusion. John is a looser and cheats his wife; Joanie also cheats him with the pool guy. The open conclusion, when the viewer does not know whether Joanie has hired Richie or not, is also stupid since there is no clue along the movie for a deduction. And the film is a typical Hollywoodian production with the usual stereotypical. My vote is four. Title (Brazil): "Encontro Maligno" ("Malign Encounter")

Luke Wilson's character is really down on his luck. Bills past due fill the mailbox; he's lost his job. Then a mysterious stranger shows up at his door who "wants to help". The two at first form a tenuous friendship which turns into a delirious journey through murder and mayhem. Sound good? Actually, I would have given this film a 1 star rating had it not been for Samuel Jackson's performance as a menacing, maniacal character; a sort of stock character for Jackson, but still done well. Otherwise, the movie is a silly, nonsensical trip through misogyny and psychopathy, that seems as aimless as the lead duo's murder-infested road trip. The film hints that it's heading in several different directions, tries to add sub-plots to this no-plot movie, as the viewer tries to guess: Is Jackson the devil? A serial Killer? Freddie Kruger? Nothing pans out and the viewer, if he or she tried to make sense of it, is left befuddled and annoyed at its vacuous ending. Again, what was Samuel Jackson thinking when he made this movie? Probably just thinking about his bank account.

A pretty decent film with good production values and very good acting all around. Probably it's hard to avoid, but the story does suffer from the Hollywood effect - making every movie look like any another movie, since they all need to be sold somehow. In it's favor, 'Meeting Evil' starts out fairly loyal to its source material, and stays on track most of the way, despite some unneeded upping of the conventional stakes, and a couple extra back story complications. These don't really hurt the film, and it's a fairly exciting experience, up until the contemporary Hollywood twistiness at the end, which, though interesting, blunts the point of the Berger novel (at least as regards the main character). It tries to make its own point about evil in everyday life, and might have succeeded were it not for the logical problem it introduces with the Richie character's motivation. Though it's not in the book, I do think the concluding scene is actually pretty good; or it would be, if the viewer can get past the twist that doesn't really fit. Update: Forgot I wrote this. Anyway, more time has passed, and a recent viewing has put more distance between any expectations I had from the book. I could see it more as its own experience, and that raises my estimation of the film. Give it a go sometime.

When I first went into watch this film, i was expecting it to be another Samuel L. Jackson Changing Lanes sequel. But a surprisingly convincing effort from the rest of the cast(Luke Wilson, Leslie Bibb), helped turn this movie into a great thriller. I haven't seen Seen SLJ play such a deep role since Black Snake Moan. In the film, Luke Wilson plays a Middle Aged man that has just lost everything, and accidentally meets Samuel L. Jackson who needs help starting his car. What starts out as a seemingly random course of events, turns out to be something much more sinister. Anyway if you watch this,I guarantee you will agree that it was well worth the ride!

I just knew that this movie went straight to DVD and I sure can't understand why!!I saw some reviews that were saying that they didn't understand what was going on as being a bad thing,well in this case it wasn't cause it was the purpose of the movie,it was to make you wonder what was going on,and put your imagination to work. The acting was very very good,there were no weak actors ,the plot was brilliant in my opinion and the ending was also very good,leaving space to the watcher to take its own conclusions despite the one given by the story itself!! This movie kept me watching really wanting to know what was gonna happen next and it was extremely entretaining,which is what i look for in movies!! (Don't think bad of the review cause there are a few mistakes in it,English is not my first language)!!

