The Place For The Latest Movie Reviews
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Autumn Reeser, Sam Elliot, Jimmi Simpson, Snoop Dogg
Late one night, Los Angeles private investigator, Ned Cruz (Antonio Banderas) gets a visit from a recently paroled Russian boxer with an intriguing job offer: find Lexie, his missing girlfriend and the 30-million dollar stash of diamonds she's hiding. As Detective Cruz sets out to find her, the clues send him into the city's seediest corners, from a Hollywood action star with a dirty little secret (James Van Der Beek), to an enterprising porn producer who takes a personal interest in his own work (Snoop Dogg), and a kinky waitress with an unusual fetish for particle physics (Autumn Reeser). Lexie proves to be as elusive as she is beautiful and Cruz becomes obsessed with finding her. With time running out, Cruz discovers the trail leads to reclusive billionaire (Sam Elliot), and his physicist (Jimmi Simpson), intent on recreating The Big Bang underneath the New Mexico desert. Tailed by a trio of cops also looking to find the missing diamonds, and with the body count piling up, Cruz soon realizes that what appeared to be a standard missing person's case is anything but, and could quite possibly bring about the end of the world as we know it.
"The Big Bang" is a unique blend of Film Noir and Sci-Fi which for the most part works very well. The film starts off as a classic private eye film where the hero pursues a missing person, it then takes an unexpected turn into the territory of particle physics and the actual Big Bang. I am going to stop there because to be honest the more you know about the film the more it is going to ruin the entire experience for you. The film had a very limited theatrical release which is the norm for films such as this that go outside the box of mainstream films. That isn't saying this is a bad film, in fact I really enjoyed it, it has a clever story that keeps you guessing and the I loved the visuals and dark humor that are sprinkled through-out the movie.
As the film opens a Private Eye is being interrogated by three cops after a series of murders. He tells the cops that he was hired by an ex-con to find a missing woman who had sent him letters in prison but while investigating the case bodies start turning up dead. There's a lot at play here, too much to tell without creating spoilers but I loved the over-all find of the film and really thought the mix of the two genres though odd worked really well and it created a different yet clever tale which is something we rarely see nowadays.
Directed by Tony Krantz (producer of Mulholland Dr., and Fox's ''24''), written by Emmy® award winner Erik Jendresen (''Band of Brothers'') and featuring the debut soundtrack by The Smiths' legend Johnny Marr. The film also stars Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Valkyrie), William Fichtner (Drive Angry, Date Night, ''Prison Break''), Robert Maillet (Sherlock Holmes, 300) with Delroy Lindo (Gone in 60 Seconds, ''The Chicago Code''). The cast did a terrific job all the way around but the two highlights are Antonio Banderas as the gumshoe and Sam Elliott is amazing, he steals every scene he is in. Available on both DVD and Bluray, they come with Special Features that include:
Audio Commentary from Producer/Director Tony Krantz and Co-Producer Reece Pearson
Lex Parsimoniae: The Making of The Big Bang
Extended Scenes
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for something different or if you're just a fan of the genre or the film's stars. "Something different" might best describe "The Big Bang" but it's also an exciting film filled with action, mystery, humor and a little sci-fi as well which makes for a highly entertaining film experience. I am not sure everyone will "get" it but those that do are in for a treat.
You can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment
**** Out Of *****