User reviews

This is a taut drama/suspense film with a little romance and crime thrown in for good measure. The biggest problem I'm having is deciding which was better, the well done intertwining story lines, or the detailed character development. Both were excellent, making for a movie that is quite enjoyable and well worth watching.

The actors all did fine jobs, Eric Bana as the robber who is a killer, Olivia Wilde as the little sister who maybe has outgrown her need to be protected, Charlie Hunnam as her troubled but worthwhile romantic interest, Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson as his parents, Kate Mara as the aspiring FBI agent deputy, and Treat Williams as her father the Sheriff. Their performances were all worthy of this well written and directed feature.

I have never heard of the writer or director, but I plan to watch for more of their stuff. This one is not a long movie by today's standards, but the pace of the action, and the time spent letting us figure out each character are so well balanced.

Make sure your snacks are ready ahead of time as, once this one starts, you will not want to miss a second of it (or even use the pause button once it is out on DVD).

Simply put, this is a good movie. Even knowing what happens, I'll probably watch it again sometime.

Quite a good little crime drama with a snowy backdrop and isolation as an insistent threat. The tension is woven with the back stories of those involved all leading to an inevitable confrontation and a predictable solution.

Getting there is the fun and this movie delivers enough action and suspense to keep one's interest and it has a semi-stylish tone that is better in the action department then in the character's and their development. The acting ranges from the intense too intensely wooden. Eric Bana is engaging in an aloof amalgamation of insanity and infantile. The other male lead (Charlie Hunnam) barely registers even though he is given the most screen time.

There is very little invested in the female Deputy and her Sheriff Dad, and the conflicted Parents. Some effort is made in the end to strengthen these complex situations but it is really rushed and rather anti-climactic.

It is best when things are on the move and the hunt is on and at worst in the convoluted love story in the middle. Overall it is a good thriller that can be enjoyed for its moving parts, despite the stale and stoic presentation of psychological situations that are presented in such shallowness as to be distracting.

"It's a good sign when you feel a little bad." Brother and sister Addison (Bana) and Liza (Wilde) have just robbed a casino and are making their getaway when they get into an accident. Jay (Hunnam) is fresh out of jail and is looking for answers as to why he took the fall. When all their paths cross things turn for the worse. This is a movie I was looking forward too. The cast had me interested right away. The movie started off fast and never really slowed down. It is a movie where you seem to be one step ahead of what is going on though and that kind of hurts the overall enjoyment. When you can predict 90% of what is going to happen before it does you start to lose interest, at least I do. I did like the movie and I would recommend it but don't expect a lot of twists. The movie was good and entertaining though and the cast was great but a few twists could have made it better. Overall, an enjoyable movie that could have been better if it wasn't so predictable. I give it a B.

Haven't seen a crime thriller this good in ages, with such fast moving pace but excellent character development at the same time.

The screenplay is exciting and observant of human psychology. The acting is superb, and I guess the directing had a lot going for it too. Like the perfect storm,this just all came together and did a job of stirring me up good.

The tension built up from the start with Addison and what we learn about him and his coach. The relationship between the sheriff and his daughter, and the how the men treated her, and her stoic dealing with it...wow, I could not have handled it.

The relationship between the siblings was ambiguous but inspiring at the same time. The relationship in the family between the spouses and the son was written with such deft strokes which said so much.

The actors were fabulous. Especially at the dinner table at the climax of the story. The mother, Sissy Spacek, had such easy going wisdom about her but exploded with outraged indignation when pushed beyond the limit.

Loved the way the brother got the "L" word out of the protagonist in the climactic denouement. And it left you in the end wondering how the story would go on with our antiheroes.

One of those screenplays where you just fall in love with the bad guy and it just kills you to know he is fated, and that he has written his own tragedy as well as having been written by it.

Look forward to more of Zach Dean's screenplays.