Firstly I must say that the entire first half of the film kept reminding me of Collateral just with a switch of Tom Cruise to Samuel L. Jackson. Now as far as the film is concerned the plot was very familiar to me, I have seen it before but then again what haven't I saw before. For it's rather simple plot basis you come to expect some pretty good acting throughout, if you are looking for a complex thriller with twists & turns you may not like it, it's all about the acting. Now for the action and basic thrills of the film, they do enough to deliver the viewer a decent portrayal of good guy(Wilson) caught in the web with a very dangerous man named RICHIE (S.L.Jackson). As the film starts Wilson's character named JOHN is literally having THE WORST DAY of his life, his career has gone down the toilet & if that isn't bad enough he comes home to see a foreclosure note on the front door of his beautiful dream home plus he also has two young children to take care of. Then right about when I would be downing a handful of Valium he gets on knock on his door and there stands good old Samuel L. on his door step dressed in a nice suit & hat to boot and his evil presence is felt immediately, plus we know him from his lengthy film career as one real bad son of a @itch. His power and presence is tremendous for every minute. Sadly, what happened to him earlier is just the starting point of an even worse day for this poor devastated man John. Then with a hard knock on john's door stands Jackson's character Richie arriving at his house complaining of car trouble, asking for a push to pop the clutch because he said it was running on fumes. One thing led to another & before you know it Wilson's character is barreling down the highway with Jackson at the wheel. The events that occur for the rest of the film let's say are pretty interesting to say the very least. Though he doesn't know it yet John is in for the ride of his life. I know that a lot of viewers have seen this plot before, it's been done countless times over the years, but with the right writing and convincing characters you could provide the needed electricity to entertain you for the run time The acting from Jackson was what made this a good film, I couldn't think of another actor I would want to take his place It's a solid 7/10 partly because the production & cinematography were excellent, I enjoyed the camera work quite a bit. As for the conclusion of the film I was slightly surprised at the end though there was many subtle hints thrown at the audience all throughout the film. I am guessing that this isn't going to have a theater showing, due to the plot & not enough beef for Hollywood to embrace. So many films during 2011 that I thought were amazing went to VOD, I would like to see exactly what criteria they use, whether it's private screenings or what? Anyway again I call this a 7/10

I came across this movie recently having no idea it existed and gave it a shot. This is very rare considering I almost always will at least watch a trailer for a movie before investing an hour and a half of my life into it. The bottom line is that I was very pleased with the movie. It's so nice to see the old Samuel L. Jackson back. Luke Wilson is also a fine actor who we don't see in too many roles. There are some twist and turns that make the movie less predictable at times. I definitely think this movie is good for anyone interested in a nice entertaining thriller. This movie also has a high rate of rewatchability.

IMDb have provided a blurb so I'll just give you my opinion. I only review movies if no one else has done one yet. Meeting Evil could be very vaguely described as "Changing Lanes with more carnage". I'm not sure why this film went straight-to-DVD. It's probably because the plot is a tad all over the place. Sometimes it's hard to understand Luke's actions and Sam's intentions. Some viewers may find this frustrating while others will simply consider it to be part of the fun. On the plus side, it's quite fast paced. You're barely 5 minutes into it before Sam pounds on Luke's front door and the thrills begin. Sam Jackson is quite clearly having a field day as the full-blown psycho who despises people with a lack of common courtesy. Luke plays the hero/victim and his character isn't exactly likable, but hopefully you'll be able to relate to him in some small way. He claims to be a nice guy and he's obviously accustomed to people treating him like a doormat. He's cheating on his wife... but then again she's cheating on him too. By the end of the film I still wasn't sure which one of them cheated first. They might've explained it when I tuned out for several seconds. I'd never heard of Leslie Bibb who portrays the no-nonsense wife and she gave a good performance so she's officially on my radar now. I originally intended on giving this film 6 stars but when I think about it, I found myself empathising with Luke's character and hoping that either Luke or Leslie would lay their vengeance upon Sam at the climax. On that level it worked for me but if anything, that's just a testament to Sam's performance. If you're in the mood for a thriller and you can't find anything that tickles your fancy, you might as well let Sam Jackson take you for a ride. Let's face it, he RARELY steers us in the wrong direction. It also helps if you consider yourself to be a fan of Luke Wilson. If you hate him, you'll probably find this film to be average at best. I very much doubt it will change your opinion of him as an actor or a human being. Countless actor's could've played that role... but they didn't... he did... and he did a good job.