Delivered

I'm not sure I actually saw the same film all the reviewers here saw, because it is definitely NOT the cinematic masterpiece they claim! Admittedly, it did start out promising, and I thought I'd really found a great little indie film. Then about 45 minutes in, it just started to go downhill and ended up one pointless, convoluted mess. I thought Ryan Gosling was the worst actor in Hollywood, until I saw the lead actor, Michael Madison's wooden performance. Wow, I can't believe he even gets any roles; he's really that bad. The only really redeeming performance was the actress who portrayed his mother. The ditzy blonde he picked up halfway in was annoying as hell and couldn't act her way out of a wet tissue. I'm sorry, but I have nothing redeeming to say for this film. I'm giving it two stars because I've actually seen worse.

This is one of those films that rises to the occasion when you want an action-packed, tense piece of escapism – well paced and with a story-line that engages from start to end. One thing I was surprised with was that it was from an independent film-maker. When watching it I thought I was watching a film with far more resources that those that an independent film-making typically has to rely on. This high production value presence was fitting with the other markers that I would tend to use when judging whether a film is worth watching I was not surprised to see some of the other grudging reviews with low ratings as just about every film on IMDb attracts a bunch of these. I actually wonder if trolls read the description of a film before choosing it since they obviously did not seem much good at choosing what to watch (if they really watch it) or whether hating everything in the universe is their fun little hobby. I suspect both!

"Delivered" has a definite "Killing of a Chinese Bookie" vibe, with fine acting and surprising twists. I loved Michael Madison's brooding performance. As a war vet trying to fit back into society, he conveys quiet strength and inner struggle. As the director also, Madison's love of movies is obvious in the visual homages to noir classics.

So, this movie was quite a surprise. I picked it up because it was a crime movie where a desert and a muscle car featured heavily -- so how bad could it be? Unfortunately, I wasn't sure about it in the first 10 minutes. What was surely meant to be an emotional and harrowing experience, both Shane's time in Iraq and his homecoming, felt kind of hollow and forced, and I was worried.

But it gradually gained steam. The acting kept getting better, the characters better realized. I think the best acting really starts when Shane runs into an old friend from a bar, whose teasing and jibing just rings hollow to someone who's really been in the thick of it. (Brian McGuire as Mooneyham is just brilliant -- it's as though he sets all the rest of the movie free, just to be as exciting as it wants to be, when it finally gets around to it.)

In the end it was all I wanted it to be -- wryly funny, a little heart- pounding, sometimes sweet and sometimes wicked. Michael Madison (who also directed) reminded me a bit of Chris Evans, with his all-American good looks and easy-going style. Jeanette May Steiner is terrific as the free-spirited Cindy, a young woman to whose aid Shane comes when she gets in trouble outside a truck stop and with whom he forms an instant connection.

So, give it a chance. It's a diamond in the rough and just needs an investment of a few minutes. By the time I finished it I found that I really liked it.

Where do I start? First, the beginning act has the most in your face character exposition I think I have ever seen in any film. 2 minutes to show his war experience. 2 minutes to show his trouble returning to civilian life. 2 minutes to show his anger issues. 2 minutes to set up the so-called plot. Horribly edited and choppy. Moving into the action it is all so predictable. And why does this come off as something from the 70s? Cheesy dialogue, even cheesier background music, clichéd cinematography, lame acting. I think it's in the 3rd act now and I'm gonna bail, I can't take any more of this tripe. (as I write this, the background music just switched to a twang twang twang twang plucking of oriental music, LMAO!)