A WHO-DONE-IT THAT, UNFORTUNATELY, IS ALSO A WHO-SAW-IT?
A Perfect Getaway
***1/2
Review of a movie you missed by Justin Bowler
A pair of lovers on a Hawaiian vacation discover…
I am a huge fan of watching a movie without knowing anything about it. It is terribly hard to do in this modern age especially considering the industry that I am in, but, with that in mind, it can be done. That is how I saw “A Perfect Getaway”. And I highly hope you can do the same.
It was recommended to me by a friend a month ago. Once he told me to watch it, I made sure I avoided reading anything that had to do with it, including the description on the TV from my cable company. All I knew was… it was a modern day who-done-it classic. This is how you should experience it as well.
Without even giving anything away here, I’ll just say, it should rank much higher than a 6.5 on IMDB or 3.5 (out of 5) on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, I suspect it ranked well below what it should have because people knew too much about it before they saw it (Advertisers are not filmmakers, and they tend to give away too much in their previews. That is a rant for another time).
Rather than discuss the plot, here are a few reasons to entice you to see it. Steve Zahn plays it completely straight in the everyman role (This is atypical for him, so if you are a fan, you will enjoy it). For that reason you will also enjoy Milla Jovovich playing against type as a normal girl who is stuck in an odd situation (No zombies anywhere). On the other side, Timothy Olyphant is the way we know and love him. He is charming, clever, dangerous, and ass-kicking. It is written and Directed by David Twohy, who also wrote and directed “Pitch Black” and wrote “The Fugitive” (the Harrison Ford version, not the TV show from the middle of the last century). Finally, for all of you geeks out there, Captain Kirk’s dad, and Thor, Chris Hemsworth, is in it as well.
That is all you need to know. Find out nothing else about it and enjoy.
3.5 Stars. See it. The best who-done-it in a while.
PS. Make sure you don’t see “THE Perfect Getaway” from 1998 by mistake. It’s a completely different film.
“A Perfect Getaway” is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
