This review was written for the theatrical release of "Kickin' It Old Skool."NEW YORK -- Apparently determined to exploit the full comic potential of white boys attempting hip-hop, Jamie Kennedy ("Malibu's Most Wanted") shows up in this high-concept comedy about a 12-year-old boy who lapses into a coma in 1985, only to wake up a grown man 20 years later. Released on Friday without being press screened as part of the pre-"Spider-Man 3" picture dump, "Kickin' It Old Skool" fails to live up to even the feeble potential of its premise.
The young Justin Schumacher (Alexander Calvert) falls into his decades-long slumber after hitting his head while attempting a particularly dangerous break-dancing move during a school competition. During the next 20 years, his perpetually battling parents (Christopher McDonald, Debra Jo Rupp) exhaust their financial resources trying to keep up with his medical bills.
When the now-adult Justin (Kennedy) regains consciousness after hearing a snippet of a vintage pop tune, he finds himself -- like Tom Hanks in "Big" and myriad other cinematic variations -- a boy trapped in a grown man's body, with an '80s sensibility in a 21st century world to boot.
Attempting to win a large sum of money for his parents by winning a modern hip-hop dancing competition, he reunites his old multiracial crew, composed of henpecked husband and would-be inventor Darnell (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.); geeky office worker Aki (Bobby Lee); and overweight Hector (Aris Alvarado). Along the way, he reunites with childhood sweetheart Jen (Maria Menounos), now engaged to his old nemesis (Michael Rosenbaum).
While the film dutifully evokes a variety of '80s cultural artifacts (Garbage Pail Kids, "Flashdance", Beta tapes, etc.) and features cameos from such celebrity figures from the era as David Hasselhoff and Emmanuel Lewis, it doesn't really have much fun with the contrast between then and now. And Kennedy's character seems less a grown-up kid than simply, to quote the offensive word oft recited in the film, retarded.
There are a few decent lines -- Justin complains of having missed out on, among other things, "Gremlins 2" and "Ghostbusters 2" -- but most of the gags, such as his being mistaken for a pedophile while being friendly to a kid in a toy store, are tasteless without being particularly funny. And far too much of the film's overlong 107-minute running time is consumed by endless hip-hop dancing routines.
Clearly still attempting to follow in the footsteps of Jim Carrey ("Son of the Mask" is among his credits), Kennedy will need to find better material than this to put him on the film comedy A-list.
KICKIN' IT OLD SKOOL
Yari Film Group Releasing
A Bob Yari production in association with Jizzy Entertainment and Hi-Def Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Harvey Glazer
Screenplay: Trace Slobotkin, Josh Siegal, Dylan Morgan
Producers: Philip Glasser, John H. Hermansen, Jamie Kennedy, Bob Yari
Executive producers: Jeff Cooper, Jeffrey Cooper, Josh H. Etting, Paul C. Rogers, Scott G. Stone, Stuart Stone
Film editor: Sandy S. Solowitz
Production designer: Tink
Director of photography: Robert M. Stevens
Costume designer: Maria Livingstone
Original music: Richard Glasser
Cast:
Justin Schumacher: Jamie Kennedy
Darnell Jackson: Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
Jennifer Stone: Maria Menounos
Kip Unger: Michael Rosenbaum
Aki Terasaki: Bobby Lee
Hector Jimenez: Aris Alvarado
Mary Schumacher: Debra Jo Rupp
Marv Schumacher: Christopher McDonald
Roxanne Jackson: Vivica A. Fox
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The young Justin Schumacher (Alexander Calvert) falls into his decades-long slumber after hitting his head while attempting a particularly dangerous break-dancing move during a school competition. During the next 20 years, his perpetually battling parents (Christopher McDonald, Debra Jo Rupp) exhaust their financial resources trying to keep up with his medical bills.
When the now-adult Justin (Kennedy) regains consciousness after hearing a snippet of a vintage pop tune, he finds himself -- like Tom Hanks in "Big" and myriad other cinematic variations -- a boy trapped in a grown man's body, with an '80s sensibility in a 21st century world to boot.
Attempting to win a large sum of money for his parents by winning a modern hip-hop dancing competition, he reunites his old multiracial crew, composed of henpecked husband and would-be inventor Darnell (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.); geeky office worker Aki (Bobby Lee); and overweight Hector (Aris Alvarado). Along the way, he reunites with childhood sweetheart Jen (Maria Menounos), now engaged to his old nemesis (Michael Rosenbaum).
