Rencontre avec le mal

A 2012 movie, starring Samuel L. Jackson, that no one has heard of? It should tell you something about the quality of this movie already. It should remain unknown to most people, since this simply isn't being a very good movie at all.

It truly amazed me how incredibly poorly this movie got done. It doesn't have any good storytelling in it and the movie is deprived of any good tension or emotions. This is mostly because everything in this movie comes across as stupid and nothing ever works out as anything convincing.

It's also all really because the movie hardly explains anything. Stuff doesn't make sense and just happens. It doesn't make any sense for the Samuel L. Jackson character to go through so much trouble just to mess with one guy's life. He basically is being like a stalker from hell, without any good motivation or character development. It's something that could work. I mean, just look at "The Hitcher". We don't know where this guy comes from and why he's killing people but it works out. For Samuel L. Jackson's character it really doesn't though. His character seems to be too rational, as opposed to just simply being psychotic and he also seems to get absolutely nothing out of killing and messing with people. No pleasure, nor thrills and the same can be said for those who watch this movie; you'll get very little pleasure and thrills out of it.

Yes, I know, it does try to explain a little toward its ending but the ending has a whole bunch of stupid and unlikely developments, that causes nothing to really work out, at least not in an effective and convincing enough way.

Seriously, all of the developments that transpire in this movie make you go; yeah right! Or; why don't the characters just simple do this or that? It's annoying, next to being stupid as well. It doesn't feel like a clever or well thought out movie at all and what makes things worse is that none of it is getting handled good enough in this movie either. No, Chris Fisher clearly isn't being a very good director, as this movie at times painfully demonstrates.

Besides the Samuel L. Jackson character, all of the other characters are lacking as well in this. Luke Wilson isn't a very good or charismatic and likable enough main 'hero'. I know, he was supposed to be an average guy but there is a big difference between being average or boring. Besides, the movie gives you no real good reason to root for him or his family, which again, is also due to the fact that they make some stupid and terribly unconvincing decisions throughout the movie.

Something that also worked out as something highly annoying for me was the musical score by Ryan Beveridge. There is almost nothing more annoying and distracting than a musical score that totally doesn't suit the movie and what is happening on the screen!

One of the worst thrillers I have seen in a while.

4/10

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Meeting Evil (2012)

*** (out of 4)

John (Luke Wilson) has his life ripped from him when he loses his job, falls behind on all his bills and sees no real reason to live but then he meets a mysterious Richie (Samuel L. Jackson) who asks him for help. Richie soon forces John into a wild and violent killing spree but for reasons that the troubled man can't figure out. MEETING EVIL isn't nearly as smart as it tries to be and in the end it's not a completely successful film but I must admit that I've never quite seen anything like it. The entire film is a very strange one as it contains a story that constantly keeps you off guard, some fine performances and a bizarre atmosphere that just hangs over the entire thing. Writer-director Chris Fisher deserves quite a bit of credit by taking a familiar set-up (good man kidnapped by evil) and doing something rather fresh and original with it. I'm going to avoid any major spoilers but I do think the film comes up somewhat short in whatever message it's trying to get across but there's still enough good stuff here to make it worth viewing. One thing are the two lead performances with both Wilson and Jackson turning in fine work. Wilson does a very believable job playing this loser who constantly lets people push him around. I thought the actor made you care for this character while at the same time hating him for not being more of a man. Jackson often falls into playing himself but that's not the case here as he completely loses himself in this character. Jackson plays the part with a certain edge that actually helps the film and especially in some of the darker comic moments, which there are a few of and he makes them very funny. As you'd expect, there's a twist at the end and in a rare case I think it actually works. What I enjoyed most about MEETING EVIL is that I never really knew where it was going to go next. The entire set-up is a pretty crazy one and it doesn't make sense all of the time but it did keep me interested in what was going on and I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next. The film isn't a complete success but I think it's good entertainment.

There were times during Chris Fisher's Meeting Evil when I wasn't quite sure what kind of movie I was watching. The music, especially near the beginning, seems to indicate that its horror. The cinematography lends itself to art house aspirations, and the plot is a cross between thriller and noir. It became clear after not too long that the reason I could not figure out what I was watching is because the filmmakers didn't know either. And that doesn't help the movie one bit.

Luke Wilson stars as John Felton, a family man who has had the world fall in on him. He's lost his job, he's overdue on all his bills and he comes home to find a foreclosure notice on his front door.

His recent troubles are causing issues at home, with his wife Joanie (Leslie Bibb) expressing obvious frustration at their current financial situation. Everything changes when Richie (Samuel L. Jackson) knocks on John's door, asking for help with his stalled car.

