“Meeting Evil” 2012
Luke Wilson and Samuel L. Jackson star in this direct-to-video, mystery drama by Chris Fisher. The setting is in an upscale neighborhood with most of the homes up for sale, including Wilson’s character’s home. John Fleton (Wilson) is a beaten down man. He is fired from his realtor job, is unable to sell his house he has not been able to afford and the backyard is a giant hole, waiting to become a swimming pool.
Richie, played by Jackson, knocks on John’s front door asking for a hand at getting his car started. John, being that helpful type of guy, stops sulking long enough to give Richie’s car a running start. Richie’s car backfires, injuring John and beginning an adventure of brutal murder and senseless crime with John as a kidnapped victim.
“Meeting Evil” adequately describes Jackson’s character. If you liked Jackson in “Pulp Fiction” you will appreciate his performance as Richie. Beyond that, the characters are flat and the plot is stretched thin. The situations the characters are placed in are less than believable. This would work if the movie wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. It has an “R” rating and could have taken the leap to “slasher thriller” with over-the-top, bloody scenes. Instead, the movie falls somewhere in-between. The actors are top-notch from the main characters to the supporting actors portraying police officers. The problem is the stiff dialogue between them. Jackson’s character is the exception as his dark, sarcastic and often vulgar language lifts Richie out of the flat character persona that keeps the remaining characters from rising.
While I had solved the mystery of this film prior to the end, I did not expect the last few frame’s twists. Ultimately, it is that twist and Jackson as a psychopathic killer that saves this movie from complete failure.
girlboxer1970 