Blog Archives
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
I was a little apprehensive about seeing this movie. It appeared like it would be either really good or just really bad. I have enjoyed most of Joaquin Phoenix’s work, so I thought I would give You Were Never Really Here a shot.
The film is about a hit man who gets in over his head when he is hired to rescue a young girl from a sex slave ring, and make the people involved suffer for what they have done to her.
The movie was directed by Lynne Ramsay and the noteworthy cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, John Doman, Alex Manette, Ekaterina Samsonov, and Alessandro Nivola.
You Were Never Really Here is unflinching and unplugged. The film does not pull any punches. The subject matter is as dark as it gets. This movie is certainly not for everyone. The movie was unique. The way that it was filmed raised the level of intensity. The soundtrack and natural background noise in the movie really set the gritty tone. It was rough at times, but it was very necessary to tell the story.
Phoenix is ruthless and almost robotic. It is a cold, hard, Oscar-worthy performance. He throws everything into his character and continues to reveal to us his wide range of talent and ability as a versatile actor.
I have heard comparisons of You Were Never Really Here to Taxi Driver (1976), and I have to say that I liked You Were Never Really Here better. I can see the comparison in only the mean streets and loud, tough city. The atmosphere was reminiscent of Taxi Driver in the way that it was filmed. However, I feel like Taxi Driver tried too hard and often fell short. There was a lot more unnecessary shock value in Taxi Driver. I felt like there was more depth and purpose to You Were Never Really Here (2017).
This movie was in limited release and therefore I had to go way out of my way in order to see it. Because it was such a dark film, I can understand that it was only in limited release. Not everybody can handle this type of movie. However, I am glad that movies like this one are still able to get made.
You Were Never Really Here will leave you thinking about it long after it is over. That is often how you can tell that a movie was worth seeing, when it sticks with you. If you are a fan of Joaquin Phoenix and you like grittier films, then you will most likely enjoy You Were Never Really Here.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
If you liked this film then you might also enjoy:
Bad Samaritan (2018)
John Wick (2014)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
Collateral (2004)
Street Kings (2008)
Training Day (2001)
Crank (2006)
Crank: High Voltage (2009)
Gladiator (2000)
Her (2013)
Triple 9 (2016)
Running Scared (2006)
Run All Night (2015)
Harsh Times (2005)
The Best Movies of 2009
The Best Movies of 2009
Below is my list of the best movies that I have seen that were released in 2009 (even if some were made in 2008). I have included trailers for each movie. Click on any of the highlighted titles for my full review of that film. I highly recommend all of these movies. I will continue to add to this list if I see any more movies from 2009 that are worthy of this list.
Public Enemies (2009)
The Hangover (2009)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
The Box (2009)
The Road (2009)
Movies that were good, but did not quite make the list are:
State of Play (2009)
Push (2009)
Extract (2009)
Taken (2008)
Brothers (2009)
The Messenger (2009)
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Up (2009)
The Proposal (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)
Surrogates (2009)
Couple’s Retreat (2009)
Crank: High Voltage (2009)
24 Hours to Live (2017)
24 Hours to Live (2017)
Ethan Hawke in a shoot ‘em up, no holds barred action thriller is just the type of movie that I would want to see. So I did. It appeared like it would have a lot of similarities to Crank (2006). Crank is off the hook in all senses of the word, so 24 Hours to Live sparked my interest.
The film is about a hired killer out for revenge after he is brought back to life after being shot. The medical treatment he received is only keeping him alive for 24 hours, so he must seek his revenge in a hurry.
The movie was directed by Brian Smrz and the noteworthy cast includes Ethan Hawke, Liam Cunningham, Rutger Hauer, Paul Anderson, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Tanya van Graan, Qing Xu, and Jenna Upton.
The movie was fun, but convenient at times. The action was sometimes a little choppy. Lots of good ruthless ideas. Some worked and some fell flat. Not enough follow through. The film was a bipolar rollercoaster of really good sometimes, followed by a sort of fizzle and then back to better again. In a strange way, the film felt like a financial rollercoaster also. Sometimes it felt a little cheap and B-rated, while other times really expensive and classy. It just could not hold its momentum. Along with that problem, it was occasionally a bit hard to follow. Overall, it just felt like it was lacking something.
Hawke is dual-wielding and he’s got nothing to lose. His role was awesome and he pulled it off well. He is the same old slick, and smooth likable guy. His character developed well, but the supporting cast, not so much.
Cunningham was very enjoyable, but could have been better. He just was not used enough.
The film was reminiscent of Crank (2006), minus the extreme intensity throughout and not near the same caliber film.
24 Hours to Live was a fun concept. It was an entertaining flick, but a bit disappointing because it did not reach its full potential. However, it was nice to see Ethan Hawke carrying an action movie by himself again.
I rate this movie a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10.
If you liked this film then you might also enjoy:
Crank (2006)
Crank: High Voltage (2009)
Running Scared (2006)
Shoot ‘Em Up (2007)
Training Day (2001)
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
brockingmovies 