Wicked Blood
Here’s a new movie with Abigail Breslin, Alexa Vega and James Purefoy playing opposite Sean Bean. Bean plays “Uncle Frank Stinson,” who’s a rough ‘n’ tough leader of a crime syndicate. I like Uncle Donny (Lew Temple) better, as he’s more of a nice guy. Plus, he used to play drums for the Resurrection Band (oh, wait a minute, he just looks like John Herrin). His precocious little niece asks him questions about his lifestyle, why he’s changed, why he’s accepted less than the best for his life, etc. And his quick answer is “Hillbilly Crack.” Dude is a user and a crystal meth lab operator.
Ever hear of the reference “the dirty South?” This movie does a fairly good job of embodying that, though a good movie that alone does not make. The subtitle of “the ultimate endgame” promises a big conflict, but setting up the characters takes its time like a long, hot summer afternoon in the Deep South. It’s so slow it might lull you to sleep. Uncle Frank is seriously bent. He’s wicked. Little Hannah Stinson (Abigail Breslin) is the type of character (like Scarlet from the show Nashville) that exudes innocence and naivety. You want her character to succeed. You want her heart to stay pure. You hate to see her struggle with the temptation to use the drugs she’s delivering. She has enough motivation in dead parents, a junkie uncle and a sister named Amber (Alexa Vega) that is forever dependent upon men (and usually, apparently, gets used and abused). You’d think that would be enough to keep her clean, yet the story moves on.
The darkness that creeps into Hannah’s heart is useful in moving the story along, because by embracing her darker side, it seems, she’s able to devise a scheme to break out of the hell her family is stuck in. Not a killer movie, but there’s plenty of killing involved. Slightly disturbing at times, painfully slow in parts, but certainly engaging enough to pass the time and not make you wish you hadn’t watched it. I’d give this one a C+, class. For more info and to watch the trailer, check out its IMDb webpage. [eOne] Doug Van Pelt
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