One event leads to another and before John knows it, he's being led by Richie across his county, leaving murdered bodies in his wake.

It's a pretty straight forward setup for a crime thriller, but the film has so many problems that after a while, everything stops being tense and comes across as satirical. Having not read the original novel by Thomas Berger, I cannot comment whether these issues were present in the source material or whether they were introduced in the film. In either case, they don't serve it well.

Jackson seems to know the ridiculousness of the material because his portrayal of Richie is so amazingly campy that it is hard to fault him for it. It's more self-aware than it is bad.

Wilson on the other hand, is as vibrant as dead fish, bringing no sense of desperation to a man that should be desperate about everything that's going on around him.

The script (penned by Fisher himself), is awful, giving both leads, as well as the supporting cast almost nothing worthwhile to say, making the film's message – yes, it has one – totally nonsensical.

Add to that some dangling plot points that are never explained, a ridiculous twist at the end and recurring characters that add nothing to the plot (seriously, was there a time in this movie when that little girl wasn't outside walking her dog?), and what you have is a film that leaves the viewer throwing their hands in the air in frustration.

As a film Meeting Evil is pretty terrible, but as fodder for a Saturday Night movie watching party it might have merit – especially if one decides to use it as the basis for a drinking game.

Daniel FilmPulse.net

IMDb have provided a blurb so I'll just give you my opinion. I only review movies if no one else has done one yet.

Meeting Evil could be very vaguely described as "Changing Lanes with more carnage". I'm not sure why this film went straight-to-DVD. It's probably because the plot is a tad all over the place. Sometimes it's hard to understand Luke's actions and Sam's intentions. Some viewers may find this frustrating while others will simply consider it to be part of the fun. On the plus side, it's quite fast paced. You're barely 5 minutes into it before Sam pounds on Luke's front door and the thrills begin. Sam Jackson is quite clearly having a field day as the full-blown psycho who despises people with a lack of common courtesy. Luke plays the hero/victim and his character isn't exactly likable, but hopefully you'll be able to relate to him in some small way. He claims to be a nice guy and he's obviously accustomed to people treating him like a doormat. He's cheating on his wife... but then again she's cheating on him too. By the end of the film I still wasn't sure which one of them cheated first. They might've explained it when I tuned out for several seconds. I'd never heard of Leslie Bibb who portrays the no-nonsense wife and she gave a good performance so she's officially on my radar now.

I originally intended on giving this film 6 stars but when I think about it, I found myself empathising with Luke's character and hoping that either Luke or Leslie would lay their vengeance upon Sam at the climax. On that level it worked for me but if anything, that's just a testament to Sam's performance. If you're in the mood for a thriller and you can't find anything that tickles your fancy, you might as well let Sam Jackson take you for a ride. Let's face it, he RARELY steers us in the wrong direction. It also helps if you consider yourself to be a fan of Luke Wilson. If you hate him, you'll probably find this film to be average at best. I very much doubt it will change your opinion of him as an actor or a human being. Countless actor's could've played that role... but they didn't... he did... and he did a good job.

Straight to video movies are always hit and miss, especially when they sport main stream actors. It always leaves you wondering why it didn't get a wider release, especially sporting actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Luke Wilson. Their latest film Meeting Evil came out of nowhere with little to no promotion. Could this be a case of just bad studio promotion or a hidden gem worth the rental?

Meeting Evil follows a depressed man who offers a stranger help with his car, but instead is thrust into a nightmarish murder spree leaving him to question everything he knows. This is one of those films that with any other cast would have just been another decent but forgettable rental. Thanks to the always brilliant Jackson doing what he does best this film steps up quite a bit delivering something a bit more fun. Jackson is better than ever here just unleashing everything that has always made him cool to deliver a truly evil character that you both loath and love all at once. Wilson does a good job with his character having to deliver a wide range of emotional responses as he evolves throughout. At first this film has a somewhat laughable quality to it with the way Jackson's character is dealing with people and you feel sorry for Wilson. As the story moves forward you start feeling more concern for Wilson as you realize the true nature of evil Jackson is delivering. A lot of these films sport some gruesome killing, but here we get more of the aftermath of the evil unleashed creating more of a mystery with the character.

This is one of those rare rentals that are worth the time. There are some holes here and there, but overall is an entertaining film. Jackson and Wilson have great chemistry and deliver to really great characters that butt heads like no other. This is a must see for any fan of Jackson as he pulls out all his inner evil to bring this character and film to life.

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