Deadfall – CATCH IT (B)

Siblings Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza (Olivia Wilde) are on the run from a casino heist gone wrong. When a car accident leaves their wheel man and a state trooper dead, they split up and make a run for the Canadian border in the worst of circumstances, a near whiteout blizzard. While Addison heads cross-country, creating mayhem in his wake, Liza is picked up by ex-boxer Jay (Charlie Hunnam), en-route for a Thanksgiving homecoming with his parents, June (Sissy Spacek) and retired sheriff Chet (Kris Kristofferson). It's there the siblings are reunited in a terse and thrilling showdown that pushes the bonds of family to the limit.

Eric Bana did his job nicely, watching him doing incest jealous/obsesses/protective brother/lover was indeed bizarre. Olivia Wilde is stunningly gorgeous and at times creepy too. Charlie Hunnam is fun to watch, he is smart and never looks bad in what he does. Kate Mara is fine as always. Sissy Spacek and Kris Krsitoppher are good.

In the end, there is nothing much to expect from a movie besides that it's a B class thriller with gorgeous faces. I found movie quite entertaining, it may not have the most lovable characters but they sure are pretty. Good Time pass.

After a heist of a casino, the criminal Addison (Eric Bana) is on the run to Canada with his accomplice Theo (Dennis Lafond) and his sister Liza (Olivia Wilde). Out of the blue, Theo hits a deer and loses control of the car that leaves the road and overturns. Theo dies and Addison kills a patrolman that comes to help them. Then he splits the money with Liza and tells her to get a ride to the border while he will cross the woods. Addison leaves a trail of blood in his runaway.

Meanwhile, the former boxer Jay (Charlie Hunnam), who was arrested for losing a fight, is released from prison on probation and calls his mother June Mills (Sissy Spacek) that lives in an isolated house with his estranged father Chet Mills (Kris Kristofferson) that was the former Sheriff. June invites her son for the Thanksgiving dinner, but he goes first to the gym to collect money that his couch owes him. They quarrel and Jay hits him and believes that has killed him. He flees and while driving on the road, he sees Liza and gives a ride to her. Soon they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile Sheriff Marshall T. Becker (Treat Williams) is hunting Addison with his men but he does not allow that his daughter, Deputy Hanna (Kate Mara) to participate in the hunting party. The Thanksgiving will end with all the characters gathering at Chet and June's home.

"Deadfall" is a good thriller with impressive landscape in the snow. The engaging story begins with a poor development of Addison and Liza and does not show the heist of the casino. But the plot is tense and the cast has great names. Sheriff Marshall T. Becker is one of the most imbecile and arrogant sheriffs that I have seen in an American movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Fuga" ("The Runaway")

After a heist in Michigan, a killer and his little sister (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde) take different paths in the snowy wilderness just before Thanksgiving. An ex-con (Charlie Hunnam) who happens to be fleeing authorities in Detroit meets the girl on the way to his parents' remote farmhouse (Kris Kristofferson & Sissy Spacek). Meanwhile the cops are on their trail (Treat Williams & Kate Mara). Who will survive the holiday?

"Deadfall" (2012) is a wintery crime thriller in the mold of "Fargo" (1996), "A Simple Plan" (1998) and "Wind River" (2017). It's the least of these due to contrivances and occasional bad scripting, like the police chief's eye-rolling verbal abuse of his daughter (I'm not saying mistreatment like this doesn't occur, just that it could be written & executed more convincingly).

Yet the snowy, sylvan landscapes are great and the thrills are constant. Plus there are some interesting neo-noir dramatic threads and you can't beat the notable cast, including the striking Olivia (who looks like she needs to eat some hamburgers).

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in Quebec, in areas outside Montreal.

GRADE: B-/B.

I'm not saying this is an all action knockout. This type of movie with all the archetypal plot progressions that been carried out before.

But it does it oh so well!!!!!!!!!

