Directed by:
Oliver StoneCinematography:
Dan MindelComposer:
Adam PetersCast:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch, Mía Maestro, Demián Bichir, Leonard Roberts (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Laguna Beach entrepreneurs Ben (Johnson), a peaceful and charitable Buddhist, and his closest friend Chon (Kitsch), a former Navy SEAL and ex-mercenary, run a lucrative, homegrown industry - raising some of the best marijuana ever developed. They also share a one-of-a-kind love with the extraordinary beauty Ophelia (Lively). Life is idyllic in their Southern California town... until the Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them. When the merciless head of the BC, Elena (Hayek), and her brutal enforcer, Lado (Del Toro), underestimate the unbreakable bond among these three friends, Ben and Chon - with the reluctant, slippery assistance of a dirty DEA agent (Travolta) - wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (8)
A visually incredibly sophisticated and attractive, color-filtered, tuned, purely "image-based" film. Not that the solid plot would be on the second place, but fans of the director's work know exactly what to expect. For an uninitiated viewer, it will be a consistent film in all aspects and a solid experience whether in the cinema or a high-quality home projection, for example on DVD. Well-acted and musically stylish, the film has a solid pace and an appealing feeling, as always, skillfully reflecting the present time. This time, instead of sports, we have drugs here, but it’s still watchable.
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Stone received a simple and catchy story (reminiscent of a "metaphysically" truncated version of No Country For Old Men on speed), a genre-appreciative character and the opportunity to shoot a brisk thriller full of irony and black humor. So, what’s left? A formally extremely fragmented affair that reveals persistent efforts and weak self-criticism. Narratively and stylistically, the film conjures up breakneck, constant changes in the way it is shot, color palettes, juggling with depth of field, dynamically composed "narration in narration" - but instead of going forward like "Tony Scott", it tends to get stuck and stutter. After a while, it is not clear why there is so much juggling, as it does not advance the tone of the film anywhere. In addition, for example, the personal narrator will soon reveal that it is not narrative elegance, but rather a sweaty addition to the meaning of the thriller plot, which collapses in his hands. Then there are other things - this film calls for something cool, irony, light situational comedy, provocations. But in all respects, in the end, it comes of very professorial and leathery. Violence, sex, desperate romance - everything is too deliberate and prayed out (even whimpered). Blake Lively as McGuffin is superficial and annoying with her sentiment. The whole story of the war with the drug cartel goes nowhere and the motif of savagery drowns in the narrator's clichéd chatter. It’s too bad, because this could be damn fresh and peppery entertainment. But Stone's hand shouldn't be shaking in this way. Even so, I do not deny a certain spontaneous magic that persuaded me to buy the book....
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Oliver Stone is still a master. His bold directorial style, tons of visual flourishes, a perfectly integrated soundtrack and songs; it never gets boring. Its form reminded me a bit of his earlier U-Turn, except that this one has a much better script, with a light Tarantino touch, without annoying clichés, and with a conclusion that is a Stone-esque middle finger to the viewer. With the exception of a somewhat hapless Blake Lively, all the actors were excellent and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the teenage looser from Kick-Ass, went a long way towards charisma.
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Oliver Stone, even at his advanced age, still stuns with his creativity (this time, once again, extremely dynamic direction is also supported by a properly punchy "pulp screenplay") and very emphatically sends a raised middle finger to those who might want to clap him into the irons of old. I haven't seen so much energy, so many ideas, so many great actors, so much spontaneity, and actually a very (un)viewer-friendly ending to this extent anywhere lately. This is the Stone I've always enjoyed the most, whether in Natural Born Killers or U-Turn. A little bit the Coen brothers, a little our old pal Quentin, but in a lot of ways the master is still very original. Plus it’s all highly addictive :))))
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To start with a rather naive idyll about a love triangle, entwined in ganja roots. But Stoney couldn’t leave it at that. Visual refinement goes without saying, the bloody brutality of the unrated version (could have been a fuck or two richer) adds a good two stars. Taylor Kitsch downright found himself in his role. Del Toro plays the biggest possible asshole with obvious delight and Travolta landed another fine role. The action scenes are right up there with the best, old school quality. Another picture like that, but with a better screenplay next time, please. P.S.: The cellphone ringing tone with “Three Blind Mice" is annoying, but pleasing. Please don’t kill me, I have three young children.
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