Cleaning Out The DVR: Stage Fright (dir by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Hi there! So, as you may know because I’ve been talking about it on this site all year, I have got way too much stuff on my DVR. Seriously, I currently have 188 things recorded! I’ve decided that, on January 15th, I am going to erase everything on the DVR, regardless of whether I’ve watched it or not. So, that means that I’ve now have only have a month to clean out the DVR! Will I make it? Keep checking this site to find out! I recorded Stage Fright off of the Lifetime Movie Network on January 29th, 2017!)

(aka Stage Fright)

Right above this sentence, you’ll see the original “poster art” for the film that was eventually broadcast on the Lifetime Movie Network as Stage Fright. Even though the title changed (and personally, I think Stage Fright does carry a bit more oomph than Her Final Bow), I love this poster. It’s just so melodramatic and I like how the stalker’s blue eye is staring straight at the viewer. Even though the scene itself never actually occurs in the film, the poster still tells you everything that you need to know about this movie. If I saw a paperback novel with this poster as the cover, I would definitely buy it and probably read it in one sitting.

Stage Fright tells the story of Sarah Conrade (Jordan Ladd). At one time, Sarah was one of the most popular and famous opera singers in the world. But then she was attacked by an obsessed fan. Though he was subsequently gunned down by the police, he left Sarah with scars that are both physical and mental. After she had a nervous breakdown, Sarah retired from performing and devoted her time to raising her daughter, Haley (Savannah Osborn). However, one day, Sarah gets a call from a producer, letting her know that another singer is planning to perform Sarah’s signature songs and claim them as her own. Though Sarah may be frightened of stepping back out on the stage, she’s a performer and she has her pride. Sarah agrees to make a comeback and perform for one night only.

A lot of people are happy to hear this but it’s debatable whether any of them are as happy as Kevin (Peter Stickles). Kevin works in a music store and he is one of Sarah’s biggest fans. When she happens to step into the store, he not only tells her that he listens to her voice regularly but he also contrives to take a quick look in her purse. Of course, Kevin also has a shrine to her in his house. That’s … well, that’s a little bit creepy…

Audiences have waited for years for Sarah to make a comeback and now that she’s making it, the people around her are mysteriously dying. The police even suspect that Sarah might have something to do with it. Of course, we suspect the truth…

State Fright was directed by Fred Olen Ray, who is a veteran of these type of thrillers and who specializes in giving the audience what it wants. In this case, the audience wants melodrama and Stage Fright certainly delivers that. (Ray also delivers some effectively creepy shots of characters running around in the dank, lower levels of the opera house.) Personally, I would have liked it if there had been a little more mystery about the identity of Sarah’s stalker but Jordan Ladd gave a good performance as Sarah and the mother-daughter relationship between Sarah and Haley felt real. This is an entertaining little Lifetime movie that delivers exactly what it promises.

Here’s The Final Trailer for Liam Neeson In The Commuter!

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I have a theory that the Taken films, Non-Stop, and the upcoming The Commuter are really just documentaries about the every day life of Liam Neeson. I think Neeson retired from acting in 2009 and since that time, he’s been just been traveling around the world and beating people up.

That’s my theory anyway.

The Commuter is the latest film in the Neeson documentary series. In this one, he gets involved in intrigue on a train. This movie is scheduled to come out in a few weeks and, since it’s a January release, we will probably have forgotten about it by March.

Here’s The Trailer For Fifty Shades Freed!

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yes, it’s time for this again.

I have to say, though, this trailer amuses the Hell out of me. It’s almost as if the trailer is trying to be snarky about the film that it’s advertising. I especially enjoyed the Saved By The Bell-style acting when Ana told the architect to stay away from her man and to call her “Mrs. Grey.”

And then, that ending.

“You’re pregnant, Mrs. Grey.”

Apparently, the doctor got the memo about Ana’s new name. So, that’s a good thing, I guess.

Anyway, here’s the trailer…

(If you need a refresher on what this is all about, why not check out my reviews of Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker?)

Cleaning Out The DVR: The Sandman (dir by Peter Sullivan)

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Hi there! So, as you may know because I’ve been talking about it on this site all year, I have got way too much stuff on my DVR. Seriously, I currently have 189 things recorded! I’ve decided that, on January 15th, I am going to erase everything on the DVR, regardless of whether I’ve watched it or not. So, that means that I’ve now have only have a month to clean out the DVR! Will I make it? Keep checking this site to find out! I recorded The Sandman off of the SyFy on October 14th!)