It has good pace from the beginning, well-drawn characters, and delivers right amount of information as the film progresses to keep you interested in what happens next. There are no obvious spoilers tipping you off and the resolution has some refreshing twists.

Yes, as I said it follows tried and tested formula's but does so 'oh so well' in the hands of some famous and other not so famous but excellent character actors.

Lastly, the ending works so you will feel satisfied you didn't waste an hour and a half of your life watching it.

Ever encounter peanut butter that when spread sounds like a wet rag being squeezed?

No? Could it be because peanut butter has a smooth texture and not that of a sponge?

This is one of very many little infuriating details that plague Deadfall. The female police officer can't just be a female police officer, she has to have daddy issues and be the victim of chauvinism. The barmaid can't just be a barmaid, she has to have had an ass-hole ex etc etc

Deep down Deadfall is a competently made film with lovely camera work, but it is a frustrating experience watching it simply because of all the things that distract from what ought to be a simple streamlined drama.

Perhaps the reason this film is not meeting with a better reception has to do with our current situation of senseless killings that are happening throughout the nation. Had t been placed in the theaters at a different time it might have been better appreciated. The script by Zach Dean is tight and multifaceted in meanings, the direction by Stefan Ruzowitzky keeps us in suspense until the final frame, and the cast of actors is unusually fine. It is a fine little film and deserves more attention.

The title DEADFALL is translated by the dictionary as 'A trap for large animals in which a heavy weight is arranged to fall on and kill or disable the prey.' How that title applies to his story is one of the subtle strong points in this dissection of three dysfunctional families. Siblings Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza (Olivia Wilde) are on the run from a casino heist gone wrong. When a car accident leaves their wheel man and a state trooper dead, they split up and make a run for the Canadian border in the worst of circumstances - a near whiteout blizzard. While Addison heads cross-country, killing everyone who crosses his path or who could provide transportation possibilities, Liza is picked up by ex-boxer Jay (Charlie Hunnam) who has just been released from prison for fixing a boxing match and is en-route for a Thanksgiving homecoming with his parents, June (Sissy Spacek) and retired sheriff Chet (Kris Kristofferson). Following Addison's wake of killings the sheriff (Treat Williams) loses many of his men and ridicules his new deputy daughter (Kate Mara). The story all come together at the Thanksgiving dinner at June and Chet's place - where the three families' ties are strained to the breaking point. It's there the siblings are reunited in a terse and thrilling showdown that pushes the bonds of family to the limit.

The freezing cold of the blizzard backdrop is juts right for the tension that pervades this story. The original musical score by Marco Beltrami underlines all the facets of this tale. While every one in the cast is excellent, it is Eric Bana that pulls of a very well written role in a manner that despite his actions he never loses our empathy.

Grady Harp

Soon, it becomes evident that all characters in movie have somehow failed - as criminals and/or as parents/children, so there are no totally positive or negative types. But the events develop and - with the help of background snow - the viewers are shown different characters who, in the end, will sit at one table. The movie has all elements of crime drama - shootings, dead bodies, police work, chases - included but not limited to. However, the plot is uneven and some scenes are too protracted (e.g., Liza-Jay relation), and the ending is shallow. As for the cast, then supporting actors are much better than main ones: Kris Kristofferson as Chet and Sissy Spacek as June. The star Eric Bana is good, but it is not among his best performances, but Olivia Wilde and Charlie Hunnam were uninviting to me. Nevertheless, this somewhat 1,5 hours passes fast and Deadfall is good for killing time.

This movie could have been much more better with more depth of plot and characters. Without it, this thriller became much more predictable. Olivia Wilde is trying to do variety roles in her carrier. She played as a dysfunctional girl/sister who is dependent on her brother. Script did not gave enough to color her character. Movie more focuses on Eric Bana. Eric did deliver his best but movie died in middle when plot became very much predictable. Another weak development is between Kate Mara and her father. Cinematography is refreshing. With lot of major plot holes somewhere movie becomes difficulty to process. Even though this Movie just revolves around immoral characters, there is no moral for viewers to take home. This much less thriller is for those who are fan of either Bana or Wilde to see them on screen.

