![]() ![]() There's the dentist (Sullivan Stapleton) and his wife (Teresa Palmer), who are also planning to murder Braga's character Alice the grizzled dirty cop (Bryan Brown), who's on to the murderous couples scheme and the hunky gas station clerk (Luke Hemsworth), who's having an affair with Alice. Indeed, one of the big problems with screenwriter James McFarland's script is that it's chock-full with Tarantino and Rodriguez-esque characters, but without any of their delightful eccentricities. That's not really the fault of the actors, mind you, but the writing. Alas, the same can't be said for the rest of characters, who are all positively bland. While Charlie Wolfe's sense of humor is on-the-nose at times, Pegg's delivery gives the character a much-needed bit of quirk. Obviously the big get for Kill Me Three Times is Pegg, and the Shaun of the Dead star does a good job of playing against type as a conniving, unfeeling gun for hire. In typical Quentin Tarantino fashion, we see the events unfold from numerous perspectives, each one shedding more light on the situation. However, Wolfe soon discovers he's not the only one after his mark, and ends up embroiled in all manner of mayhem, murder and betrayal. And while the actors all have their moments, nobody gets much of a chance to develop a flavorful character in a film that tries too hard on every level.Set in the fictional Australian surf town of Eagles Nest, the story follows Charlie Wolfe (Pegg), a quicksilver assassin who's hired to kill the wife (Alice Braga) of a wealthy bar owner (Callan Mulvey). Pegg’s cold-blooded killer, smirking with amusement at all the small-town villainy, is a less likable peg (sorry) for comic-strip carnage than everyone seems to think. ![]() But Kill Me Three Times is too self-conscious to be anything much beyond smart-assy and tiresome. There’s nothing wrong with McFarland’s plotting, which is more than sound enough to work, especially with Stenders and editor Jill Bilcock hustling the action along at a driving pace, accelerated by Johnny Klimek’s music. He witnesses a series of attempted murders, scams, deceptions and acts of violent revenge, intervening with a blackmail scheme of his own when he spies a chance to double his fee. The humor derives mostly from Charlie finding himself not the expected executioner so much as the observer. The main players in a town whose other inhabitants are mostly kept offscreen are Nathan Webb ( Sullivan Stapleton), a dentist in deep with gambling debt and manipulated by his ruthless receptionist wife Lucy ( Teresa Palmer) wealthy bar owner Jack Taylor ( Callan Mulvey), whose violent jealousy has pushed away his battered bride Alice ( Alice Braga) her buff surfer-mechanic boyfriend Dylan ( Luke Hemsworth), who is planning their escape together and corrupt cop Bruce (a self-parodying Bryan Brown). McFarland and Stenders piece together the events that led to Charlie’s demise with puzzle-like dexterity, only gradually revealing who hired him. But this ain’t no sun-kissed restful paradise. Cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson turns this imposing natural setting into a dynamic canvas for sinister deeds, with a muscular shooting style and vivid embrace of color and light. That would be Eagles Nest, Western Australia, a sleepy coastal hamlet with miles of pristine beaches, presented here with wild bushland, desert sands and red rock gorges all within reach. In an opening voiceover, private detective and assassin-for-hire Charlie Wolfe ( Simon Pegg) announces his astonishment at dying in a place like this. Add in overdressed sets that call attention to themselves, heightened performance styles, skewed framing and cartoon violence, with the camera lavishing glossy money-shot adoration on every ribbon of bloodshed that explodes whenever bullet meets flesh. It continues with the non-sequential storytelling, divided into three time-shifting chapters (“Kill Me Once,” etc.) of overlapping action that allow key developments to be covered from different perspectives. That starts with the bold retro-graphic titles and swingin’ surf rock soundtrack, full of fat guitar licks. But everything here feels borrowed from readily identifiable sources. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |