Ryan Shoots First: 10 Minutes Gone
I’m trying to think to myself, “what was the last good movie Bruce Willis was in?” I begin scrolling through IMDb and it is a sad state of affairs for someone who used to be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Even more so than Nicholas Cage who always seemed a little off, Bruce Willis exuded cool and general Bad-Assness.
If you’re wondering why I’m taking this stroll down the pit of failed Bruce Willis B glory it’s because he’s added a new feature to the likes of Precious Cargo and Once Upon a Time in Venice. 10 Minutes Gone is just not a very good movie and it doesn’t end with its shamelessly direct title.
The film stars Willis, who organizes a group on a bank heist that goes bad. During the heist one of his team mates Frank played by Michael Chiklis (The Shield) is knocked out and awakens to find the loot gone and his brother dead as he loses 10 minutes of his memory, yep remember when I said the title was shamelessly direct? He spends the rest of the film shouting at people what happened to then be told “you don’t remember?”.
It’s sad because the film was shot in my hometown of Cincinnati and while it’s cool to see landmarks and sweeping shots of areas I know the film does not do our fair city justice. It is every cops and robbers cliche all rolled into one and then placed in a stale paint by numbers script that takes no chances and brings really nothing unique to the presentation. You see enough of these movies you learn to look past some things. You over look the cheese and some of the flaws and just hope the movie can bring a few things dynamic to the mix. Some things to stand out and make you go “now that was cool”. This film offers none of that which is a shame for Willis. It says something that even though it’s been a few years since his last good film his name attached alone makes you perk up and be curious. Unfortunately seeing Michael Chiklis star opposite him instantly kills any of that hype and only leaves curiosity about just what the heck this movie could be with those two stars at far opposite ends of the spectrum. Willis is actually hardly in the film and I’m fairly sure shot all his scenes in one day in one location probably in less time than it took me to watch the film and write this review.
10 Minutes Gone is as formulaic as movies can get and lacks any real creativity or inspiration. Unfortunately it was much more than just 10 minutes of my life that are now gone.
His last decent movie was probably Looper.
Such a shame because so many of his movies are classics and he used to be so badass. Now he looks like a grumpy old man who’s just making movies to get paid. Delivering his lines like he just got out of bed and using obvious stunt doubles for everything.
This film is just basically Bruce Willis and Michael Chiklis(who is much better than this) both collecting an easy paycheck and then making a quick run for it,as this is the type of Straight-To-VOD/DVD/Blu Ray Bruce Willis fare that Blogspot based Good Efficient Butchery’s Mark Tinta refers to as a “Bruce Willis Does His Role From His Hotel Room In One Day” film.
The last movie i saw where Bruce Willis looked like he gave a shit was Looper., that’s a pretty cool movie. I’ve seen a few of his straight to dvd movies like First Kill (it sucks and he looks bored, don’t bother) and he acts like he would rather be anywhere else. He has to be a multi millionaire so why even make moves if he doesn’t care anymore?
A huge shame because back in the 90’s and early 2000’s Bruce Willis was so badass, i used to get excited to see his new movies. I’m off to watch The last boy scout to cheer myself up.