While the film dutifully evokes a variety of '80s cultural artifacts (Garbage Pail Kids, "Flashdance", Beta tapes, etc.) and features cameos from such celebrity figures from the era as David Hasselhoff and Emmanuel Lewis, it doesn't really have much fun with the contrast between then and now. And Kennedy's character seems less a grown-up kid than simply, to quote the offensive word oft recited in the film, retarded.
There are a few decent lines -- Justin complains of having missed out on, among other things, "Gremlins 2" and "Ghostbusters 2" -- but most of the gags, such as his being mistaken for a pedophile while being friendly to a kid in a toy store, are tasteless without being particularly funny. And far too much of the film's overlong 107-minute running time is consumed by endless hip-hop dancing routines.
Clearly still attempting to follow in the footsteps of Jim Carrey ("Son of the Mask" is among his credits), Kennedy will need to find better material than this to put him on the film comedy A-list.
KICKIN' IT OLD SKOOL
Yari Film Group Releasing
A Bob Yari production in association with Jizzy Entertainment and Hi-Def Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Harvey Glazer
Screenplay: Trace Slobotkin, Josh Siegal, Dylan Morgan
Producers: Philip Glasser, John H. Hermansen, Jamie Kennedy, Bob Yari
Executive producers: Jeff Cooper, Jeffrey Cooper, Josh H. Etting, Paul C. Rogers, Scott G. Stone, Stuart Stone
Film editor: Sandy S. Solowitz
Production designer: Tink
Director of photography: Robert M. Stevens
Costume designer: Maria Livingstone
Original music: Richard Glasser
Cast:
Justin Schumacher: Jamie Kennedy
Darnell Jackson: Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
Jennifer Stone: Maria Menounos
Kip Unger: Michael Rosenbaum
Aki Terasaki: Bobby Lee
Hector Jimenez: Aris Alvarado
Mary Schumacher: Debra Jo Rupp
Marv Schumacher: Christopher McDonald
Roxanne Jackson: Vivica A. Fox
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 4/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Apparently determined to exploit the full comic potential of white boys attempting hip-hop, Jamie Kennedy ("Malibu's Most Wanted") shows up in this high-concept comedy about a 12-year-old boy who lapses into a coma in 1985, only to wake up a grown man 20 years later. Released on Friday without being press screened as part of the pre-"Spider-Man 3" picture dump, "Kickin' It Old Skool" fails to live up to even the feeble potential of its premise.
The young Justin Schumacher (Alexander Calvert) falls into his decades-long slumber after hitting his head while attempting a particularly dangerous break-dancing move during a school competition. During the next 20 years, his perpetually battling parents (Christopher McDonald, Debra Jo Rupp) exhaust their financial resources trying to keep up with his medical bills.
When the now-adult Justin (Kennedy) regains consciousness after hearing a snippet of a vintage pop tune, he finds himself -- like Tom Hanks in "Big" and myriad other cinematic variations -- a boy trapped in a grown man's body, with an '80s sensibility in a 21st century world to boot.
Attempting to win a large sum of money for his parents by winning a modern hip-hop dancing competition, he reunites his old multiracial crew, composed of henpecked husband and would-be inventor Darnell (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.); geeky office worker Aki (Bobby Lee); and overweight Hector (Aris Alvarado). Along the way, he reunites with childhood sweetheart Jen (Maria Menounos), now engaged to his old nemesis (Michael Rosenbaum).
While the film dutifully evokes a variety of '80s cultural artifacts (Garbage Pail Kids, "Flashdance", Beta tapes, etc.) and features cameos from such celebrity figures from the era as David Hasselhoff and Emmanuel Lewis, it doesn't really have much fun with the contrast between then and now. And Kennedy's character seems less a grown-up kid than simply, to quote the offensive word oft recited in the film, retarded.
There are a few decent lines -- Justin complains of having missed out on, among other things, "Gremlins 2" and "Ghostbusters 2" -- but most of the gags, such as his being mistaken for a pedophile while being friendly to a kid in a toy store, are tasteless without being particularly funny. And far too much of the film's overlong 107-minute running time is consumed by endless hip-hop dancing routines.
