The Settlement

As I said to my girlfriend as we were going to bed after watching The Settlement, I thought the person to blame for the way Hollywood films are today is none other than the loveable and extremely talented Steven Spielberg. He raised the bar so high that it's almost mandatory that every film be a special FX extravaganza. Then along comes a film like The Settlement. There are no aliens, no genetically gargantuan shark, no lost religious artifacts to be uncovered. What it does have is great dialogue and a great relationship between the main characters. John C. Reilly and William Fitchner run a sleazy business of buying terminal illness patients's life-insurance policies. The patient gets some cash to fulfill they're dying dream and when they die the partners get the full amount of the policy. It's like making a business out of death pools. Disgusting as this is, it doesn't matter. The guys are extremely likeable and when they're business starts to falter, I found myself pulling for them as they have one last chance to get out of financial ruin. The other great thing about The Settlement is the use of irony between the main characters. In the beginning,John C. Reilly's character is the weak, pessimistic one and William Fitchner is the strong optimist, than through one of the twists in the film the roles are reversed! I thank Premier magazine for recommending this film and others that I plan on viewing in the near future. I highly recommend this film. It was definately one of the freshest and entertaining movies I've seen in a while.

Opportunist insurance hacks Jerry (William Fichtner) and Pat's (John C. Reilly) hopes of avoiding bankruptcy after purchasing beautiful cancer victim Barbara's (Kelly McGillis) policy ultimately provides them with a wealth of misfortune. With glistering dialogue, Steilen's peppy, blackly funny crime thriller finds Kelly McGillis, John C. Reilly and William Fichtner on especially lively form. The engaging text, zippy direction, flashes of mordant humour, and on-point performances strongly suggest that The Settlement deserves to be emancipated from its wholly undeserved bargain bin DVD status. This appealingly smart, seemingly neglected 90s gem is a comedy-Noir treat, with sinfully slinky siren McGillis an absolute delight as firecracker femme fatal Barbara.

I love finding lesser-known films that I haven't necessarily heard of before. The beauty of owning a DSS with a full premium movie package is that these kinds of films pop up regularly, although for every one worth watching you'll wade through five that stink. I ran across "The Settlement" last night and was actually quite impressed.

The gist of it: John Reilly and William Fichter play two guys who run a shady business wherein they buy out life insurance policies from dying customers. The clients get some cash before they die, and when they eventually kick off Reilly and Fichter collect the full benefit payout on the policy. Their business has hit the skids, however, and on the brink of bankruptcy in walks Barbara (Kelly McGillis). She's a terminal cancer patient with three months to live. For a $500,000 buyout she'll sign over her $2 million dollar policy.

As this is a much bigger deal than they are accustomed to and since they are nearly broke, Reilly and Fichter have to resort to some questionable means to obtain the $500,000. Reilly's character wants out of the business altogether but has a family to worry about. Fichter is the single, shoot-from-the-hip sort who acts now and worries about the consequences later. He has to convince Reilly that this is the deal they've been waiting for and that it will solve their financial problems once and for all. Conversations between the aggravated Reilly and the ever-scheming Fichter are well-written and very funny.

Barbara turns out to be something other than she first appears to be, and the movie takes off from there. It's well filmed and acted, and does a nice job of building suspense and the appropriate moments. The storyline is unique and made me wonder how Reilly and Fichter, who seem like decent enough guys, could have gotten involved in such a sleazy line of work.

I gave it 7 out of 10. My only real complaint is that the ending seemed hurried and a little too serious to fit the overall tone of the film. All in all, a good flick and worth your time if you get a chance.

A nice surprise! A ballsy, unethical movie about ballsy, unethical people, but it's not a turn-off. John C. Reilly projects such amazing grace on-screen that it's easy to pass off what he does as standard. As an actor, he's solid, nonchalant and natural, and also very sexy (but, blessedly, not textbook handsome). Reilly always seems to have an extra card up his sleeve, and he's unafraid to be quiet just after racing through a foul-mouthed tirade. Here, he's in partnership with William Fichtner in a life insurance operation which is given a run for its money by a mysterious woman who says she only has three months to live. Low-profile film certainly afforded Kelly McGillis the best role she's had in years, and the twists in the screenplay are delicious. This went straight to cable. Too bad...it's more inventive than many other pictures which get a wide distribution. **1/2 from ****

This gets a 10.0 to offset whatever misinformed voters took it down to a 5.0, and it is a solid 8.0 viewing experience no matter what. Anytime death is the motivation for monetary gain in a dark comedy, it is usually a winning combination (see "Eating Raoul"). "The Settlement" has a creative script, great chemistry between John C. Reilly and William Fichtner, and some of the darkest humor in any film. It's a scam, noir, murder, that delivers inspired dialog without any distraction from it's minor budget. Seek this one out if you admire true "black comedy". It most certainly will hold up to repeat viewings. As a matter of fact I can't wait to watch it again. - MERK