OCTOBER 24, 2008 - KANATA KOURIER-STANDARD - PAGE 31

Arts & Entertainment REEL REVIEWS

1 OUT OF 5 STARS
KATIE BRADFORD
KOURIER-STANDARD

Max Payne: A drama so bad it draws unintentional chuckles

It is difficult to find a place to begin with this atrocious adaptation du-jour, but Im going to try. After seeing quite a few movies, Ive noticed there is a kind of spectrum of awful: a way to gauge the terribleness of a film. They come in many forms; for instance, films like Max Payne (directed by John Moore), dont carry many They manage to surprise you with their incredible lack of tact, and end up being funny in a twisted, unintentional way. It stars Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, a hardboiled detective stuck in cold case. Hes seen some stuff, man, and some things: dont cross him. At night, he searches for the killer of his wife and child, kicking down bathroom stalls and taking names, vigilante style. Then he meets, you guessed it, a Russian gangster (Mila Kunis) whose search for her sisters murderer turns them into an unlikely duo. Youll also see appearances by B-list actors such as Chris Ludacris Bridges (who, even for a rapper, is above this), Chris ODonnell (pretty much right where he belongs) and sitcom-star Donal Logue (who seems to have gotten lost on the way to the craft services table). The acting is terrible. Completely, unbelievably, mind-numbingly terrible writing doesnt help them much. It was like a bad detective novel, except live action, and with a crappier storyline. Granted there isnt much talking. It's mostly just Wahlberg walking around looking pissed off, his boots stomping on the pavement. The camera becomes overly fascinated with his boots, actually. Somehow, Payne never seems to go anywhere at anytime during the day, either. It is always night. And everything is shot with a blue filter, except during happy flashbacks when they whip out the orange. The film could be about 45 minutes shorter if time didnt continuously slow down whenever a gun is fired. Perhaps Im being a little mean. It does pay homage to the incredibly successful video game series, and packs some interesting action sequences; one of them good. And its hilariously bad, so I had a good chuckle.

KATIE BRADFORD expectations, except from riled up video game fans.

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