Revenge of the Revenge Movie: BRAVE ONE, DEATH SENTENCE
Get ready for the revenge of the Revenge Movie.
Two trailers -- very similar -- catch your attention. The movies don't promise the same depth or quality: THE BRAVE ONE, starring Jodie Foster and directed by Neil Jordan, looks far more intriguing and troubling, while DEATH SENTENCE, with Kevin Bacon, looks like a formula picture.
Check out the trailers, posters and tagline: the genre never fails to go for the gut. From THE BRAVE ONE, there's complexity - conflict. "We're on your side," says Terrence Howard, the sympathetic detective. Replies Foster: "How come it doesn't feel like that?" And her voice over - she's going over the edge. "It is astonishing to find inside you there is a stranger." There's a great trailer line for Foster, who can't help but sound badass: "I want my dog back."
Were there trailer lines before blaxploitation movies, Clint Eastwood and Dirty Harry?
In DEATH SENTENCE, here's Kevin Bacon getting the Charles Bronson sell. I feel as though I've seen the entire movie. Here it goes:
Images: Masked thugs holding up store; SFX: Racking shotguns.Thug VO: "Do it now"
Bacon: "I want this guy to go away for the rest of his life."
Narrator: A senseless murder
Judge: I'm dismissing this case."
Narrator: Gone unpunished.
Bacon: "He killed my son."
Image: Smirking thug.
Narrator: An ordinary man. [Bacon, obviously. Not the scot-free ex-defendant.
Thug VO: "I'm coming for the rest of your family."
[Audience wondering: What family?]
Narrator: With no choice.
Bacon goes Bronson: "I need guns."
Narrator: From the director of SAW. [Pronounced 'Za, as in "Dude! I'm starving! Let's order some 'Za."
Bacon: "I don't care what happens to me. I just need them to be safe.
[Audience thinking: Don't they need guns? And 'Za? Wait! Remember that poster tagline: "Protect what's yours." A man's gotta protect his hypothetical family.
Kevin Bacon. DEATH SENTENCE. [:That's marriage and family life for you.]
Rated R, in theaters August 31.