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Knockaround
Guys
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There are many films that remain on their distributors' shelves without a cinema screening, awaiting a belated video release. Sometimes, however, the sudden rise of a star gives a second chance to some humble, independent production. This is the case with Knockaround Guys, which features Vin Diesel of xXx (2002) fame in a secondary role. The presence of Lawrence Bender as producer signals the film's heavy debt to Quentin Tarantino's crime thrillers. It begins with a formative childhood incident: Matty (Barry Pepper) is unable to kill the man presented to him by his criminal mentor, Teddy (John Malkovich), who is the right-hand associate of Matty's father, Benny (Dennis Hopper). From that moment on, Matty will always have a problem proving that he has what it takes to be a knockaround guy. Indeed, as he wryly jokes with his comrades, Scarpa (Andrew Davoli) and Johnny (Seth Green), however much he may resemble a glamorous goodfella to timid, law-abiding citizens, he is really just a schmuck. A change of scenery provides a new test for Matty and his pals. They are sent to the small town of Wibaux, Montana, to recover a bag of money clumsily lost by the nervy Johnny. There, among the locals, they encounter not only various crazies and barroom brawlers, but also the lanky, tough, town sheriff (Tom Noonan). Co-directors and writers David Levien and Brian Koppelman try to energise this routine material with the usual tricks courtesy of Tarantino or John Dahl: cleverly placed flashbacks, switches in the storytelling point-of-view, sudden juxtapositions of comic and dramatic moods. They are less successful in taming the heavyweights in the cast: Hopper is on automatic, while Malkovich gives one of his irritating, highly mannered turns. © Adrian Martin March 2003 |
