Saturday 9 February 2013

Film Review: RICOCHET (2011)

Ricochet - poster Director: Nick Gomez
Writers: Sandra Brown (book), Donald Martin (screenplay)
Running time: 89 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Crime/Drama/Mystery
USA Release date: 30th November 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 9th February 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

You know when you kind of half hear something about a film but you’re not sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. Well that’s what happened to me and somehow the title, ‘Ricochet’ and the fact that Julie Benz (formerly of the TV show ‘Dexter’) starred in it got stuck in my memory. Little did I know it was a ‘made for TV’ movie or that John Corbett also had a starring role… Alarm bells should have been ringing by now! But no, having gone to the effort of recording it I decided I’d give it a look. Here’s a very brief summary before I give you the lowdown on my thoughts.

Ricochet - 4 Set in Savannah in the deep south this story concerns a Judge, Cato Laird (Gary Cole), his wife, Elise (Julie Benz), a detective, Duncan Hatcher (John Corbett), his partner, Deedee Bowen (Kelly Overton) and the obligatory (other) bad guy, Robert Savich (Haaz Sleiman). Now, when Elise Laird it attacked in her own home but manages to shoot her assailant she turns to Detective Hatcher for help. She claims that it was her husband who hired the assailant to kill her. What follows is quite a complicated plot involving the judge, Savich, who Hatcher has a grudge against, and Elise; who obviously knows more than she’s letting on. Of course there’s the obligatory love story (bet you can guess between whom) and a bit of a double-cross at the end. I guess that just about sums it up nicely.

Ricochet - 6 Production-wise, it looks and feels just like a TV movie; which is exactly what it is so I can’t really condemn it for that. I found the plot a tad formulaic, and as such, a little too predictable in places. As far as performances go, well Gary Cole was good value for money (as ever) and I thought Julie Benz was excellent in the beginning where she was playing the femme-fatal, but tailed off towards the end when it all got far too schmaltzy. I have the impression it was most definitely written with a female audience in mind and as such didn’t really press any of my buttons. I guess it’s worth a look if you like that kind of thing, but it really wasn’t for me.

SteelMonster’s verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED

My score: 5.2/10.

IMDb Score: 5.3/10 (based on 133 votes when this review was written).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1942951/?ref_=sr_1

MetaScore: No Data: (Based on 0 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Ricochet - 1 Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: No Data (based on 0 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: No Data (based on 0 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).

Ricochet - 5 If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
None available.

Ricochet - 3 LINKS:
(NOTE: All links were working at the time of going to press)
’Behind the Scenes’ Trailer:

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