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Sunday, March 9, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Forest Whitaker stars in the new psychological thriller "Repentance" (2014)
Imagine a night of fun in the Louisiana bayou with family and friends that turns into a nightmare that you never forget…
Repentance, a psychological thriller, tells the story of life-coach and author Thomas Carter (played by Anthony Mackie), who is approached at a book signing for an autograph and one-on-one counseling mysteriously abducted by an unbalanced client, Angel Sanchez (Forest Whitaker). Against better judgment, Carter agrees to take on Angel as a new client, so that he can assist with paying off a debt for his brother Ben (played by Mike Epps). What Carter does not realize is that Angel has done his homework on the therapist as he delves into his teachings and uses his spiritual messages of Karma (Vipaka—action and reaction) against him to create “hell on earth” for Carter and his family so that they can own up to their past sins. Very quickly, the client becomes the judge and jury.
Repentance, directed by Philippe Caland, and stars Forest Whitaker, Anthony Mackie, Mike Epps, Nicole Ari Parker, and Sanaa Lathan. This 2014 picture offers viewers a front row seat to a deep, dark, twisted secret but, unfortunately, the journey to the film’s revelations is very anticlimactic. Just think of Repentance as a cross between Misery, What Lies Beneath, and Eve’s Bayou. Repentance relays a failed effort at a psychological portraiture thriller film that just happens to throw in a few scenes of pointless tension and forced torture scenes. What the movie does well is provide the necessary (and, at times, overcompensated) shock and suspense of the genre.
As a whole, Repentance lacks in character development. Thomas turns out to be an inflexible, hypocritical, phony counselor and Angel (to no surprise) is essentially a second-generation, down-graded male version of Kathy Bates’ character in Misery. Then you have the secondary and minor characters Ben (Epps) who is more of a plot point than a character, existing primarily as the keeper of his brother’s dark secret; Maggie (Thomas’ wife; played by Lathan), a very minor role as an ungrateful, yoga instructor; and, finally, Sophie (Angel’s wife; played by Ari Parker) makes a very brief, short-lived appearance until more than halfway through the film. Basically, the female characters become nonentities and impassioned placeholders.
Director Philippe Caland, a French-Lebanese immigrant, is a filmmaker with a unique career in Hollywood. He has done everything from producing to a few entrepreneurial efforts. Caland provides a momentarily intriguing film that could have had a compelling and riveting storyline, but falls to hit the mark. As an Academy Award winning actor Whitaker, who has much better roles and has worked with Caland before, (i.e. The Last King of Scotland, The Butler, Repo Men) finds himself taking on a “wow-less” role in an implausible, far-fetched script. Obviously shot on a very small budget, both Caland and director of photography Denis Maloney fail to take advantage of the authentic New Orleans surroundings resulting in a boring, visual feature film.
All in all, Repentance becomes a film that is ultimately formulaic with a predictable, disappointing ending. Even with commendable performance from both Whitaker and Mackie, it’s not enough to carry the film to the finish line. At a certain point, the viewer quickly loses interest and must suffer through to the end.
New Trailer Alert: "Annie" (2014)
The wait is finally over!!
Quvenzhané Wallis may have been an unknown when she was casted in the indie film Beasts of the Southern Wild, but her charming and glowing personality along with natural talent have placed her the leading role of the updated adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Annie.
Academy Award® nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who’s also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) – advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) – makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around.
The film stars are favorite lil Academy Award nominee, Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie alongside Jaime Foxx as Benjamin Stacks ( a remixed and up-to-date version Daddy Warbucks) and Cameron Diaz as Miss Hanigan.
Check out the trailer below:
Annie hits theaters December 19th. Just in time for the Christmas holiday!!
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