Without Angelina

Where to start with this film? I recorded it about two months ago solely because it stars Angelina Jolie and while I fully expected it to be crap, the completist Joliefan within me compelled me to sit through it.

Sure enough, it is indeed a crap film. Super-low budget, wooden acting (ironically, it stars Scott Plank) and, crucially, no ending. It's based on a true story. Michael Francke, director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, was stabbed in a car park and his brother, Kevin, convinced there was a conspiracy covering up what really happened, embarked on his own investigation.

The trouble is that although someone was convicted of the murder, Kevin didn't buy it, which meant that the film just petered out into nothing. Now that's OK where the case if fairly well known to be unresolved, such as with David Fincher's Zodiac. You know there won't be a pay-off at the end. However, with this film, unless you're in Oregon you're unlikely to know anything about the case and will feel rather short-changed by the ending.

Ordinarily though, a film like this wouldn't warrant a mention on this blog. However, after seeing the above DVD cover, I couldn't let it pass without comment. Who's that top-lining? Angelina Jolie! Now that's fine for say, Gia, Mr & Mrs Smith or Wanted, but if you total up La Jolie's screentime for this entire film I doubt it adds up to any more than five minutes. Poor old Scott Plank (RIP, incidentally) gets relegated to supporting actor even though he's in almost EVERY SINGLE SHOT OF THE ENTIRE FILM.

The misrepresentation doesn't end there. Look at that gun he's carrying, a chunky, manly, revolver! Sadly it bears no resemblance to the gun he carries in the film, which is a weedy pistol reminiscent of something a Nazi would carry in a WW2 movie. Then there's that line at the bottom 'AND THE ULTIMATE GOVERNMENT COVER-UP', no doubt designed to provoke images of labyrinthine conspiracies and shocking All The President's Men-style revelations, neither of which are evidenced by the film itself.

To round things off, the BBFC have given it a 15 certificate, something which I can only attribute to grossly offensive acting (Jolie aside) because the film is entirely innocuous, a view borne out by the fact it was rated PG on the Sky EPG.