Madison (Shae Smolik) is a little girl who appears to have some issues.

For instance, her father just died under the most mysterious of circumstances. One of the last things that he did before he died was get paranoid when a police car drove by him. He was carrying a gun when he died, as well. Also, he died right in front of Madison.

Madison ends up at the hospital, where she has violent nightmares and struggles so much with the doctors and the orderlies that she has to be strapped down. Since both of her parents are dead, a call is made to her Aunt Claire (Haylie Duff). Claire is willing to adopt Madison but Child Protective Services is a bit less enthusiastic. Claire is unmarried and hasn’t always been the most responsible adult. She currently works as a photographer, taking pictures of aspiring Bettie Pages in her garage. Can Claire not only prove herself to be a good mother but also solve the mystery of what happened to Madison’s father?

You probably read that plot description and thought to yourself, “That sounds like a typical Lifetime film.” And certainly, there is a bit of Lifetime to be found in this SyFy movie. Peter Sullivan has produced, written, and directed several films that have appeared on both SyFy and Lifetime. Haylie Duff is a regular Lifetime actress. For a financially struggling photographer, Claire certainly does live in a nice, big house, which is one of the most familiar signs that you might be watching Lifetime film.

However, make no doubt about it, this is definitely not a Lifetime film.

You see, the reason why Madison is a nightmare to deal with it is because she’s linked to a monster. The reason why Madison is an orphan is because the monster killed her father. And now that Madison is living with Claire, the monster is coming for both of them.

And what a monster! Seriously, the Sandman is about as frightening as a SyFy monster can get. As you can probably guess from the name, he’s made of sand. The best way to avoid him, of course, would be to go some place where there is no sand but good luck with that. SAND IS EVERYWHERE! The Sandman pops up whenever Madison is in danger.

Nosy neighbor wants to know about Madison’s father? Here comes the Sandman, pouring in through the kitchen faucet!

Hospital doctor planning on recommending that Madison be institutionalized? Sandman!

In fact, anyone who poses a threat to Madison, whether real or perceived, can expect a visit from the Sandman.

Tobin Bell plays Valentine, a government agent who thinks that Madison could be weaponized. He’s probably right but seriously, everyone should know better than to mess with the Sandman. That said, it’s always fun when Tobin Bell is in one of these movies. He’s just such a good villain.

The Sandman was a good mix of Lifetime family melodrama and SyFy horror. As the aunt and the seriously disturbed niece, Haylie Duff and Shae Smolik were believable and sympathetic and the Sandman made for a memorable monster. Watch this movie the next time you’re planning on spending a weekend at the beach.

Cleaning Out The DVR: Neverknock (dir by Sheldon Wilson)

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Hi there! So, as you may know because I’ve been talking about it on this site all year, I have got way too much stuff on my DVR. Seriously, I currently have 190 things recorded! I’ve decided that, on January 15th, I am going to erase everything on the DVR, regardless of whether I’ve watched it or not. So, that means that I’ve now have only have a month to clean out the DVR! Will I make it? Keep checking this site to find out! I recorded NeverKnock off of the SyFy on October 16th!)

Sitting in a small town, there’s a deserted and dilapidated house. The address is 59 Oakwood Lane. In 1986, three teenagers were found dead in the house. Carved in their backs were three words: “Never never knock.” Forty years later, the murders remain unsolved but everyone has heard the legend. If you knock on the door, the Never Knock Creature comes to life and uses your own fears to kill not only you but also all of your friends…

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. “Easy solution to this problem! Don’t knock on the freaking door!”

But let’s be honest here. If I lived in that town, I probably wouldn’t knock on that door but I’d sure as Hell beg all of my friends to do it. After all, who wouldn’t want to see what would happen? When I was in college, there was a legend that one of the hallways of my dorm was haunted by Wicked Wanda. They said Wicked Wanda could kill you but I still begged my roommate to go look for her. Urban legends are like wet paint signs. You have to encourage people you know to test them.

