Desperado | pinartarhan.com

The Other Man starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney

Can I have another movie? Another movie where Antonio Banderas teams up with Liam Neeson? Because this can’t be it. It shouldn’t be. Liam Neeson is a marvelous actor. I have tremendous respect for his work. No matter what the genre, he shines through his role. Take a look at Nell, Schindler’s List, Michael Collins, Love Actually, Kinsey…The list goes on. And last but not least I have seen him in Taken- a breath-taking action drama, where he proves to be an impressive action hero – at the age of 56, which is downright cool. And in the same year as Taken, I saw him in The Other Man, where he plays the husband, as opposed to the other man portrayed by Antonio Banderas. And Antonio Banderas is a good actor. Sure he has to play roles that greet his Hispanic roots (he has never mastered the American accent, as you might have noticed) and this of course blocks his diversity to some level but other than that, he is almost always fun to watch. And under normal circumstances, he would be perfect to play the lover. He has made a name for himself for being hot – and rightfully so. Remember Desperado? Femme Fatale? Original Sin? Never Talk to Strangers? Even if he played guys that fall for the lead females deceptive ways (apart from Desperado), he is perfect as the sexy man. Hell, the first two Spanish guys were blonde, boyish and not nearly half as masculine.

So normally, it is a good idea to cast Neeson as the devoted husband who gets crushed to find out his wife had an affair. And it would make perfect sense that a woman could fall for an exotic looking stranger. But then there is the movie plot where I didn’t get or sympathize with any of the characters.

The movie overall has a very dark, gloomy and tedious atmosphere. Instead of mystery and curiousity, boredom is much more likely to happen. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why Laura Linney’s Lisa would fall for Antonio’s Ralph. He doesn’t have anything going for him (not even looks- you should see the haircut and the white socks). He is an average guy who doesn’t even have an ounce of mystery around him (well- that’s what you think a woman cheating on a devoted,stable and predictable husband would go for). So Lisa cheats and we can’t see why. I can’t see what it is about Lisa that made those two men love her that much…

Did I not go into the plot? Well, when Peter (Neeson) finds out, he finds out who and where he is and sets out to…well to kill him. The cat and mouse thing gives the movie a little thrill, but then it is slow again and the twists we get do more harm than good.

If it hadn’t been a movie with Neeson and Banderas – and I really like Laura Linney’s work too (especially The Life of David Gale with Kevin Spacey) – I would have just said that it was a slow movie and not exactly my thing. But I know how much excitement the actors can bring to the right parts and how capable they are of picking good scripts. So the result is disappointment and well, hopes for a reunion – fingerscrossed, with a different director and a screenwriter.

Posts Featuring Antonio Banderas

OF LOVE AND SHADOWS (1994)

Favorite Revenge Movies

Thick as Thieves

Dispara

Actors, getting naked and their take on nudity

Oh, they are the best! They depict emotions in a raw, powerful form. And by revenge, I’m not talking about an underpaid, overworked guy sticking it up to boss’s ass. Nope. I am talking about when a loved one is murdered and the one who left behind takes justice into his own hands. My latest avenger movie of choice Law Abiding Citizen, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx.

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (2009)

law_abiding_citizen_poster — Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler in Law Abiding Citizen. Oh yes, Gerard kicks as much as his look implies.

Butler’s character is the avenger. The wonderful thing about the film is that he isn’t just taking care of the murderers that took his family’s life. He also comes after the prosecutor who cut a deal with them, the judge who let him and basically the whole system. Don’t worry, I didn’t give away any spoilers. It is all in the thriller. You can check out the trailer and the review here

Below are some of my other favorite revenge movies:

BRAVEHEART (1995)

FVBR2 — Directed, Co-produced by Mel Gibson. Starring Mel Gibson. Yes, he worked his ass off for this movie. End result? A totally awesome epic, a kick-ass revenge tale.

It is a revenge movie. Yes, it is epic,and glorious and tells us how the real life Scottish folk hero led his people to freedom by fighting the English. But the urge to take revenge starts all that. Wallace was just an ordinary boy when his father was killed. But he was taken and raised by his uncle, who taught him to be an intelligent, world-savvy person. He came back to his town and he had no desire to fight. But then the English kill his wife- a woman he loved deeply and loved more than anything and everyone else. So, this drove him to edge. It is possibly one of the most noble acts of revenge, since he did not give up after finishing off his wife’s murderers and continued to fight for his and his country men’s freedom. All of the scenes are priceless. Braveheart has 5 Academy Awards, including Best Film and Best Director; both won by the film’s lead actor/director/producer Mel Gibson. If you haven’t seen it yet, and you are not against the concept of historical epic movies, you really shouldn’t miss this.

