Timothy Bottoms has that frightened gleam in his eyes that says he knows he’s trapped in a mess of a movie and, lo and behold, he seems to feed off of it. His character needs to be really mean and, boy oh boy, getting up every morning to work with the director of Blood Nasty was just the motivation he required. Even the sweat on his brow reeks of cruelty.
Christopher Lloyd proves that he’s one thing that’s even sturdier than a good old sports movie. Most everyone around him spends the movie dribbling foul balls into the dugout, but every time he steps up to the plate you sense – even expect – that it could go out of the park. He never actually follows through, but he does enjoy a decent batting average, hitting plenty of singles.
And then there is Ariel Gade as Ryann. She is a child actor of substance and charm. She’s an effortless and natural presence. You’ve probably heard the saying that an actor is so engaging that she can captivate even while reading the phone book. Well, that always seemed like hyperbole to me, until now. I look forward to many more movies starring Miss Gade.
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Article comments
1 - Greg Wilson
Interesting that personal attacks are not allowed here yet they seem to be flying freely from the tongue and pen of Todd Ford. I'm writing this because ironically my kids and enjoyed Moto-x-kids and I just saw and really enjoyed Miracle Dogs Too on Showtime both of which were directed by Richard Gabai. I looked up those other movies on the internet - they are over 20 years old. We look forward to Call of the Wild. Heed your own message about personal attacks - you insult your readers sometimes when you insult a movie director that we enjoy.
2 - Todd Ford
Thank you for your feedback. I'm glad you have enjoyed some of Mr. Gabai's movies in the past and maybe you'll enjoy this one as well. I'm sure though that calling a director's abilities into question is perfectly acceptable critical method and certainly not what this site's "personal attacks" policy intends to curtail. Please do see the movie (I included some sugar with the salt in my review and it does have its merits) and then post a counter review. That's what critical discussion is all about. Cheers.