Needless to say, that is what happens in Neverknock. Grace (Dominque Provost-Chalkley) is the new girl in town. She’s still struggling to recover from a personal tragedy. Her best friend, Leah (Jodelle Ferland), invites her to spend Halloween night with her and her friends. Grace agrees but she makes the mistake of bringing along her bratty younger sister, Jenna (Lola Flanery). Jenna dresses up like the devil for Halloween and she soon proves that it’s not a totally inappropriate costume by knocking on the door to 59 Oakwood Lane. The Never Knock Creature comes to life, Jenna promptly disappears, and Leah, Grace, and all their friends find themselves being stalked by a creature that uses their worst fears to kill them.

(So, if the Never Knock Creature came after me, I’d have to worry about heights, drowning, dogs, fire, deserted barns, dead wasps lying unseen in the carpet, odd numbers, and the wire popping out of my favorite bra and stabbing me. Good to know.)

Anyway, I liked Neverknock. As is typical of Sheldon Wilson’s SyFy film, Neverknock has a ton of atmosphere and the pace never lags. Wilson changes things up a little in this movie by having the fright scenes occur during both the day and the night. For some reason, to me, it’s even scarier when someone gets attacked by an evil creature during the middle of the day. Even with the sun out and hundreds of people around, there’s no escape from the Never Knock Creature. Admittedly, Neverknock‘s characters are not exactly the most complex group of people to show up in a horror film. For the most part, they’re just teenagers who don’t understand that importance to staying together in one group while being stalked by a demonic force. But the cast is made up of appealing performers and veteran actor Nicholas Campbell makes a welcome appearance. You don’t want to see any of them die and that’s really all that a movie like this demands.

And finally, the Never Knock Creature is seriously creepy! When he first responds to Jenna knocking on that door … AGCK!

All in all, this was a good SyFy horror film.

Cleaning Out The DVR: Stickman (dir by Sheldon Wilson)

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Hi there! So, as you may know because I’ve been talking about it on this site all year, I have got way too much stuff on my DVR. Seriously, I currently have 191 things recorded! I’ve decided that, on January 15th, I am going to erase everything on the DVR, regardless of whether I’ve watched it or not. So, that means that I’ve now have only have a month to clean out the DVR! Will I make it? Keep checking this site to find out! I recorded Stickman off of the SyFy on October 21st!)

When she was seven years old, Emma (Hayley Law) was accused of two terrible crimes.

The authorities say that Emma murdered both her sister and her mother. She’s spent the last ten years in an institution, haunted by nightmares of the demonic monster that she claims committed the murders. According to Emma, the Stickman comes for you if you make the mistake of reading a poem aloud. The only way to keep the Stickman at bay is to draw a picture of him every night. Of course, no one believes Emma. At the institution, she has to regularly deal with smug doctors who refuse to accept that she’s being stalked by an unstoppable monster. Obviously, they’ve never watched It Follows or that HBO documentary about Slenderman.

When 17 year-old Emma is finally released from the institution, she is sent to a half-way house where she is to live with 5 other girls. They’ve all committed different crimes. One of them is an arsonist. Another one has a paranoid obsession with the dark web. Emma’s the only one to have been accused of murder. Even though Emma is assured that, as far as the other girls are concerned, “their bark is worse than their bite,” she soon finds herself targeted by Liv (Zoe De Grand Maison). Not only does Liv refuses to believe in Stickman but she also doesn’t want to live with a murderer.

(I have to admit that sounds kinda reasonable to me.)

Anyway, as you can probably guess, that poem gets read again. And, on her first night of half-way house living, Emma has a nightmare about the Stickman. However, this time, Stickman doesn’t just stay in her dreams. Instead, Stickmsn shows up in the real world and starts killing people. Emma thinks that she can find a way to stop Stickman if she returns to the hospital. Liv, meanwhile, remains convinced that Stickman is a myth and somehow, Emma is responsible for it all…

Stickman was aired as a part of SyFy’s 31 Days of Halloween. I really wish that SyFy would show more original films. Years ago, they used to show a new movie every weekend. Now, we only get original movies during Shark Week and October. (And, this October, SyFy devoted one weekend time slot to Jeepers Creepers 3, directed by convicted and admitted pedophile, Victor Salva. Seriously, what the Hell was up with that?) Original SyFy films, like Stickman, are always fun to watch and live tweet so it really does seem, to me, that SyFy is missing an opportunity by not showing more of them.

