Review: A Clear Shot

Uncork'd Entertainment's latest action effort is based on a real-life incident, the largest hostage situation in American history, which occurred at a Sacramento electronics store in 1991. This makes it an ambitious project for a distributor best known for low-low-low budget genre releases, usually direct to the home market.

You can't fault them for trying, and Uncork'd and writer/director Nick Leisure give the story their all, even if they don't always hit the mark.

The film's strength lies in a trio of performances led by veterans Mario Van Peebles and Marshal Hilton, a not quite buddy-cop duo who attempt to negotiate with a group of Asian hostage takers. These two own the show, and act circles around pretty much everyone else, holding our attention with some serious gravitas.

For the record, former Basement guest Hilton is the better of the two.

Jessica Meza, a beat copt who aides Van Peebles and Hilton is also good. She has an unneeded, but nevertheless entertaining, minor love interest with Van Peebles.

Everyone else, well, they just aren't as good. In fact the rest of the cast just can't live up to the leads, or the story, which hurts moments of dramatic impact and poignancy. They can't deliver the impact the story needed.

This isn't to say I wasn't engaged by A Clear Shot, as I found myself quite involved in the story. I appreciated how they didn't paint the hostage takers in a completely negative light, and attempted to address issues of race and white privilege. In fact, the ending left me a stunned, which means Leisure nailed it.

A Clear Shot is an ambitious film given its budget and overall casting. I liked it. I enjoyed Van Peebles, Hilton, and Meza. That means it's a Good.

Comments

Justin Cider welcomes a Homewrecker to the Fanily

COVID-19 has impacted pretty much everything and, although some industries have slowly been able to get rolling again, sport is one that remains in limbo. This holds true for the world of Thrash Wrestling, which we in The Basement are a proud sponsor of. But the men and woman of Thrash Wrestling continue to challenge each other, and entertain fans, in a creative way. Which is why Jason and Shawn welcome Thrash Wrestler Justin Cider into the ring... err, Basement, when From The Basements takes over the Radio NL 610 AM airwaves at 6:05 tonight! Cider will update listeners on how Thrash Wrestling continues with social distancing in place. And he'll shed some light on the future of the sport, how people can support his Fanily, and more! And stick with us, as Justin joins The Basement Boys for a review of the new horror/comedy Homewrecker starring Alex Essoe and Precious Chong. Does this female-focused comedic thriller deliver the goods? Tune in after the 6 o'clock news ...

Top 5 quotes from the Rambo franchise

It's Rambo Day, which means it's a day we celebrate all things Rambo. And no, we didn't make that up. It's a real thing, and part of the lead in to Rambo: Last Blood coming out on Friday. We were going to celebrate by doing a Top 5 favourite Rambo kills, but the fine folks at Arrow in the Head already did something like that, so I figured why not share our favourite Rambo quotes. I like quotes. Quotes are good. Anyway, here we go with our Top 5, in no particular order: 5) "They drew first blood." - John Rambo, First Blood (1982) Because it's always cool when the hero references the title of the movie in a quote. 4) "Live for nothing, or die for something. Your call." - John Rambo, Rambo (2008) Because it's 100-per-cent truth, and is the exclamation mark on a great monologue by Stallone. 3) "I could have killed 'em all. I could kill you. In town, you're the law. Out here, it's me. Don't push it, or I'l...

Grace Victoria Patterson returns

What's this? Two podcasts From The Basement in less than nine months? Has the world gone mad!?! No, but when past Basement guest Grace Victoria Patterson asked nicely if she could return to this fine podcast, Jason and Shawn -- agreeable sorts that they are -- said yes. Hence we have this new episode for your ear holes! Grace provides an update on her career, which has seen the cheerleader-turned-actress appear in no fewer than eight films plus a TV series, with more projects on the way. She and Jason talk all about this, plus some other stuff. What kind of stuff? Stick with us! And stay tuned, as The Basement Boys discuss a whole slew of movies and television, including the Netflix Jimmy Savile documentary, The Batman, the horror romp The Cellar and more! It's podcasting that's so awesome, you'll be awesomed out by its awesomeness! What are you waiting for? Push play and enjoy!

Search This Blog