adminDirector: Ric Roman Waugh
Cinema: Eastgate
Running time: 110 minutes
Type of film: Gangster
Age restriction: 16
Reviewed by Prof Joel White
BEYOND the plot itself there is a great deal which will appeal to the discerning film-goer.
Increasingly, it seems, filmmakers have realised the value of imbuing their films with the ancillary material which can so much add to the worth of film-going.
This is done in this film, for example, in several ways. Susan Sarandon, born in my hometown, New York City, and now 67 years of age, probably never thought, 40 yeas ago, that she would ever play the extremely serious role of a US Federal Government prosecutor. And, to our joy and benefit, does it extremely winningly. And, albeit this film is very much a film of today, it has been carried out without a smidgen of sex or filthy language.
Even I, formerly, would have doubted that such a feat could be accomplished.
Although I believe the makers of the film have handicapped it with a less than worthy or even reflective title, right from its beginning we get the message that we are in for quite a ride.
Happily, and to his credit, Dwayne Johnson has abandoned the use of his cognomen, “The Rock”, as he portrays in this film a serious, law-abiding businessman whose family life has gone astray.
Divorced from the mother of his 18-year- old son, he is forced to deal with both her and the boy Jason who has seriously run afoul of the law.
All this while happily remarried and the father of a growing second family.
The repute of both his families is preserved in the plot as it is made clear to us that Jason’s involvement with cocaine.
A film highly recommended.
Online Reporter