Anyway, I enjoyed Stickman. Sheldon Wilson has directed several SyFy films and he obviously know how to create and maintain a properly ominous atmosphere. Stickman is full of dark shadows and sudden jump scares and, even if he is a bit of a familiar monster, the Stickman is genuinely creepy. Though none of the characters are particularly complex, everyone goes a good job making enough of an impression that you can keep everyone straight. If I really wanted to, I could probably devote another 500 words to picking apart the plot and citing every logical inconsistency but you know what? That would be totally missing the point. This is a horror movie. It doesn’t have to always make sense, it just has to be entertaining. In the end, Stickman was a fun movie for Halloween. I wish SyFy would make more like it.

25 Best, Worst, and Gems I Saw In 2017

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Valerie Troutman

I am not back yet. Health issues aside, I have been having major computer issues for more than a month now that are going to make regular posts out of the question. Also, my mom passed away suddenly two weeks before Christmas. Things aren’t so good here at the moment. However, I did watch over 1,100 movies in 2017, so I figured my requisite end of the year post was something I should do no matter how lean it may be because I can’t really take screenshots and lost the ones I took during the year.

The same rules as last year still apply:

There is no particular order to the films in these lists. They either made it, or not.
These are not necessarily films that came out in 2017. In fact, none did–darn Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back at the Return Of The Jedi being decent, if still a mess. These are films that I saw for the first time in 2017.
The gems list are films that don’t make the best list, but I want to put a spotlight on them.
If you disagree with any of my choices. Good! I want people to form their own opinions and think for themselves. But if you care to share those opinions, then be nice about it, or you won’t receive a response from me.

Barbara Broadcast (1977, dir. Radley Metzger)

Best:

The Telephone Book (1971)
At Berkeley (2013)
Samurai Cop (1991)
Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
The Beguiled (1971)
Fire In The Sky (1993)
And The Band Played On (1993)
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)
StageFright (1987)
Deadpool (2016)
The Hit Girl (2013)
A Simple Life (2011)
45 Years (2015)
Barbara Broadcast (1977)
3 A.M. (1975)
Magnum Force (1973)
The Mechanic (1972)
Romancing The Stone (1984)
Censored Voices (2015)
Marshland (2014)
Nostalgia For The Light (2010)
Stir Of Echoes (1999)
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Malcolm (1986)
The Forbidden Room (2015)

Poster for Roar (1981)

Except for that one lion that you can see someone kick in the face a couple of times. Otherwise, this movie that portrays lions as slasher movie villains was totally humane to animals. It’s right about the actors.

Speaking of Melanie Griffith, she would end up having some of her most memorable lines from Working Girl (1988) lifted to be in Fifty Shades Darker (2017).

From Working Girl:

New Secretary: Maybe now would be a good time to go over what you expect of me.
Tess: I, uh, I expect you to call me Tess. I don’t expect you fetch me coffee unless you’re getting some for yourself, and um…the rest we’ll just make up as we go along.

From Fifty Shades Darker:

New “Secretary”: I mean, am-am I expected to call you Miss Steele?
Anastasia: I expect you to call me Ana. And I don’t expect you to fetch me coffee unless you’re getting some for yourself. And…the rest of it, we’ll just make up as we go along.

Worst:

The Letters (2014)
Emmanuelle In Rio (2003)
Bat Pussy (1973)
Lethal Games (1991)
Sunburst (1975)
Roar (1981)
Knock Knock (2015)
I Am Here… Now (2009)
Cabin Fever (2002) & Cabin Fever (2016) — They can share a spot.
Fantasies (1981)
Lady In The Water (2006)
Dreamcatcher (2003)
Adult Entertainment: Disrobing An American Idol (2007)
All the Paul W.S. Anderson/Milla Jovovich Resident Evil movies — They can also share a single spot.
Hillary’s America: The Secret History Of The Democratic Party (2016)
Jem And The Holograms (2015)
The 5th Wave (2016)
Split (2016) — The one directed by Jamie Buckner.
Stir Of Echoes: The Homecoming (2007)
The Tomb (2009)
Different Strokes (1998)
Deadly Spygames (1989)
Incoming Freshman (1979) — The Cannon re-edit of the film. I couldn’t find a copy of the original version.
White Fury (1990)
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1996) — The Golden Films version under the banner of “Enchanted Tales.” You know, the one about talking musical instruments with a few minutes of a guy who walks around hunched over with hair in his face that stands up straight and brushes his hair out of the way to solve his problems at the end. That one.