Clearly still attempting to follow in the footsteps of Jim Carrey ("Son of the Mask" is among his credits), Kennedy will need to find better material than this to put him on the film comedy A-list.
KICKIN' IT OLD SKOOL
Yari Film Group Releasing
A Bob Yari production in association with Jizzy Entertainment and Hi-Def Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Harvey Glazer
Screenplay: Trace Slobotkin, Josh Siegal, Dylan Morgan
Producers: Philip Glasser, John H. Hermansen, Jamie Kennedy, Bob Yari
Executive producers: Jeff Cooper, Jeffrey Cooper, Josh H. Etting, Paul C. Rogers, Scott G. Stone, Stuart Stone
Film editor: Sandy S. Solowitz
Production designer: Tink
Director of photography: Robert M. Stevens
Costume designer: Maria Livingstone
Original music: Richard Glasser
Cast:
Justin Schumacher: Jamie Kennedy
Darnell Jackson: Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
Jennifer Stone: Maria Menounos
Kip Unger: Michael Rosenbaum
Aki Terasaki: Bobby Lee
Hector Jimenez: Aris Alvarado
Mary Schumacher: Debra Jo Rupp
Marv Schumacher: Christopher McDonald
Roxanne Jackson: Vivica A. Fox
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The young Justin Schumacher (Alexander Calvert) falls into his decades-long slumber after hitting his head while attempting a particularly dangerous break-dancing move during a school competition. During the next 20 years, his perpetually battling parents (Christopher McDonald, Debra Jo Rupp) exhaust their financial resources trying to keep up with his medical bills.
When the now-adult Justin (Kennedy) regains consciousness after hearing a snippet of a vintage pop tune, he finds himself -- like Tom Hanks in "Big" and myriad other cinematic variations -- a boy trapped in a grown man's body, with an '80s sensibility in a 21st century world to boot.
Attempting to win a large sum of money for his parents by winning a modern hip-hop dancing competition, he reunites his old multiracial crew, composed of henpecked husband and would-be inventor Darnell (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.); geeky office worker Aki (Bobby Lee); and overweight Hector (Aris Alvarado). Along the way, he reunites with childhood sweetheart Jen (Maria Menounos), now engaged to his old nemesis (Michael Rosenbaum).
While the film dutifully evokes a variety of '80s cultural artifacts (Garbage Pail Kids, "Flashdance", Beta tapes, etc.) and features cameos from such celebrity figures from the era as David Hasselhoff and Emmanuel Lewis, it doesn't really have much fun with the contrast between then and now. And Kennedy's character seems less a grown-up kid than simply, to quote the offensive word oft recited in the film, retarded.
There are a few decent lines -- Justin complains of having missed out on, among other things, "Gremlins 2" and "Ghostbusters 2" -- but most of the gags, such as his being mistaken for a pedophile while being friendly to a kid in a toy store, are tasteless without being particularly funny. And far too much of the film's overlong 107-minute running time is consumed by endless hip-hop dancing routines.
Clearly still attempting to follow in the footsteps of Jim Carrey ("Son of the Mask" is among his credits), Kennedy will need to find better material than this to put him on the film comedy A-list.
KICKIN' IT OLD SKOOL
Yari Film Group Releasing
A Bob Yari production in association with Jizzy Entertainment and Hi-Def Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Harvey Glazer
Screenplay: Trace Slobotkin, Josh Siegal, Dylan Morgan
Producers: Philip Glasser, John H. Hermansen, Jamie Kennedy, Bob Yari
Executive producers: Jeff Cooper, Jeffrey Cooper, Josh H. Etting, Paul C. Rogers, Scott G. Stone, Stuart Stone
Film editor: Sandy S. Solowitz
Production designer: Tink
Director of photography: Robert M. Stevens
Costume designer: Maria Livingstone
Original music: Richard Glasser
Cast:
Justin Schumacher: Jamie Kennedy
Darnell Jackson: Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
Jennifer Stone: Maria Menounos
Kip Unger: Michael Rosenbaum
Aki Terasaki: Bobby Lee
Hector Jimenez: Aris Alvarado
Mary Schumacher: Debra Jo Rupp
Marv Schumacher: Christopher McDonald
Roxanne Jackson: Vivica A. Fox
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 4/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Vacancy".