Deadfall is alright. Not an academy award winner, but a pretty decent, well tought, well delivered movie with good star power.

Leading man Eric Bana does excellent as Addison, the disturbed man who likely owes his psycological problems to a monster father, whom he killed to deliver his sister, played by the gorgeous Olivia Wilde as Liza.

Charlie Hunnam also shines as the ex convict former boxer with his own dad issues who falls in loved with the troubled Liza.

The plot worked pretty good till all the characters met in particular circumstances for thanksgiving dinner. That dinner unfolded a bit weird. i think it could have been doing better.

Still, this Deadfall dark drama is surely worth of your time. As I mentioned, it's not an oscar winner, but its a decent, acceptable movie featuring pretty good stars. Enjoy it

Deadfall... Probably a film most people have not seen yet, and will not get the advertising it truly deserves. This is a very hard movie to review, because there are so many different film genres mixed in a short 1:30 hour movie. Basically its a story about a heist that has gone wrong, and the different ways the people of a small town get affected by the crime and the 2 criminals(Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde). The strongest point of this film has to be the acting from Eric Bana, and Charlie Hunnam. The tension built throughout the film between the 2 leads, even though they hardly interact until the last 15 minutes, was the best part of the movie. If it was made before the reindeer games, and other similar crime films i probably would have rated it higher, but unfortunately it comes across as a little plagiaristic. I wont go into the details about the plot because that would just ruin the experience of a good, but probably one time movie. All in all I give it a 7/10.

"Blackbird" is a short and entertaining action thriller even though its title is a little bit strange and even though the story is a little bit weak at times.

The movie follows two siblings after a casino heist: a brutal bother who eliminates everybody on his way to the Canadian border and a sister who is quite smart but also a lot more emotional. On their way through the North-American wilderness, their ways get separated and they promise to meet each other again at the other side of the border. While the brother raises a bloody body count, the sister meets some sort of prodigal son. She gets into the car of a boxer who has just been released from prison and who accidentally and severely injured his coach during a rough argument a few hours ago. He is know getting away from the city, is under pressure and wants to spend Thanksgiving hidden at the mansion of his family: his father who rejected him and his more emotional mother who wants to see her son again after a long time. He is also about to meet the love of his youth there who has become a cop that is disrespectfully treated by her father who is the chief. While the local police is after the brother sibling and also soon hears from the injured coach, the sister sibling and the boxer start to have feelings for each other when they arrive at the boxer's family house. The brother sibling is though not happy at all with the new situation and is decided to get everybody out of his way to freedom and illegal wealth.

On the negative side, there are a few weak points in the script. The love story between the boxer and the female sibling is not credibly done at all and feels too forced. In addition to this, all little bit too much drama and a few unnecessary stereotypes are added to the story towards the end when the tough past of the siblings is revealed.

The movie though convinces with its fast paced story line that leads to a tension filled finish even though the script is not among the most original ones and remembers many similar movies. Another strong point is the rather solid acting by all actors and the fact that the movie portrays two and at some times even three different story lines that all meet each other at the end. The breathless film never gets boring but is maybe a little bit hard to follow in the beginning that introduces a few too many characters. That's why this film might request multiple viewings to grow on the spectators and it's definitely worth your time because this flick has a lot of potential. Let's add that the landscapes that were mostly filmed in Canada are also stunning and add an atmospheric and cold touch to the thriller.

In the end, this movie is one of the better action thrillers of the year. It features a fast paced story, breathtaking landscapes and a great finish despite some lukewarm elements in the script. I would suggest you to watch this movie with a lot of concentration to be able to follow all the different story lines and get to know who is who among the elevated number of characters.

