Country: United States
Genre: Action/ Suspense/ Mainstream
Director: David Twohy
Year: 2009
Rating: 
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
The premise of A Perfect Getaway seems like fun. Young newlyweds Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jovovich) are hiking through the paradise of the North Coast of Kaui, the most beautiful island in Hawaii. Two other couples are on the same trail. Cliff and Cydney find out that a criminal couple have just murdered two newlyweds on Oahu. Could the murderers be one of the other couples? The setup promises suspense, action and incredible views, a sort of virtual vacation. What could go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out.
To start with, Cliff and Cydney are morons. Everything that comes out of their mouths is stupid, and they aren’t even nice, as a way of compensating for their lack of intelligence. Even Steve Zahn, with his remarkable comic timing, can’t make Cliff interesting or likeable, and Milla Jovovich has all the personality of a butt plug. I was also disappointed by the performance of Timothy Olyphant as Nick, one of the other hikers, who presents himself as a special forces hotshot. He leers and bugs his eyes like a cartoon. Kiele Sanchez is even worse — it seems like she’s doing a bad Hillary Swank imitation. The other couple barely registers.
A huge part of the problem is the script by writer/director David Twohy. It’s hard to believe that this is the same guy who wrote Imposter, one of the better science fiction thrillers of the last decade. The characters manage the trick of being both boring and cliches. The dialog is wretched — hardly one word rings true. Another nauseating thing Twohy does is make Cliff a screenwriter. This opens the door for all sorts of boringly self-referential dialog about second act twists and red herrings. Worst of all, Twohy cheats.
The first two acts of the script revolve around dicking with the audience. Who are the killers? Twohy plays on our knowledge of other killer diller scripts to cant our suspicions one way or the other. Then he employs a second act twist (actually, it propels us into the third act) that completely invalidates the previous hour of the movie. Surprises are generally good in movies, but only if you play fair.
Fortunately, once the shoe drops, the movie improves. Twohy makes good use of props, such as a knife, a hatchet, and two kayaks. He also gives us two nasty and original bits of carnage that make you cringe, in a good way. What’s good about the carnage is the same thing that’s missing in the rest of the movie — the carnage is based in real life experience and therefore relatable. You wince because you identify.
The only way you could identify with the rest of the movie is if you are a moron, which is apparently the target audience of A Perfect Getaway.
If you found this post helpful, share it by clicking on one of these icons!
Related posts:
- Sunshine Cleaning - I’d Hate To Be Around When It’s Rainy
- Out Of Sight - Stupid Art Tricks Almost Spoil Flick
- Go - Looking For Trouble
- Live Free Or Die Hard - John McClane Minus Graphic Violence and Cursing
