Una sola via d'uscita

Ever since "Thief" Jim Belushi has been one of those names that draw me past the mediocre reviews to give the movie a chance. Here, Jim plays a morally bankrupt police Inspector who is forced to participate in planning a murder. Things go awry, and eventually he is pulled into the investigation. A couple of coincidences add to the plot complications, and events unravel from there. Except for the opening scene (I mean, how often does this ever happen, except all the time in the movies) this is a reasonable, unpretentious movie, not really a whodunnit in the classic sense, but develops such elements later on. The acting is pro forma, but not bad; the cliches are no worse than normal, and the ending was, to me at least, predictable without being telegraphed. For a low budget, filmed in Canada (Montreal) movie, it was OK. 7 of 10 for meeting expectations, 4 of 10 for general quality.

Harry Woltz is a homicide cop with a gambling problem; a problem that leaves him owing a great deal of money to the Russell brothers. To clear the debt they ask him to train John Farrow to murder his wife, Evans, without leaving the usual clues or making the usual mistakes. However when Harry's ex-partner is put on the case, she begins to get closer than Harry had thought before the case takes some unexpected twists.

Despite the fact that it never saw the inside of a cinema in the US never mind here, I still gave this film a go. The plot is pretty weak but is noir-ish and could have worked better and been darker than it was. Sadly it is quite obvious and so full of holes that you could put your head through to see what was on the other side! This isn't helped by the fact that the film tries to create a dark, noir mood by having a rubbish harmonica soundtrack all the way through - supposedly played by Harry. In the end it all comes down to just where you expect it to and, while the ending would have worked well in a better film, it has no emotion here.

It is not just plot that the film shows it's low values. The direction is workmanlike, the sets are average, the shots let the boom come into view far too often and so on and so forth. The whole thing feels like a TVM at best and I can see why it never reached the cinema! The cast follow this trend with a series of performances that at best are average. Belushi would like to think he can play a dark cop in a noir but he can't - he is miscast and struggles. He is the reason the ending lacks punch and he also takes away from the noir effect of the film. Bateman is OK in support despite not looking as good as he projects with all that stubble. The rest of the support cast are just wallpaper whether in big roles or small.

Overall this film is not awful, it is just poor and uninteresting. The plot and the delivery suggest it wanted to be some sort of noir but it is faking it and doesn't convince. The mood is plastered on in a fake and unimpressive manner, the plot is full of holes and the actors are only average, with a big piece of miscasting and bad acting when it comes to the lead role of Harry.

Homicide Detective Harry Woltz(James Belushi)is a tough cop with dubious morality and has some gambling debts to the wrong people, the mobsters Russell brothers. They suggest Harry train unhappy husband John Farrow(Jason Bateman) how to kill his spouse without leaving clues and get away with it. As an added incentive, they threaten Harry's partner, the cop Gwen(Angela Featherstone) who is put on the issue. But the subsequent assassination investigation encounters evidence pointing Harry's way.

This is a noir crime-drama with suspense, thriller, shootouts, unexpected twists and some moment entertaining. It's a modest film with middling budget and has its good moments here and there. The film is well set in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Agreeable and enjoyable casting, specially formed by trio protagonist: Belushi, Bateman and Featherstone. Excellent James Belushi as corrupt policeman,his career achieved success with ¨Blues brothers, K9,Salvador,Principal¨ however today is failed, playing TV sitcoms as ' According to Jim' and he's usual voice for cartoon movies. Justine Bateman is fine as greedy hubby, Bateman is habitual television actor such as 'Arrested development'and his greatest hit was 'Teen wolf too'. The motion picture is professionally directed by Allan A. Goldstein. He's an usual television movies director: ¨Snake king, Loss of faith,Crossbow¨and occasionally cinema director ¨2001: A space travesty,Dorian, When justice fail¨and director for revenger as Charles Bronson: Death Wish IV, Brian Genesse and Brian Bosworth vehicles. Rating : Average but entertaining.

To pay off a gambling debt, police detective Harry Woltz (Jim Belushi) is forced to teach John Farrow (Jason Bateman) in murdering his wife. The case falls to his ex-partner Gwen Buckley (Angela Featherstone) and he starts feeling the heat.

The originating incident is convoluted. It would be so much simpler if Harry is forced to kill the wife himself. The rest is a lot of twisting and bending to get to the same place. I guess he's less emotionally guilty if he didn't intend to pull the trigger himself but that's a distinction without a difference. He's on the hook for murder either way. As for Jim himself, it always struck me as silly for him to play a hard-boiled detective. This one is a little better since he's corrupt. He's good at sleazy. He's either that or be completely silly. I can't take him as the heroic type. This would work better if he is internally corrupt rather than being a good man who did one corrupt thing.

I have to admit i am a fan of James Belushi in his Comedic film roles, but he does a decent job in this thriller as top homicide detective Harry Woltz.

Due to spiraling gambling debts he is forced into training a husband(Jason Bateman) who is treated badly by his rich wife, on how to commit the perfect murder without leaving any clues behind.

Their are a good few plot twists to keep you interested to the end of the movie, but most are predictable to us as we have seen them in many other similar movies.

Overall i would give the movie 6/10