A couple checking into a desolate motel when their car breaks down is to horror filmmakers what a priest and a rabbi walking into a bar is to stand-up comics: a timeworn setup that must have a terrific punch line to overcome its antiquity. "Vacancy" fails that test with a mediocre payoff. Which is not to say "Vacancy" won't fill seats during its opening weekend.
While the sadism doesn't stoop -- rise? -- to the level of the "Saw" horror-thrillers, "Vacancy" does have a name cast in Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, so the Screen Gems release should play well to the under-25 crowd that likes a spot of terror on weekend nights. Cineastes might wish, though, that Nimrod Antal, director of the critically praised Hungarian film "Kontroll", might have chosen a more worthy project for his U.S. debut.
Screenwriter Mark L. Smith does attempt to establish psychological underpinnings to his hero-victims during the first 20 minutes. The stranded couple, David (Wilson) and Amy (Beckinsale) Fox, are mired in the unhappy final moments of an unraveled marriage. The unexplained death of their only son has them at each other's throats as the car refuses to work.
What to do but spend a restless night at a dilapidated roadside motel overseen by a creepy, bespectacled manager (Frank Whaley)? All that's missing a neon sign flashing "Bates Motel". Thus, the stage is set for terror as a kind of couple's therapy.
The "honeymoon suite" is a disaster. The couple's spirits are further dampened by constant banging from next door. Yet the proprietor insists the Foxes are the only motel guests. David throws a video into the VCR, which turns out to be a low-grade slasher movie. But wait! The terror and murders take place on a set that looks remarkably like the honeymoon suite. My God, it is the honeymoon suite! The sinking realization hits the Foxes that they are about to star in their own snuff film.
The movie's only original idea comes when David carefully studies the snuff videos to look for patterns in the attacks and "mistakes" by previous victims from which the couple can profit. But then an avalanche of cheap shocks, leaps in logic, villains in "Halloween" get-ups and other grindhouse moments overwhelm the story. The worst occurs when the killers cheerfully murder a police officer investigating a 911 call from the motel. Any cop failing to call in following such a call would bring an army of fellow officers down on the motel in a matter of minutes.
Antal, whose "Kontroll" took place almost entirely underground within the Budapest subway system, goes for a similar monster-in-the-closet claustrophobia here, pushing his characters into corners and tight spaces where a scream does absolutely no good. Even so, the film runs out of "chill" ideas so early that the makers shamelessly resort to rodents to keep up the ick factor alive.
Production values, especially the fingernails-on-a-blackboard score by Paul Haslinger and Jon Gary Steele's set, with its passageways and hiding places, do much of the heavy lifting. Still, at the end of the night, the film feels tired, derivative and lackluster.
VACANCY
Screen Gems
A Hal Lieberman Co. production
Credits:
Director: Nimrod Antal
Screenwriter: Mark L. Smith
Producer: Hal Liebermann
Executive producers: Glenn S. Gainor, Stacy Kolker Cramer, Brian Paschal
Director of photography: Andrzej Sekula
Production designer: Jon Gary Steele
Music: Paul Haslinger
Costume designer: Maya Lieberman
Editor: Armen Minasian
Cast:
Amy: Kate Beckinsale
David: Luke Wilson
Mason: Frank Whaley
Mechanic: Ethan Embry
Killer: Scott G. Anderson
Truck driver: Mark Cassella
Cop: David Doty
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
A couple checking into a desolate motel when their car breaks down is to horror filmmakers what a priest and a rabbi walking into a bar is to stand-up comics: a timeworn setup that must have a terrific punch line to overcome its antiquity. "Vacancy" fails that test with a mediocre payoff. Which is not to say "Vacancy" won't fill seats during its opening weekend.
While the sadism doesn't stoop -- rise? -- to the level of the "Saw" horror-thrillers, "Vacancy" does have a name cast in Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, so the Screen Gems release should play well to the under-25 crowd that likes a spot of terror on weekend nights. Cineastes might wish, though, that Nimrod Antal, director of the critically praised Hungarian film "Kontroll", might have chosen a more worthy project for his U.S. debut.
Screenwriter Mark L. Smith does attempt to establish psychological underpinnings to his hero-victims during the first 20 minutes. The stranded couple, David (Wilson) and Amy (Beckinsale) Fox, are mired in the unhappy final moments of an unraveled marriage. The unexplained death of their only son has them at each other's throats as the car refuses to work.