"What would home look like? I don't know. A farmhouse in the valley, I guess, like the one we grew up in, Liza and I."

Academy Award winning director for his foreign film The Counterfeiters, Stefan Ruzowitzky, now brings us an American crime thriller dealing with dysfunctional families. It seems to be an odd choice for a director who had so much success back in Austria considering this is an average B-film that doesn't introduce anything new or unique to the genre. Deadfall never manages to deliver the thrills that it promises either and has a rather unsatisfying ending. At times it felt like a film that was trying to be something else, but it never quite figured out what it wanted to be and ended up only scratching the surface of the dysfunctional family drama it was so desperately tying to explore. Perhaps it suffered from trying to add several subplots and intertwine them together towards the climactic end, but ultimately Deadfall felt like your average crime thriller with a strong ensemble cast, but a poor and unimaginative script. Deadfall never quite delivers the thrills and the characters are underdeveloped turning this film into a messy ordeal. As much as I wanted to enjoy this, I couldn't find anything redeeming about it, and not even the beautiful Olivia Wilde shines here. It's a dull film that tries to be more important than it really is with way too many subplots and overlapping themes that are barely explored.

The screenplay was written by Zach Dean centering on two siblings, Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza (Olivia Wilde), who are heading towards the Canadian border after having pulled of a casino heist. We never see the actual heist take place since the film opens with them already in route to the border when all of a sudden in the midst of a blizzard their vehicle crashes into a deer. Addison is forced to kill the patrolman and decides to split up with Liza and meet up later as the police will be after him. On another note, we are introduced to a former boxer named Jay (Charlie Hunnam) who is being released from prison. The first thing Jay does is call his mother June (Sissy Spacek) who lives in a farmhouse near the spot where Addison and Liza crashed. She invites Jay over for Thanksgiving dinner despite the fact that he's been estranged with his father Chet (Kris Kristofferson). Along the way, Jay finds Liza nearly freezing to death near the highway and he decides to give her a lift. Addison on the other hand is being hunted by Sheriff Becker (Treat Williams) and his men who are closing in on the trail of blood he's left behind. Becker's daughter, Hannah (Kate Mara), whose also an officer is ordered to stay in the station and out of trouble. As the characters are all introduced it becomes inevitable to realize that they are all going to intersect somewhere along the way.

Despite the talented ensemble cast, the script is so poorly written that there is not much they can do to prevent their characters from becoming cardboard cutouts. Even the always reliable and legendary actors such as Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek can't do anything to save this film. Hunnam and Wilde have a very poorly developed romantic subplot that felt extremely rushed. Bana didn't really look too menacing as the villain and at times his character felt cartoonish. The dysfunctional family elements that this film tries to explore never really gets anywhere and they all seem too cliché. The male characters are seen as tough while the females are forgiving and patient. The western showdown near the end wasn't engaging either and everything about this film felt ordinary despite the different themes they were trying to blend together. It never digs under the surface of those elements it's trying to introduce and that's why the film feels so dull and empty. Deadfall is not the important and smart thriller it's trying to be.

"Deadfall," is the story of a brother and sister, Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza (Olivia Wilde) ,that decide to split up and go their separate ways after a botched robbery and car accident. Through a chance meeting and a twist of fate, the brother and sister are again reunited on Thansgiving day, one that turns out to be anything but a great Holiday for all parties (the siblings, a young police woman, a husband and wife, and Liza's new love interest, a former Olympic medalist boxer that has just got out of prison.

The Good: The acting all around was solid. Eric Bana pulls this one off well especially considering he had to kill his Australian accent in favor of a southern U.S. one. Olivia Wilde also pulled off her role, but it's hard to tell, and I am definitely biased as she is great eye candy, and has such beautiful sexy eyes. Charlie Hunnam who plays an ex-Olympic Boxer turned ex-con, shows some skill as well and proves why everyone loves the "Son's of Anarchy" series.