VHS Cover for Shark’s Paradise (1986)

And that force is a group of Australian actors doing their best to start a Miami Vice-like show with a TV Movie about chasing after someone that is using sharks to kill people.

Gems:

The Subspecies series — The entire series is fun. Pro tip: You don’t have to watch Vampire Journals (1997) to see the 4th film.
Future Hunters (1986)
Hercules In The Haunted World (1961)
Laser Mission (1989)
Warriors Of The Wasteland (1983)
Shark’s Paradise (1986)
Deadly Friend (1986)
The Witchcraft series — All of them. From the birth of William in the really boring first film to the meta 16th film, they are all worth seeing if you enjoy bad movies. Some of them are much worse than others, but I had a really good time with these movies, and I hope they make more of them.
Zombi 3 (1988)
Queens Of Evil (1970)
Killdozer (1974)
Café Flesh (1982) or Café Flesh (1986) as it is now listed on IMDb
Old Enough (1984)
The Hunted (1995)
Outland (1981)
Technology/Transformation Wonder Woman (1978/9)
Enter The Ninja (1981)
Coming Home (2014)
The House By The Cemetery (1981)
Short Term 12 (2013)
My Dog Tulip (2009)
Pledge Sister (1973) — This one made the list purely on the grounds of its soundtrack, which includes everything from Gregorian Chants to directly lifting Sunshine Superman by Donovan. And they use it better than Pan (2015) did Smells Like Teen Spirit or Vacation (2015) did Without You. I hope that whoever put the soundtrack together for this otherwise anonymous 70’s adult film went on to do work in mainstream cinema.
A Thief In The Night (1972)
East Side Sushi (2014)
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

What Lisa Watched Last Night #172: Web Cam Girls (dir by Doug Campbell)

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched one of the final Lifetime movies of 2017, Web Cam Girls!

Why Was I Watching It?

Well, the obvious answer is that I was watching it because it was on Lifetime and our regular readers know how much I love Lifetime!

However, from the minute that I saw the first commercial for Web Cam Girls, I grew convinced that it would be better than the average 2017 Lifetime film. The commercials were just so melodramatic and wonderfully sordid. If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that the best Lifetime films always seem to be about capitalizing on people’s fear of the dark web. (Then again, people probably should be scared of the dark web…)

Finally, I knew that I was going to have to review this film just because of the title. Now, whenever someone does a search for “web cam girls,” there’s a good chance they’ll end up on this site. They’ll probably get mad once they arrive here but a click is a click.

What Was It About?

Carolyn (Lorynn York) needs money so she becomes a web cam girl. Her cousin, Alex (Sedona Legge), says it’s a bad and dangerous idea but Carolyn claims that it’s actually the safest way to make money. She never meets the men who watch her. All she has to do is undress a little on camera and, pretty soon, she’ll be able to get an apartment in New York and make all of her dreams come true.

But then, one night, Carolyn gives in to temptation to agrees to meet one of her admirers in a sleazy motel. She promptly vanishes, leaving Alex and their friend Shawn (Liam McKanna) to try to figure out what happened. Was she kidnapped and, if so, by whom? There are suspects all around and it’s starting to look like the only way Alex is going to find her is by going on camera herself.

What Worked?

Oh my God, Lifetime really did save the best for last! After a year that left many longtime Lifetime viewers feeling somewhat disappointed, Lifetime finally gave us the type of movie that made us fall in love with the network in the first place. Web Cam Girls is wonderfully melodramatic, over the top, and incredibly entertaining. The houses are beautiful, the villain is perhaps one of the most evil characters to ever appear in a Lifetime film, and the whole thing is full of details that will reward the observant viewer.

For instance, Carolyn, Alex, and Shawn discuss watching Sunrise in film class. Sunrise, of course, is a film about an innocent who is tempted by the sinful city, much in the same way that Carolyn and Alex are tempted by the sinful internet. Later, another teacher tells Alex that he was impressed with her essay about H.P. Lovecraft. References to both Lovecraft and F.W. Murnau in a Lifetime movie? How can’t you love that?

It was also well-acted. Stephen Graybill and Joe Hackett were memorable as two sinister teachers. I liked both Jon Bridell as Carolyn’s drunk but ultimately heroic father and John Dinan as his best friend. In the role of Carolyn’s mentor, Nikki, Tonya Kay made such a strong impression that a lot of us on twitter were demanding that Nikki get a spin-off film of her own. Down to the smallest part, everyone made their character interesting.

