Golpe de suerte

We've seen this hostage-ransom story a million times, and this is nothing new in that regard. However the tone and atmosphere that the film provides (heavy lifted by Danny Bensi's 'noir-ish' score) really does make this an enjoyable easy watch.

It's another 'pandemic' film in which restrictions meant there needed to be a barebones cast and one location, but thankfully this flavour of cinema is one of my favourites; you seldom get over saturated plot information in this 'genre' and are left to just enjoy the craft of filmmaking on a mostly technical level. Windfall is no different. Lack of plot, suspect story twists, and a short film script stretched into a feature length film doesn't take away from it being a satisfying watch.

It starts off with kind of a wacky, Coen Brothers energy and then turns into a much darker thriller. It's an intriguing premise and I liked the cast, but it feels a bit undercooked.

Things happen that don't have proper buildup or explanation and some of the logic is a bit iffy. It's interesting, however it can really drag with some of the long, awkward staring into space scenes. It's definitely not the best Netflix film, but far from the worst.

This was a very hit and miss film for a lot I believe, some will love it and others will hate it. Unlucky for you lot I'm sat on the fence here. It has some really good positives, but it's equalled out by the negatives.

Positives: as the title says the actors absolutely carried this film. As I'll discuss a little later, the film lacks in depth and these actors really managed to sell their characters with the little they had, honestly brilliant performances from the 3. The cinematography throughout was immense as well, brilliant shots as it went on.

Okay what didn't I like: the biggest issue which most people will hate is the pacing of the film. It's really really slow. You could leave the room for 15 mins, come back and be at the exact same point. Ultimately I don't feel there was enough plot wise to make a film, so it was extremely slow.

The character depth was non existent. The actors did an amazing job of illustrating the character traits, but ultimately we know sod all about them so it's quite difficult to gain an emotional connection to any. Why is Jason Segal robbing this house? If he was doing it for his child or something we could picture him as a good guy even though he's doing a bad thing. But nah, plot gives us absolutely nothing. It's trying to add this element of mystery, but goes too far for me.

The ending. Again, I feel some might like and some won't. For me it's an okay ending, but very underwhelming. I understand the chain of events as it makes sense for said character, but it still was just really underwhelming and doesn't really solve much. They could have done so much more and instead they tried to do something really off the cuff as not a lot happens up until the end.

Ultimately I feel this film had good potential, but the poor pacing of the film really ruins it. You have here 3 amazing actors putting in a right shift, but they have so little to work with it the plot falls flat. I alluded earlier but they needed more, there simply wasn't enough here to get a film out of it.

Having said that I did somewhat enjoy it, mainly for the character performances and I was sat there for the whole film wondering what will happen and how will it end. So I guess the film maintains a mild tension. But I can't give above a 5/10 on this. It's maybe worth watching if you're bored, but I wouldn't recommend to my mates if I'm honest.

Jason Segel breaks into the isolated luxury villa of tech billionaire Jesse Plemons and his wife, Lily Collins. They suddenly appear and Segel has to hold them at gunpoint and decide how he his going to get out of the mess he's got himself into.

Interesting chamber piece set entirely at the villa (very nice it is too) and therefore you can easily see it as a neat 3 act play performed on stage. Whilst it starts lightly enough with a degree of humour, the tables turn on Segel as Plemons starts to get increasingly angered at the situation, letting his true colours shine through. As the film progresses it becomes pretty clear what the direction of travel is going to be, although this doesn't alter the fact the film has a neat ending. All 3 leads do well, but Plemons keeps the electricity going with his performance as an increasingly unlikeable rich guy.

It was nothing special,unique,original or not clichéd.. Including,how it ended.

Average all around from casting,acting & cinematography.

Not worth a second viewing,for any reason!