By Joe Bendel. A prodigal son plows through a blizzard to make it home for Thanksgiving dinner. However, this will not be the stuff of a Norman Rockwell painting. Instead, his fate will become intertwined with that of two wanted fugitives in Stefan Ruzowitzky’s Deadfall, a chilly thriller from the Academy Award winning director of The Counterfeiters, which screens during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Having endured a traumatic childhood together, Addison and his sister Liza are now hopelessly codependent. He also has a propensity for violence. They just knocked over a casino, but a freak accident mars their getaway. Splitting up (for reasons driven more by the narrative than by survival considerations) an exhausted Liza is rescued from the frozen roadside by Jay, an ex-con former Olympic boxer, who through a complicated set of circumstances already suspects the law is after his dumb hide. Liza knows the cops are looking for her and Addison, so his parents’ home near the Canadian border sounds like the perfect rendezvous. Much to her surprise though, she quickly develops intense feelings for the dumb palooka, which she can tell are mutual. Liza does not yet know Jay’s father is the former sheriff and his successor’s unappreciated deputy-daughter is a close friend of the family, but she will learn when Jay’s Planes, Trains, and Automobiles story turns into The Desperate Hours.
There are an awful lot of contrivances in Deadfall. Indeed, Jay and Liza fall for each other faster than light-speed. Still, in his case, it might be rather believable, considering he just got out of prison and she is played by Olivia Wilde. In fact, for the most part, Ruzowitzky’s energetic pacing and the conviction of his cast largely overcome the credibility gaps.
Most importantly, Addison and Liza make an excellent villain-femme fatale tandem. Eric Bana compellingly brings out Addison’s avenging angel complex, while Wilde nicely balances Liza’s cunning and vulnerability. Though Charlie Hunnam is not exactly a great thespian, the audience can certainly believe his ex-boxer has taken a number of blows to the head. Not so surprisingly, Sissy Spacek adds a real touch of class to the film, playing Jay’s mother with grace and intelligence.
Despite the ragged edges, Deadfall is an easy man vs. man vs. the elements thriller to get caught up in. Sure to become a family Thanksgiving tradition, it screened yesterday as part of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
LFM GRADE: B
Posted on April 27th, 2012 at 1:12am.
Your review was quite fair. However, I would give greater credit to the lines/acting/ portrayal of ‘Jay” Charlie Hunnam and Kris Kristofferson for their laconic, minimal speech, and Sissy Spacek still exists in the form of many vintage homemakers on Thanksgiving Day. They portray the simple but tough character of the Northern MI men/women, which perhaps may be lost on many city viewers. Picking up strangers in a snowstorm is what people do for one another, not a coincidence. Running off in the middle of a snow storm in a huge state forest is not a good choice, for sure, but then if you don’t know where you are, you seldom make good choices, and yes, it followed the narrative. Snowmobiles are a necessary form of transportation in such conditions, whether one likes them or not. For those very logical film reviewers who needed to see snowplows clear the roads from 1:00 AM-5:00 AM , to reconcile when the roads were plowed –guess that would have answered their need for REAL boredom.Perhaps a Sierra guide on what to expect if one lives in rural farm country in a winter snowstorm would be helpful to them. I saw the film at TFF while in NYC last week, a bit less blood letting might have been preferred-the snowmobile incident -but it happens too often in No. MI. In any event, I thought DEADFALL was a true portrayal of No MI, and I live and love it here! Thank you for reviewing—