What to do but spend a restless night at a dilapidated roadside motel overseen by a creepy, bespectacled manager (Frank Whaley)? All that's missing a neon sign flashing "Bates Motel". Thus, the stage is set for terror as a kind of couple's therapy.
The "honeymoon suite" is a disaster. The couple's spirits are further dampened by constant banging from next door. Yet the proprietor insists the Foxes are the only motel guests. David throws a video into the VCR, which turns out to be a low-grade slasher movie. But wait! The terror and murders take place on a set that looks remarkably like the honeymoon suite. My God, it is the honeymoon suite! The sinking realization hits the Foxes that they are about to star in their own snuff film.
The movie's only original idea comes when David carefully studies the snuff videos to look for patterns in the attacks and "mistakes" by previous victims from which the couple can profit. But then an avalanche of cheap shocks, leaps in logic, villains in "Halloween" get-ups and other grindhouse moments overwhelm the story. The worst occurs when the killers cheerfully murder a police officer investigating a 911 call from the motel. Any cop failing to call in following such a call would bring an army of fellow officers down on the motel in a matter of minutes.
Antal, whose "Kontroll" took place almost entirely underground within the Budapest subway system, goes for a similar monster-in-the-closet claustrophobia here, pushing his characters into corners and tight spaces where a scream does absolutely no good. Even so, the film runs out of "chill" ideas so early that the makers shamelessly resort to rodents to keep up the ick factor alive.
Production values, especially the fingernails-on-a-blackboard score by Paul Haslinger and Jon Gary Steele's set, with its passageways and hiding places, do much of the heavy lifting. Still, at the end of the night, the film feels tired, derivative and lackluster.
VACANCY
Screen Gems
A Hal Lieberman Co. production
Credits:
Director: Nimrod Antal
Screenwriter: Mark L. Smith
Producer: Hal Liebermann
Executive producers: Glenn S. Gainor, Stacy Kolker Cramer, Brian Paschal
Director of photography: Andrzej Sekula
Production designer: Jon Gary Steele
Music: Paul Haslinger
Costume designer: Maya Lieberman
Editor: Armen Minasian
Cast:
Amy: Kate Beckinsale
David: Luke Wilson
Mason: Frank Whaley
Mechanic: Ethan Embry
Killer: Scott G. Anderson
Truck driver: Mark Cassella
Cop: David Doty
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A couple checking into a desolate motel when their car breaks down is to horror filmmakers what a priest and a rabbi walking into a bar is to stand-up comics: a timeworn setup that must have a terrific punch line to overcome its antiquity. Vacancy fails that test with a mediocre payoff. Which is not to say Vacancy won't fill seats during its opening weekend.
While the sadism doesn't stoop -- rise? -- to the level of the "Saw" horror-thrillers, Vacancy does have a name cast in Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, so the Screen Gems release should play well to the under-25 crowd that likes a spot of terror on weekend nights. Cineastes might wish, though, that Nimrod Antal, director of the critically praised Hungarian film Kontroll, might have chosen a more worthy project for his U.S. debut.
Screenwriter Mark L. Smith does attempt to establish psychological underpinnings to his hero-victims during the first 20 minutes. The stranded couple, David (Wilson) and Amy (Beckinsale) Fox, are mired in the unhappy final moments of an unraveled marriage. The unexplained death of their only son has them at each other's throats as the car refuses to work.
What to do but spend a restless night at a dilapidated roadside motel overseen by a creepy, bespectacled manager (Frank Whaley)? All that's missing a neon sign flashing Bates Motel. Thus, the stage is set for terror as a kind of couple's therapy.
The "honeymoon suite" is a disaster. The couple's spirits are further dampened by constant banging from next door. Yet the proprietor insists the Foxes are the only motel guests. David throws a video into the VCR, which turns out to be a low-grade slasher movie. But wait! The terror and murders take place on a set that looks remarkably like the honeymoon suite. My God, it is the honeymoon suite! The sinking realization hits the Foxes that they are about to star in their own snuff film.
The movie's only original idea comes when David carefully studies the snuff videos to look for patterns in the attacks and "mistakes" by previous victims from which the couple can profit. But then an avalanche of cheap shocks, leaps in logic, villains in Halloween get-ups and other grindhouse moments overwhelm the story. The worst occurs when the killers cheerfully murder a police officer investigating a 911 call from the motel. Any cop failing to call in following such a call would bring an army of fellow officers down on the motel in a matter of minutes.