What Did Not Work?

It all worked.

“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments

When I was in high school, I also used to dress in black and write essays about H.P. Lovecraft.

Lessons Learned

Beware the dark web!

In Memoriam 2017: Film & Television

Posted on December 27, 2017 by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

Classic movie lovers suffered a huge loss when long-time TCM host Robert Osbourne passed away at age 84. Robert’s extensive film knowledge and warm personality were always a welcome presence in my home, as I’m sure it was in movie lover’s across the country. Cracked Rear Viewer respectfully dedicates this post to the memory of the gone-but-never-to-be-forgotten Robert Osbourne.

Jerry Lewis, 1977

Old movie buffs (some say weirdos!) like myself also mourned the loss of many of our favorite stars in 2017. First and foremost there was comedian/actor/writer/director… you name it, Jerry Lewis did it! From his early days clowning with partner Dean Martin to his final dramatic role in 2016’s MAX ROSE, Lewis was a show business legend in every respect. Beautiful Anne Jeffreys (94) starred at RKO with everyone from Frank Sinatra (STEP LIVELY) to Bela Lugosi (ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY ), and also made her mark in television…

View original post 1,219 more words

Playing Catch-Up With The Films of 2017: American Assassin (dir by Michael Cuesta)

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Probably the best thing about American Assassin is how simple it is.

The film opens on the beach, with Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) asking his girlfriend to marry him. No sooner has she accepted than suddenly, terrorists are washing up on the beach and, in a genuinely frightening scene, shooting everyone that they see. Mitch is wounded. His girlfriend is killed.

Mitch seeks revenge against the man who killed his “future wife” (to borrow a phrase from The Room) but U.S. Special Forces kill the terrorist seconds before Mitch gets the chance. However, the CIA is so impressed, by Mitch’s single-minded and obsessive desire for revenge, that they recruit him to join Orion, a black ops unit. Under the guidance of grizzled veteran, Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), Mitch becomes an American assassin. His first mission? To stop a renegade mercenary known as the Ghost (Taylor Kitsch).

In many ways, American Assassin feels like a throwback to the action films of the early aughts. There’s none of the moral ambiguity of the Bourne films and Mitch Rapp never indulges in any of the self-loathing that’s marred the Daniel Craig James Bond films. Remember how Bond got drunk and tried to interrogate that rat in SPECTRE? Judging from American Assassin, that’s something Mitch Rapp would never do. And, if he ever did, Stan Hurley would probably tell him to stop whining and get back to work.

In American Assassin, the bad guys are undoubtedly the bad guys and the good guys are undoubtedly the good guys and, while that may not be the approach that leads to Academy Awards and overwhelming critical acclaim, it still makes for an undeniably entertaining movie. Director Michael Cuesta does a good job with the action scenes and he gets good performances from the entire cast. Taylor Kitsch is far more compelling as a villain than he ever was in any of his heroic roles and, not surprisingly, Michael Keaton steals the whole show as the tough but caring Stan Hurley. Michael Keaton is definitely one of the best actors working today. He can slide seamlessly from a prestige drama like Spotlight to an action film like American Assassin to a comic book film like Spider-Man: Homecoming and he can do it without missing a beat. Those are three very different films and Keaton was the best thing in all of them.

And, finally, we have Dylan O’Brien. Last year, as we all know, O’Brien was seriously injured while filming the third Maze Runner film. At the time, it was announced that O’Brien’s injuries were “substantial but not life threatening” but I know there was a feeling that his career might be over. Even though American Assassin was not his first film since getting injured, it was his first starring role and I have to admit that it was good to see O’Brien back and looking good. O’Brien brought a lot of gravity to the role of Mitch Rapp. He had the haunted look of a man obsessed with revenge. When I saw O’Brien in The Maze Runner and, before that, in Teen Wolf, I thought he was a pleasant young actor but, in American Assassin, he gives his most mature performance to date. With American Assassin, Dylan O’Brien grows up.

As I said, American Assassin is a simple film. There’s not much going on beneath the surface and it you’re looking for anything deeper than pure entertainment, you might want to look elsewhere. American Assassin is what it is and makes no apologies. What it does, it does well.