Barkley Michaelson is in a deep life rut. He's struggling to finish his PhD thesis when his father, the learned Eli Michaelson, wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Barkley and his mother, Sarah, a renowned forensic psychiatrist, now have the ill-fortune of living with a man-eating monster whose philandering ways have gotten less and less discrete. As if Barkley's world is not bad enough, on the eve of his father receiving the Nobel, Barkley is kidnapped and the requested ransom is the $2,000,000 in Nobel prize money. Needless to say, Eli refuses to pay it and so starts a venomous tale of familial dysfunction, lust, betrayal and ultimately revenge. In the words of Michel De Montaigne, the 16th century philosopher: "There is more barbarity in eating a man alive than in eating him dead."
Genre(s): Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Runtime: 110 minutes
Rating: 6.8/10 (2,008 votes)
Release Date: 28 April 2007
Country: USA
Languages: English
Company: Eli's Son Production
Sound: Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
MPAA: Rated R for some violent gruesome images, language and sexuality.
Director(s): Randall Miller
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Producer(s):
Merv Davis - executive producer
Bridget Fonger - associate producer
Jeffery Goddard - executive producer
Art Klein - executive producer
Randall Miller - producer
Michael Ravine - executive producer
Jody Savin - producer
Ron Savin - co-producer
Tom Soulanille - executive producer
Terry Spazek - line producer
Henry Suarez - co-producer
Writer(s):
Jody Savin - (written by) &
Randall Miller - (written by)
Cast:
Alan Rickman - Eli Michaelson
Bryan Greenberg - Barkley Michaelson
Shawn Hatosy - Thaddeus James
Mary Steenburgen - Sarah Michaelson
Bill Pullman - Det. Max Mariner
Eliza Dushku - City Hall
Danny DeVito - George Gastner
Lindy Booth - Beth Chapman
Tracey Walter - Simon Ahrens
Ted Danson - Harvey Parrish
Music: Mark Adler, Paul Oakenfold
Merv Davis - executive producer
Bridget Fonger - associate producer
Jeffery Goddard - executive producer
Art Klein - executive producer
Randall Miller - producer
Michael Ravine - executive producer
Jody Savin - producer
Ron Savin - co-producer
Tom Soulanille - executive producer
Terry Spazek - line producer
Henry Suarez - co-producer
Writer(s):
Jody Savin - (written by) &
Randall Miller - (written by)
Cast:
Alan Rickman - Eli Michaelson
Bryan Greenberg - Barkley Michaelson
Shawn Hatosy - Thaddeus James
Mary Steenburgen - Sarah Michaelson
Bill Pullman - Det. Max Mariner
Eliza Dushku - City Hall
Danny DeVito - George Gastner
Lindy Booth - Beth Chapman
Tracey Walter - Simon Ahrens
Ted Danson - Harvey Parrish
Music: Mark Adler, Paul Oakenfold
Posted on: December 2, 2008
December 11th, 2008
After the first fifteen minutes I though perhaps I had paid sevendollars to see an extended CSI or one of those Vegas casino shows thatrely on innumerable zooms and ubercool techno music to convince youthat something exciting is happening when it really isn't. The onlymovie with a mildly complex plot to use these techniques to itsadvantage was "Confidence" and even then it risked being corny attimes. The acting really wasn't bad, rightly so with such a cast, butmany times I couldn't even make out the substance of the performancebecause house-beats were blaring in my ears.
I was initially suspicious of a film that claimed to be a comedy and athriller and a drama. Now, if your critical film viewing level peakssomewhere around The Fast and the Furious, then read no more. Clumsyplot twists, inappropriate editing and music selection won't phase youriron-trap of a mind. I am by nature a humble and optimisticmovie-viewer, but at some point (involving a mall and a remotecontrolled vehicle) I experienced a mental collapse due to cognitivedissonance. The lingering themes of cannibalism, familial dysfunction,dark sides of human nature, etc were washed away by a wave ofunbelievable ( as in un- believable) action sequences. I began to breakout in a nervous sweat and wondered if I hadn't wandered into anothertheater in my delusional state.
Basically, I feel as if this film was written by several differentpeople who never once contacted each other. There are some decent ideasin all three or four of the genres which it sought to present. Butapparently no single one human being ever read the script beforeproduction. If you do see it for yourself, hopefully you can figure outwhy Ted Dansen and Danny DeVito were in it. I'm fairly confident theirperformances had no impact whatsoever on the film.
December 11th, 2008
Crazy's just a choice? Exactly! This film was crazy because it wantedto be. It did such a great job with everything. Superb acting, a greatsoundtrack and wonderful story-line. I really loved this film. AlanRickman, Bill Pullman, Mary Steenburgen, Danny DeVito, Eliza Dushku,Bryan Greenberg, and Shawn Hatosy all gave great performances. I wasn'treally expecting what I got, which was really great. This has been thebest movie I've seen, so far, this holiday season. I'd like to see moremovies like this from Randall Miller, the director, and more RandallMiller and Jody Savin writing collaborations. The twists and turns ofthe plot really made this movie stand out. The twists weren't the usualcop out twists which really irritate me as a patron. There are so manygreat scenes and many great lines which sometimes made me laugh andsometimes made me just say wow, this is a great film.
December 12th, 2008
Movies today, are good. I enjoy what they have become, but the art hasslowly dripped out of films with a few exceptions. This is definitelyone of them. I was very happy with my choice to see this one, havingnot heard of it I went in not knowing what to expect. I felt that wayuntil the closing credits. It was a fantastic movie of ups and downsand twists and turns, that kept me guessing. The superb acting of theveterans like Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Danny DeVito, and BillPullman. Eliza Dushku continues to excite her audience and proveherself on the screen. Bryan Greenberg and Shawn Hatosy have done greatjobs recently and I look forward to seeing them more often. I hopeRandall Miller continues his run of good movies after Bottle Shock andNobel Son, I'm left wanting more!
December 12th, 2008
I thoroughly enjoyed this film, from beginning to end. The superbacting of Mary Steenburgen, Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, and DannyDeVito, was icing on the cake of an already fantastic movie. Myadrenaline was pumping throughout the film with a great soundtrack byPaul Oakenfold. It's nice to go to the movies and see a trulyindependent film made with such a wide release, and such a great cast.Randall Miller, who co-wrote, and co-produced with Jody Savin and alsodirected and edited this film, did a wonderful job, and deserves greatrespect. Every scene was captivating and fun with Bryan Greenberg andShawn Hatosy proving themselves in starring roles. While movies likeRevolutionary Road, and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button are gettingall the credit for such moving performances and so on, but this filmdeserves great recognition for the true genius of every second of thisfilm. Truly the unsung hero, underdog, and most underrated film of theyear. Don't miss out on any chance to see this film.