WingMan

source: Wingman

Is this another Casablanca with Mitch Wolfe? No but it's a witty spoof of espionage films which always preaches, "Have an Exit Strategy." Mitch Wolfe's cult film, complete with his headstone in full view (I mean, who doesn't want to see their headstone in advance?), is a show within a show within a show. When your only friend is your dog, you need to carry out a desperate strategy, and Mitch Wolfe's alter ego does just that. As Mitch says, "I should have prepared for the unexpected," and maybe that was the key to his unravelling. It kept me entertained, as it will you. And there's comedy within this espionage spoof. My biggest laugh came when Mitch's alter ego compared Wingman to an Orson Welles production. Brilliant! 9/10

A fun, wildly exaggerated taste of everything it takes in order to get a movie to the finish line. Over the top characters offer a glimpse behind the scenes, in this tongue in cheek, unscripted, fictitious doc. A film full of twists and turns as it's hero dips into madness. Kalezic's performance was the most grounded of all of the actors, and offered a stability to the chaos of the plot. A solid debut feature for Wolfe, featuring impressive production value and sound design.

A decent off the wall film. Goran Kalezic was my favorite character. I love this actor I want to see more of him. He's dry and funny. Maybe because Don Puta and Mitch are dead maybe they could use Goran for another season. With Ricky. I wanted to see more of Ricky. Him and Goran together would be great..Poor Mitch just couldn't get things going. Don Puta was out of control. Basically an unhappy guy. I love the three Cuban girls.I want to see more of this crazy production.

Watched this movie because one of the actors is my friend. I guess I should have watched the series from the beginning to get the full impact. But what I gleaned from this film is that older men can rock it. Sex, drugs, and intrigue. I loved that it was filmed in Cuba, with it's vintage cars, Hemingway's hangout, and beautiful women. Rick's character a man of mystery or myth. I found it very interesting that he carries Joseph Campbell book, an expert on mythology while visiting Mitch's grave. Is this a hint to the meaning behind the reality or the mythology presented in this movie?? Now does that make more sense than this movie does? Hey great effort for first time director, producer and writer Mitch Wolfe.

The film unfolds like a set of Russian nesting dolls with richly detailed stories inside of stories inside of stories. Set in Cuba, Wolfe shows you Havana, the country, its culture and its people as only he can do. I never watched Wingmen, the series on which the film was based. The film includes flashbacks taken from the episodes, some highly erotic, none gratuitous and all essential to developing the story told so well by Wolfe; and, now that I have seen the film the series is a must-see.

Really enjoyed this! Cleverly funny!! Has a dry wit to it showing the basic challenges of the everyday person.

Wingman is an intelligent narrative with venal insight meriting an evening of engaged viewing. Wingman is an artifice designed in showcasing a man who once in the not distant past was a man with power influence. Attributed to a deal gone badly off the rails this man now finds himself in debt and running away from the law and creditors. Escape does not bring this man clarity in values, rather this man finds himself continually in situations requiring acumen. In conclusion, I urge any ambitious man and woman to make time in watching. You maybe frustrated but you will not be disappointed.

For the fans of Wingmen, the series, be prepared for a descent into a cauldron of darkness where our Wingman- Wolfe- struggles to emerge from a disastrous film production into a radiant new future. Wolfe, the scheming, dissembling, skirt-chasing producer- yet somehow a likable character- of the series- has escaped to Havana to avoid creditors and other barbarians at the gate; believing this is his last chance to create his film. Arriving he finds the project in chaos and woefully incomplete. With a saddening realization of the cascading end to his film our man in Havana journeys into the heart of the old city searching for his muse- the enigmatic Rick. Wolfe (the actor) skillfully plays through his body and facial language a weighted soul doggedly intent upon the reclamation of his film (and his soul?). Clearly paying homage to Wells' The Other Side Of The Wind, Wingman manipulates time and plays with multiple perspectives of narration. This draws the viewer to question the characters' actions and motives as experienced by themselves (the characters), the actors and the viewer. "What is happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear." A multi-dimensional reality emerges as Wolfe wanders Leo Bloom-like through the fetid neighborhoods of Havana. Fleeting images of Rick appear in various scenes throughout Wolfes' journey. Rick is sometimes solid and substantial; sometimes a fleeting dreamlike image. But ,often in profile, Rick is a menacing shape- a foretelling symbol of darkness. Wolfe, often questioned and doubted about the reality of Rick steadfastly holds to the truth of what he perceives- the truth of Rick- really Rick as a creative force- Mitch's muse. This archetype for creativity is illuminated as Wolfe sees Rick eerily posed and almost identical beside Hemingway's bust in the Floridita bar. Rick is later revealed as a manipulator of certain realities. Is Wolfe the artist struggling to create his film or is Rick the creator ruthlessly manipulating plot and characters to create a truth? Art is a lie that makes us realize a truth. (Picasso) Well here it is on film. And what truth is found in Wingman? Is Wolfes' journey through a decaying tropical city to find Rick(this film in feeling so reminds the writer of Jean Cocteau"s post WW2 film Orphee) a long days journey into the creative act; is it a story of greed, fear and loathing in the film business; is it a social comment on an oppressive Cuba's opening itself to North American greed and Rabelaisian excess. Or is it the destructive act of the artist who tears apart, again and again, his reality so to shape a moment for all of us to savor and wonder at.

Wingman presents a different approach to the "scene." Well worth watching.