Pawn

I gave this an 8, just to bump it up a little - it's about a 7 honestly. That's still a good film folks - don't believe the score you see here on IMDb. This movie is very well acted by pretty much everyone in it, with some notable performances from Ferris, Chiklis, and Liotta (who I haven't enjoyed much lately). The actions and reactions are believable and the drama is charged. Most people seem to harp on the plot here - it's a complicated tale of a corrupt cop trying to arrange a heist against an underworld kingpin - a heist that goes wrong from the start. I can't go into too much detail without spoiling it, but the turns and surprises, though definitely unusual, are really not that hard to believe and - here's the important part - they make for a great watch. Solid dialogue, fine direction, and solid gold acting make this an easy keeper for this movie viewer.

Pawn

Pawn

source: Pawn

An Off-duty cop, Will (Forest Whitaker), walks into a robbery in a diner owned by the mob. Oh, oh, this can't be good. And, it wasn't good. None of it. We have Michael Chiklis sporting a Cockney accent and to be truthful it wasn't half bad, but the acting all around needed help. Simply grimacing a face does not really show anger. The hostages didn't show the expected fear and looked ridiculous with phony crying and tears. Give me a break. It was like everyone was in rehearsal before the actual shooting. Nothing was believable. Okay, let me back up some. Ray Liotta as the Man in the Suit, and Forest Whitaker as Will, the cop, who stepped into it, were the only ones who performed to what we expected of these stars. The problem was they weren't the main guys and had limited screen time. Bummer. Common as Jeff Porter, the on-scene police captain was okay, but he didn't have much to work with. You have to ask yourself why would crooks knock over a diner owned by the mob? Isn't that like a group suicide? Hmmmm……. Well, there is something that we are not told until more than half-way thru. Then it kind of made sense. There are twists in here and they are the only things that held me because every time I thought of shutting this down, another twist came into play and I had to see it through thinking this would get better. Fooled every time. To be fair, some of the minor players did okay (maybe they should have been the stars?). HA ! (3/10) Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Drug use: Yes, briefly. Language: Yes.

What started out as a planned easy robbery of a diner, proves to be far more complicated than the robbers ever imagined. An impressive cast that features Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta and Michael Chiklis fail to liven up this dullard of a movie. A straight to DVD effort that fails to grasp the concept of getting tension from the one location scenario. If it's not the laughable British accents putting you off - or that Whitaker is actually only doing a cameo - it's that the twist and turns still go nowhere fast, serving only to make the hum-drum pacing even more irritable. Some nice photography is a bonus, and the action sequences, while not exciting, are competently staged. But all told it looks like the 15 day shoot that it was, a case of grabbing some name actors and hoping that they can make an intended tricksy screenplay work. It didn't. 4/10

Review: The cast looked really impressive in this movie, but I thought that it was a bit strange that it went straight to DVD. After watching the film, I realised that most of the actors that were on the poster only get a couple of scenes, except for Michael Chiklis who had a awful cockney accent throughout the movie. Anyway, the film seemed a bit cheap and weak. There are many twists which keeps it interesting, but I still think that the director could have done a much better job. All of the actors put in good performances, but its the storyline that could have done with a lot more work. Disappointing! Round-Up: Ray Liotta seems to be in a lot of straight to DVD movies of late, which is a shame because he can act. I have also seen Forest Whittaker in a lot of B movies, which is quite surprising for an actor in his calibre. As for Michael Chiklis, his career seemed so promising after the Shield, but we haven't seen him in anything amazing. As for this movie, it seems like the director was trying to launch Sean Faris's career into the big time, but failing like in many of his other movies.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Officer Will (Forest Whitaker) wonders in to an all night diner, and soon becomes aware that all is not as it seems- that, in fact, a robbery being staged by Derrick (Michael Chiklis) and his cronies is in progress. In to the equation comes Nick Davenport (Sean Faris), a recently released con trying to go straight, who ends up being used as a go between/patsy for the criminals. But is everyone who they seem? Is everything as it seems? With an all star cast of hardly A list, but still quality actors, Pawn has it's sights set higher than it's made for DVD limitations, aiming for a high concept approach to a traditional hold up drama. Pretty early in, it soon becomes clear it's going to be yet another of these 'reverse plotting' thrillers that was edgy and experimental when it first started but are getting a bit tiresome now, with each one trying to be cleverer than the last one, making you yearn for a good old, simple dramatic thriller like they made in the old days. As it gets going, you start to write it off as a boring latest addition to this fad, but thankfully if you stick with it the plot isn't as needlessly complicated as it could have been and manages to be intelligent without being over indulgent. Pawn is the latest in what is quite a popular trend at the moment. It's a style that is becoming a bit weary and tiresome, and it hardly explores the concept in any really new or challenging way. But it does so in an efficient, competent and satisfying one, and is intelligently short so it doesn't stretch your patience any more than it does a little at the beginning. ***

I gave this an 8, just to bump it up a little - it's about a 7 honestly. That's still a good film folks - don't believe the score you see here on IMDb. This movie is very well acted by pretty much everyone in it, with some notable performances from Ferris, Chiklis, and Liotta (who I haven't enjoyed much lately). The actions and reactions are believable and the drama is charged. Most people seem to harp on the plot here - it's a complicated tale of a corrupt cop trying to arrange a heist against an underworld kingpin - a heist that goes wrong from the start. I can't go into too much detail without spoiling it, but the turns and surprises, though definitely unusual, are really not that hard to believe and - here's the important part - they make for a great watch. Solid dialogue, fine direction, and solid gold acting make this an easy keeper for this movie viewer.

Just when i thought i've seen everything in the crime/thriller genre i ran into Pawn. With Ray Liotta and Forest Whittaker on board it promised at least a decent movie. Well, it was better than that. A robbery of a diner goes wrong and a villain (Michael Chiklis) and his crew are stuck in a hostage situation. However, this is where the plot actually starts. With several twists Pawn offered some unexpected and original solutions to the plot. This is not a masterpiece, yet offers good fun. The only complaint i have is about the abrupt ending. As if the producers decided to call it a day and push towards the happy ending.