Antal, whose Kontroll took place almost entirely underground within the Budapest subway system, goes for a similar monster-in-the-closet claustrophobia here, pushing his characters into corners and tight spaces where a scream does absolutely no good. Even so, the film runs out of "chill" ideas so early that the makers shamelessly resort to rodents to keep up the ick factor alive.
Production values, especially the fingernails-on-a-blackboard score by Paul Haslinger and Jon Gary Steele's set, with its passageways and hiding places, do much of the heavy lifting. Still, at the end of the night, the film feels tired, derivative and lackluster.
VACANCY
Screen Gems
A Hal Lieberman Co. production
Credits:
Director: Nimrod Antal
Screenwriter: Mark L. Smith
Producer: Hal Liebermann
Executive producers: Glenn S. Gainor, Stacy Kolker Cramer, Brian Paschal
Director of photography: Andrzej Sekula
Production designer: Jon Gary Steele
Music: Paul Haslinger
Costume designer: Maya Lieberman
Editor: Armen Minasian
Cast:
Amy: Kate Beckinsale
David: Luke Wilson
Mason: Frank Whaley
Mechanic: Ethan Embry
Killer: Scott G. Anderson
Truck driver: Mark Cassella
Cop: David Doty
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
While the sadism doesn't stoop -- rise? -- to the level of the "Saw" horror-thrillers, Vacancy does have a name cast in Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, so the Screen Gems release should play well to the under-25 crowd that likes a spot of terror on weekend nights. Cineastes might wish, though, that Nimrod Antal, director of the critically praised Hungarian film Kontroll, might have chosen a more worthy project for his U.S. debut.
Screenwriter Mark L. Smith does attempt to establish psychological underpinnings to his hero-victims during the first 20 minutes. The stranded couple, David (Wilson) and Amy (Beckinsale) Fox, are mired in the unhappy final moments of an unraveled marriage. The unexplained death of their only son has them at each other's throats as the car refuses to work.
What to do but spend a restless night at a dilapidated roadside motel overseen by a creepy, bespectacled manager (Frank Whaley)? All that's missing a neon sign flashing Bates Motel. Thus, the stage is set for terror as a kind of couple's therapy.
The "honeymoon suite" is a disaster. The couple's spirits are further dampened by constant banging from next door. Yet the proprietor insists the Foxes are the only motel guests. David throws a video into the VCR, which turns out to be a low-grade slasher movie. But wait! The terror and murders take place on a set that looks remarkably like the honeymoon suite. My God, it is the honeymoon suite! The sinking realization hits the Foxes that they are about to star in their own snuff film.
The movie's only original idea comes when David carefully studies the snuff videos to look for patterns in the attacks and "mistakes" by previous victims from which the couple can profit. But then an avalanche of cheap shocks, leaps in logic, villains in Halloween get-ups and other grindhouse moments overwhelm the story. The worst occurs when the killers cheerfully murder a police officer investigating a 911 call from the motel. Any cop failing to call in following such a call would bring an army of fellow officers down on the motel in a matter of minutes.
Antal, whose Kontroll took place almost entirely underground within the Budapest subway system, goes for a similar monster-in-the-closet claustrophobia here, pushing his characters into corners and tight spaces where a scream does absolutely no good. Even so, the film runs out of "chill" ideas so early that the makers shamelessly resort to rodents to keep up the ick factor alive.
Production values, especially the fingernails-on-a-blackboard score by Paul Haslinger and Jon Gary Steele's set, with its passageways and hiding places, do much of the heavy lifting. Still, at the end of the night, the film feels tired, derivative and lackluster.
VACANCY
Screen Gems
A Hal Lieberman Co. production
Credits:
Director: Nimrod Antal
Screenwriter: Mark L. Smith
Producer: Hal Liebermann
Executive producers: Glenn S. Gainor, Stacy Kolker Cramer, Brian Paschal
Director of photography: Andrzej Sekula
Production designer: Jon Gary Steele
Music: Paul Haslinger
Costume designer: Maya Lieberman
Editor: Armen Minasian
Cast:
Amy: Kate Beckinsale
David: Luke Wilson
Mason: Frank Whaley
Mechanic: Ethan Embry
Killer: Scott G. Anderson
Truck driver: Mark Cassella
Cop: David Doty
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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