The writing was well done, and the setting and scenery does nothing to hurt a good movie. There are a few action scenes that keep you from losing interest through the drama. Once again having the distraction of the delicious Olivia Wilde also does the trick as well. The intertwining stories which sometimes can be overused and cliché these days was done in a rather good fashion that made it a worthy way of making a movie. The character's themselves were well built so that you find yourself not really hating any of them, and then again don't love any of them either, which is a real credit and not easy to do without making people lose interest and feel indifferent altogether.

The Bad: I would have liked at some point to have seen a lot more of the actual robbery. Kris Kristofferson , although supposed to be playing a hardened ex-detective, still comes off a little too wooden. I also, personally anyway, can't stand Treat Williams, who is a B-movie guy at best.

Like my reviews? Hate them? Questions, comments, or have a DVD you want reviewed? Feel free to send an e-mail to: subiminal.lithium@gmail.com

While I did feel this had a good story to tell and interesting perspective, it missed the mark. The characters were not developed enough for us to care about them. A huge mistake that many screenwriters make. Let us like or hate the characters but tell us something about them. The director or script had the characters do and say things that the character would not do or say in that particular scene. When Liza and Jay are in the pub after the roads get closed, she goes out to his truck and immediately goes into his pack to get his address from letters there. How did she know these were there or that there was a pack in the first place? No shot of the pack was shown to the audience to establish this fact. Is she clairvoyant? Then the little girl in the cabin scene with Addison when he kills the stepfather and saves the mother and kids, says something that appeared to be out of left field and once again, made no sense. This went on and on during the movie. Liza and Jay are just getting to know each other in the truck and the pub when all or a sudden he is dancing with her and falling in love. Not in real life anyway. I can understand that a guy just out of prison would want to sleep with the girl as soon as possible but next morning when he see's her about to get into the semi truck of another guy, he runs out half naked to stop her and pledges his affection. Once again, Really, makes no sense for his character. He would have pulled on his clothes and driven away happy to had had the night he had.

The set decoration was an issue as well to me. Having been a Set Decorator in movies I pay attention to this stuff. In the motel attached to the little backwoods pub there are stylish grey sheets on the bed. Are you kidding? What backwoods motel owner is going to splash out on expensive sheets for the rental rooms when cheap white will suffice. The pub also had a stage area for bands and during the day scene there was instruments on stage as if there was a band there. Really? During the day when the roads have been closed due to the storm, a band is going to be working there? No band was established or heard, and no pub owner is going to buy instruments on spec just in case someone with a musical bent just happens by. This kind of mistake just takes away from the story for me and I miss what's going on as I am now annoyed at the Director or Decorator for these glaring errors.

There was a missing scene at the end of the movie that was required to wrap thing up. The movie ended without doing this wrap up and we are left to ask what happened. Did Hanna become an FBI agent or stay in Minnesota as a County Sheriff. A final hospital scene where her father, Sheriff Becker thanks her and says she will make a great FBI Agent would go a long way to finishing things up.

All in all it was not a bad movie and not a complete waste of time but it could have been a great movie if more time was spent on development and attention to detail.

One other thing that confuses me is the listing of actors credits on IMDb. Why was Kate Mara listed waaaay down in amongst the one-line cast when she was so much more then a single line actor in this picture?

Atrocious sub-Fargo story with the two leads looking like they'd just come from a modelling agency. No sign of the fierce Minnesota climate on their faces. One of them even pulls a bank raid wearing a backless dress. In winter. The script is appalling with no cliché left unturned, particularly painful is the introductory dialogue between the femme fatal and a fellow fugitive on the lam.

The direction is even worse with a total lack of rhythm and pacing. The long takes in some scenes rather than being (hopefully) pregnant with meaning, induce only yawns. It's amazing that such a shoddy work could attract actors like Eric Bana and Kate Mara who were clearly working to scale. Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek also appear, but only remind you of better days at the cinema.