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Reviews
Fatman (2020)
I'm not here to summarize the movie, I'm here to review it...
One of my biggest pet peeves in writing entertainment reviews is seeing people feel the need to try and provide some witty and profound summary of a work as if they are trying to out-do the site that provided you the review already. I'm not here to summarize this film, I'm here to give my opinion on it. If you want a review and not another drole synopsis, read on!
What I LOVED about this movie most was how it gives the viewer a bit of an alternate reality/timeline of what and who Santa Claus is. Kind of like how Wolverine is preparing to return to yet another Marvel Comics movie when he appears in Deadpool 3 in 2024. Nobody will go to great pains to EXPLAIN to curious viewers WHY and HOW Wolverine is still alive since he died in his last movie, "Logan." Marvel is simply going to insert him into the movie - through an alternate timeline - so that he can exists in another cinematic plane of existence. In the same vein, that concept is used here in "Fat Man," skillfully and playfully written and directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms and starring the accomplished main cast of Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
The Nelms' (Nelmses? Nelmsesis? Whatever) provide no elaborate preamble or preface that they are turning the fantasy of Santa Claus on its head and taking him in a different direction...they just DO it without explanation or apology. Mel Gibson's iteration of "Chris Cringle" gives viewers a gritty, gruff and frankly more realistic and relatable Claus than the traditional version. But, what happens when you pair a sociopathic pre-teen boy and a middle-aged man holding a grudge from years gone by? An odd marriage of characters who scheme to not just "teach Santa a lesson" for not spoiling them when they wanted to be spoiled most - but a couple determined sadists who literally and metaphorically want Cringle's head.
This all sounds borderline silly and funny, but all the players involved treat this script-flip with the seriousness it deserves. There's no allusions of Tim Allen's Claus slipping on snow, having snowball fights with elves or getting fat from Mrs. Claus's cookies. What we get is a tough, almost business business-like Santa who finds himself turning to unconventional methods to pull in money to keep the whole Christmas season joy moving forward without a skip. The efficiency of his "operation" gets the attention of some unlikely business partners and provides a whole separate layer of "where's-this-going-next?" vibes.
All in all, in order to appreciate this movie you have to have an imagination and accept that not every movie studio HAS to portray Santa Claus as a dopey, obese, fun-loving clod who exists only to bring joy to children. You also need to allow yourself to believe that the life and times of a modern Santa Claus might not be all cookies and sleighbells. The action is surprisingly good, the acting is MOSTLY very sturdy. Walter Goggins has a slight propensity to over-act at times in order to live up to his campy character, child actor Chance Hurstfield is actually sensational in this flick and in Mel Gibson...you can see a flicker of his persona from The Patriot, a mix of steely-eyed determination and seriousness that brings THIS version of Santa to life.
So look, in Summary...this movie is actually entertaining and worth 100 minutes of your time. For those who need validation going in with some assurance that this is not a wasted effort (like my wife - God love her - who was like "No, that just sounds stupid"), that this is not a waste of time. Just know that this flick actually WON a couple legit awards for a reason. It didn't make a ton of money at the box office, but it did get the attention of the less-than-pretentious critics who went in expecting not MORE of the same...but less. And it just works.
American Exit (2019)
A bit formulaic, but good enough to watch and enjoy
I find it very interesting that the number of people who loved (rated 10) this film is nearly equal to the number of those who hated it (rated 1). My first impression of this bizarre yet equal split is that odds are, this wide ocean of disagreement comes down to two sects: (a) those who enjoy Dane Cook's body of work, and (b) those who abhor it. Much has been written already about how nonchalantly those in and around Hollywood have cast him aside so quickly after he became so uber-popular seemingly overnight. Perhaps the shadow he began to cast over those far more senior to him was too much to bear for many in those circles. That appears to have spilled over to the general populace, as there is little "grey area" in the pro/con argument for/against Cook. Seldom has this phenomenon been seen in such an extreme and profound manner in the entertainment industry, but it is not uncommon for extremes to exist in the land of the vapid and pretentious.
I rated this movie a 7, as it was neither great nor dreadful. I genuinely enjoyed it, found myself pulling for the anti-hero and his son and became attached enough to the story line to hope for a different ending. That said, the story line is firm and borderline compelling - the acting solid but not over-the-top in either direction - the cinematics and scenery consistent if not a bit on the basic side. All in all, it's a story about the tragic nature of broken families, desperation for healing, redemption and ultimately...love. And also, worth watching. This is NOT a "1" movie - I feel the poll was stuffed by Cook's odd bunch of those bent on continuing to harm his name further.
Revelation Trail (2013)
Surprisingly good zombie Western flick...
Per my Summary line above, Revelation Trail is a surprisingly good zombie flick that managed to do a ton of good things with a skim working budget. The acting was solid, honest, heart-felt... especially the lead character (Preacher) and his law man co-star. The camera work was realistic and solid. The effects were much, much better than expected. If we as film lovers are lucky, perhaps Rev Trail has fathered a new genre of zombie horror. When you mix two historically-significant genres into one film, the end result is not always great. However, this movie certainly provided a fresh take on a genre that is starting to become a bit redundant. 2 thumbs up, 8 stars!