Rating: R
Starring:
Jason Statham as Jake
Ray Liotta as Macha
Vincent Pastore as Zach
André Benjamin as Avi
Terence Maynard as French Paul
Andrew Howard as Billy
Mark Strong as Sorter
Francesca Annis as Lily Walker
Anjela Lauren Smith as Doreen
Elana Binysh as Rachel
Faruk Pruti as Ivan (Billy’s Bodyguard)
Shend as Teddy (Billy’s Bodyguard)
Bill Moody as Al
Stephen Walters as Joe
Vincent Riotta as Benny
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes and Outtakes
Director’s Commentary
The Concept Featurette
The Game: The Making of Revolver Featurette
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.35:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French Languages
Spanish and French Subtitles
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“Director Guy Ritchie (‘Snatch,’ ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels’) brings you this no holds barred urban, crime-thriller featuring an all-star cast of gangster movie icons including Jason Statham (‘London,’ ‘Collateral’), Ray Liotta (‘Goodfellas,’ ‘John Q’), Vincent Pastore (‘Made,’ TV’s ‘The Sopranos’) and Outkast’s André Benjamin (‘Idlewild,’ ‘Four Brothers’). Jake Green is a hotshot gambler, long on audacity and short on common sense. He’s rarely allowed to play in any casino because he is a winner and has taken in so much money over the years. He is the only client of his accountant and older brother Billy. One night, Jake, Billy and their other brother Joe are invited to sit in on a private game, where Jake is expected to lose to Dorothy Macha, a crime boss and local casino owner who can’t play for squat, but always wins because people are too scared to beat him. Jake isn’t afraid of Macha, and not only beats Dorothy in a quick game of chance, but takes every possible opportunity to insult the man. Jake and his brothers leave the game, and Macha puts out the order for a hit on Jake, who ends up working for and being protected by a pair of brothers, Avi and Zack, who are out to take Macha down.”
“Revolver” is rated R for violence, language, and some nudity.
Mini-Review:
I like it when a movie throws out a challenging, confusing plot that introduces you to a group of seemingly unrelated puzzle pieces then, by the end, surprises you by revealing how they are all interrelated. When it works, it’s a fun moviegoing experience. When it doesn’t work, it’s intensely frustrating and you wonder why you wasted two hours of your life on it. You also wonder what kind of writer or director is so sheltered that they don’t have someone telling them the story isn’t working. Unfortunately, “Revolver” is one of those bad experiences.
Guy Richie throws out a complex, weird and confusing plot. It didn’t take me long to get lost, but I stuck with it and had faith that Richie would explain everything by the end. Unfortunately, that never happened. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to tell you what this movie is about it was so convoluted. It is set up as if Jake is some mastermind criminal who is going to get revenge on Macha, but that never really happens. In fact, he becomes a pawn of a couple of mysterious loan sharks who have an agenda that is never really explained. Throw in bizarre subplots about a hit man with a conscience, a drug lord that is never seen, and Jake’s fatal illness and you have a lot of plot threads that go in different directions and never converge.
Richie also throws in heaping helpings of weirdness in the film. In one scene, the footage inexplicably turns to 2-D animation and we see exaggerated versions of the characters acting out a robbery on the screen. It made absolutely no sense and didn’t help the story. Things get progressively weirder and more surreal as the movie leads towards its finale. It is truly a case of a filmmaker run amok.
On the bright side, this is a good looking movie. The footage is beautiful, the fight scenes are well choreographed, and the editing is fast paced. Too bad it’s all style and no substance.
I hoped the bonus features would shed light on the story and what Guy Richie was going for, but they aren’t much, if any help. You’ll find some deleted scenes, outtakes, a commentary, and a couple of ‘making of’ featurettes. You see a lot of clowning around between Richie and Jason Statham on the set.
