What's the first thing you do when you get out of prison after 10 years, served for manslaughter ? Why, you shack up with a woman on the run from a botched bank robbery, in which 7 police officers were killed. She is also heavily traumatised by being forced to have intercourse with her brother for years, and has an irrational need to commit crimes at all hours of the day. Not exactly the right course of action if you're aiming to make 'a fresh start'.
Yes, Mickey Rourke is a nice guy in this film. He may have been in the big house for a decade, but only because he was defending a friend. Lori Singer on the other hand, is every psychiatrist's worst nightmare. She is childlike, and not in an endearing way. She holds up convenience stores, when she KNOWS her face is all over the press. She is as dumb as a sack of doorknobs, and incredibly needy to boot. A bangin' body is NOT worth the amount of trouble she brings to the table.
One of the key problems here is the disparity between Rourke and Singer's character. He is so calm and collected and she is so whacked out and uncontrollable, you wonder how they can stand to be in the same room, let alone romantically involved. I could not believe in this relationship, because the script gives us no reason why these polar opposites should be together... Other than it WANTS them to be. Especially during the ludicrous finale, but I'll get to that later...
If you like rodeo, you'll LOVE this. There's lots of footage of Rourke's stunt double hanging on for dear life on those buckin' broncos. Funny thing is though... I signed up to this film because I thought it was a thriller, not a documentary about this no doubt fine sport. And aside from the bloody bank shootout at the start, there's nothing else here to justify that tag. It's just a dull slog through a turgid 'romance' plot featuring two people who might look photogenic having sex in the rain, but have next to nothing in common. Which brings me neatly to...
The last 10 minutes, which were so stupid I was rubbing my eyes with disbelief. Rourke has just managed to win 5000 dollars at the rodeo, securing their future. SInger's been her usual moronic self and has just held up a bank, being shot in the process... and ruining what chance they could have had. So what does he do? FORGIVE her for everything, does NOT take her to hospital while she's bleeding to death, and instead goes on a HORSEBACK ride to the wilderness to bury her body. Later, he's pursued by mounted police officers, then killed by a sniper from a helicopter as he's retreating.
He had NOTHING to do with the murders of the dead cops, was clearly running away unarmed... and yet, he gets a bullet in the back. Even in America, this is indescribably harsh. In fact, it defies all credibility. This is the sort of daft conclusion you scribble down when you have a 10 minute deadline until submission. Later, the studio hands you your script back, and apologises for putting you under too much pressure, and asks you to rewrite it. Except, it didn't happen here. Oops.
The FTW of the title refers to Rourke's character's initials (Frank T Wells) and a tattoo Singer has (stands for F*** The World.... nice). Not Free The Whales. Or For The Win. Just thought you should know. 4/10
Yes, Mickey Rourke is a nice guy in this film. He may have been in the big house for a decade, but only because he was defending a friend. Lori Singer on the other hand, is every psychiatrist's worst nightmare. She is childlike, and not in an endearing way. She holds up convenience stores, when she KNOWS her face is all over the press. She is as dumb as a sack of doorknobs, and incredibly needy to boot. A bangin' body is NOT worth the amount of trouble she brings to the table.
One of the key problems here is the disparity between Rourke and Singer's character. He is so calm and collected and she is so whacked out and uncontrollable, you wonder how they can stand to be in the same room, let alone romantically involved. I could not believe in this relationship, because the script gives us no reason why these polar opposites should be together... Other than it WANTS them to be. Especially during the ludicrous finale, but I'll get to that later...
If you like rodeo, you'll LOVE this. There's lots of footage of Rourke's stunt double hanging on for dear life on those buckin' broncos. Funny thing is though... I signed up to this film because I thought it was a thriller, not a documentary about this no doubt fine sport. And aside from the bloody bank shootout at the start, there's nothing else here to justify that tag. It's just a dull slog through a turgid 'romance' plot featuring two people who might look photogenic having sex in the rain, but have next to nothing in common. Which brings me neatly to...
The last 10 minutes, which were so stupid I was rubbing my eyes with disbelief. Rourke has just managed to win 5000 dollars at the rodeo, securing their future. SInger's been her usual moronic self and has just held up a bank, being shot in the process... and ruining what chance they could have had. So what does he do? FORGIVE her for everything, does NOT take her to hospital while she's bleeding to death, and instead goes on a HORSEBACK ride to the wilderness to bury her body. Later, he's pursued by mounted police officers, then killed by a sniper from a helicopter as he's retreating.
He had NOTHING to do with the murders of the dead cops, was clearly running away unarmed... and yet, he gets a bullet in the back. Even in America, this is indescribably harsh. In fact, it defies all credibility. This is the sort of daft conclusion you scribble down when you have a 10 minute deadline until submission. Later, the studio hands you your script back, and apologises for putting you under too much pressure, and asks you to rewrite it. Except, it didn't happen here. Oops.
The FTW of the title refers to Rourke's character's initials (Frank T Wells) and a tattoo Singer has (stands for F*** The World.... nice). Not Free The Whales. Or For The Win. Just thought you should know. 4/10