When a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal skills and a gambling problem gets in trouble with the mob, he has one last play...and it's all or nothing.
Director: Simon West
Writers: William Goldman (screenplay), William Goldman (novel)
Stars: Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Dominik García-Lorido | See full cast and crew » a
Storyline
Nick Wild (Jason Statham) is a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal professional skills and a personal gambling problem. When a friend is beaten by a sadistic thug, Nick strikes back, only to find out the thug is the son of a powerful mob boss. Suddenly Nick is plunged into the criminal underworld, chased by enforcers and wanted by the mob. Having raised the stakes, Nick has one last play to change his fortunes...and this time, it's all or nothing.Wild Card User Reviews
Simon West Deals The Film A Bad Hand
When you've got the
choice to catch some new releases a Jason Statham movie isn't perhaps an
obvious choice for the "I gotta see this movie" stakes but let me
explain . I saw from the credits on this site that William Goldman
adapted the screenplay from his own novel similar to what he did with
THE MARATHON MAN when Goldman was the highest regarded screenwriter
working in Hollywood in the 1970s . The director is Simon West best
known for making shallow popcorn flicks like CON AIR . This chalk and
cheese , black and white contrast intrigued me , almost like hearing
Chris Hansen has been elected Pope and the film stars Jason Statham !
WILD CARD . I'm wild to see this
As you might expect from a Statham movie we have a very tongue in cheek opening which while being very predictable did bring something akin to a wry smile to my face . Twenty minutes the whole film has turned in to a completely different movie . I don't mean there's leftfield plot twist where it shows itself to be a cross genre movie , what I mean is there's a shattering shift in tone and mood and up until that totally jars . It gives the impression it's going to then become a rather tough serious revenge thriller , but then the knockabout cheekie chappie light hearted thrills of nearly every Statham movie you've ever seen comes to the fore again along with an excess of speed ramping in the action scenes . The film is unable to get a grip on what type of movie it's trying to be . I can see that Goldman is trying to make a subtext about the worst lies a compulsive liar can make is the lies he tells himself but this seems entirely lost amongst the visuals and directing in which case Simon West seems to be the guilty party in a film had potential but falls flat
As you might expect from a Statham movie we have a very tongue in cheek opening which while being very predictable did bring something akin to a wry smile to my face . Twenty minutes the whole film has turned in to a completely different movie . I don't mean there's leftfield plot twist where it shows itself to be a cross genre movie , what I mean is there's a shattering shift in tone and mood and up until that totally jars . It gives the impression it's going to then become a rather tough serious revenge thriller , but then the knockabout cheekie chappie light hearted thrills of nearly every Statham movie you've ever seen comes to the fore again along with an excess of speed ramping in the action scenes . The film is unable to get a grip on what type of movie it's trying to be . I can see that Goldman is trying to make a subtext about the worst lies a compulsive liar can make is the lies he tells himself but this seems entirely lost amongst the visuals and directing in which case Simon West seems to be the guilty party in a film had potential but falls flat