The Crow (1994)

crow_with_crow — Brandon Lee as Eric Draven in The Crow

The Crow is such a dark, gothic, powerful cult classic. A rock musician’s ( Eric Draven played by Brandon Lee) fiancée is raped and murdered. Moreover, he is murdered. The great thing about this movie is that the avenger is also dead, and yet he comes back to avenge his and his fiancée’s murders. It is also fascinating to watch as the bad guys go nuts trying to kill him because he just can’t be killed. After all, he is already dead. It would have been lovely to follow Brandon Lee’s projects after this one, but unfortunately he died during the making of this film, which adds to its dark atmosphere. Director Alex Proyas created a cult status for himself. Although Dark City was brilliant, he disappointed quite a few times with his other work. But hey, it is hard to measure up to a film like this.

Death Sentence (2007)

death-sentence-poster — Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence. If you want the hell to break loose, just hurt someone from this guy’s family. Then hurt some more. Climax? One good action sequence after another. Realistic? No. Cool? Oh, yeah!

Although it is not as highly rated and regarded as the two movies above, it is a solid example of the genre. Kevin Bacon plays a dad whose son is murdered and the guilty will not receive a slightly deserving punishment. He loses it. He kills the guy who did it. But where the other revenge flicks would normally end, this one actually starts. Now the gang the bad boy belonged to goes after the dad and the remaining of his family, which might end up in dad having to take revenge once again, more brutally and absolutely. I think revenge flicks should not be judged the originality of the script. Not that I find this one refreshing in some parts, I do. But this kind of drama takes its power from the actors and how the director handles the shots. And this movie was beautifully done. Bacon is apt at playing any character, good and bad. But I am guessing the fact that he is a father in real life and really big on his family, and his own fears helped him bring out such a powerful performance. Watch it. It is exciting, disturbing and emotional. I am not exactly a fan of Saw movies. Haven’t even seen the first one. But now that I found out that the director of the first movie,James Wan, directed Death Sentence, I have this newly found respect for the guy. May he make more movies like this…

Desperado (1995) :

Oh yeah. The movie that will make me love its director Robert Rodriguez regardless of how I feel about his other projects. This is a glorious,well-funded sequel to the more modest El Mariachi,which as good as it might have been, lacked one very important element: Antonio Banderas. In the first movie his girlfriend was murdered so now he seeks to avenge her death. Oh, and he has guitar case stuffed with the good guns and he will get rid of you if you try to get in his way.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZdZv3kT9xk[/pro-player][/pro-player]

Any revenge movie’s lead is so undeniably significant. He needs to be likable. Yeah, sure it is
easy to identify with a guy whose loved one has been murdered- who loved that person so strongly that they risked their own lives in the name of taking justice in their own hands. He needs to look like a lover and a killer. Brandon Lee was charismatic in spite of his make-up-which added wonders to the cult image. Mel Gibson was tough,strong and masculine, and yet vulnerable, despite the traditional kilt. Antonio Banderas makes a wonderful action hero. He is hot,dark,well-built and passionate. What he lacks in height is more than made up to by his charisma and extreme good looks. Oh, he also sings, plays the guitar, uses his guitar as a weapon and meanwhile he does seduce and is seduced by the gorgeous Salma Hayek. Desperado is pure action, 0 drama and kick-ass entertainment. It doesn’t get deep.It just gets even. Kevin Bacon comes from the theater. He started in H0llywood as nice guy roles but he made a name for himself playing the bad guys. So he has no problem at all portraying a guy who is driven to the edge. In fact, he looks like he is made for it.
These movies are all different from each other but they have the core in common: You root for the good guy, you love the blood shed from the bad guys and the action sequences are brilliant. With the exception of Death Sentence, I have seen the rest many times.Which reminds me, I definitely should add the Kevin Bacon film to my collection. It sure as hell deserves a second viewing. I think for an actor, the action role doesn’t get better than a good revenge movie.