Marked Men: Rule + Shaw

I suppose it's my own fault but when I saw this I thought it might be a gangster thriller. Nope, it's about the on-off relationship between tattoo artist "Rule" (Chase Stokes) and his friend "Shaw" (Sydney Taylor). She used to date his brother "Remy" but we quickly learn that he was involved in a car accident with his brother and so now we have our requisite dose of family baggage to explain why "Rule" is a bit of a commitment-phobe. Meantime, she is supposed to be dating millionaire drip "Gabe" (Michael Bradway) to keep her rather wealthy but venal mother sweet, but in the end it's her bit of rough that she really craves. Can they sort things out and get past his fear of being called her boyfriend? There's the odd bit of sensitively photographed sex and it does pay slight homage to the artistry of some creative tattooists but for the most part it's a weakly constructed romantic will they/won't they drama that didn't really engage me at all. There is plenty of eye-candy on offer, including from the sparingly used, wooden as a picket fence, Alexander Ludwig as his elder brother "Rome" and Ella Balinska tries to inject a little bit of life into things as her best pal "Ayden" but neither Stokes nor Taylor do anything like enough with the, admittedly pedestrian, script or the story to bring this to life. Quite how it got a general release in the UK is, as Yul Brynner might have said, "a puzzlement ". It looks good and there are a few power ballads to help it along, but it's really just a mediocre television movie, sorry.

I know people always say it, but the book was definitely better. This is the story of Rule, who lost his twin brother in a car accident three years prior. He is a tattoo artist at a tattoo shop named Marked. Every Sunday Shaw shows up and takes him to dinner at his parents' house...no matter what state Rule is in (I.e. Hungover, etc).

Shaw was Rule's twin's best friend, but what Rule doesn't know is that she has secretly been in love with rule since she first saw him at fourteen years old. Shaw and Rule couldn't be more opposite. Shaw is a pleaser and Rule is unapologetically himself, but that is what Shaw likes about him.

On her birthday, Shaw gets drunk...which is unusual for her and Rule volunteers to take her home. There Shaw makes the most of her opportunity and throws herself at Rule, who eventually succumbs to her charms. Of course Rule is the king of one night stands, so the next morning to prevent an awkward situation, Shaw sneaks out only to be seen by Rule's roommate and his older brother.

Rule eventually apologizes to Shaw for not calling and wants to try a no labels relationship with her. Meanwhile, Shaw has an ex boyfriend who is having trouble with the word no and the two seem on a collision course. Of course Shaw's parents think her ex is more suitable than Rule.

One of the major differences between the book and the film lies in the tagging and just general behavior of Rule and his group of friends. In the book they come across as more mature and in the film they are depicted more as street punks who are immature and tagging with spray paint in their spare time. I didn't care for the younger depiction. I also felt like the ex was a full on stalker who ends up attacking Shaw in a very violent way in the book, whereas in the film it seems he almost accidentally hit her and then apologized immediately. In the book he was oblivious to his violence and trying to rape her as he is speaking about them getting married, almost in a mentally ill way. Oh! And the tattoos that Rule eventually gives Shaw are completely different in the film. I think if they were going to depict the snowflake tattoo, they should have put it in the right location at the very least...but I also wish they explained the meaning in the film, like in the book...and showed the addition to Rule's tattoos.

So, book better but I do think that they captured the sentiment of the story in the film and as such I do think romantics will enjoy it, especially YA romantics.

It actually would have been super funny if the main male character was called Mark ... anyway and no pun intended ... this is based on a book (or series of books I suppose ... can you tell I have not read them?) ... I reckon if you liked the book you may find something in here that I was not able to discover ... on the other hand, I would like to imagine (again no pun intended), that the book is less cliched.

All that said, if you criticize action movies and thrillers and what not for being predictable ... well I have a (love) story to sell to you ... no literally just the one (trick pony) thing ... I don't blame the actors and as you can see from my rating I don't even feel that this is the worst movie ever (by a stretch and then some) ... but apart from being predictable, it also can be quite annoying at times. And while a movie does not have to be ... well sexual, I do wonder how the rating was given based on this being ... too sexual? Must have missed something - still if you were not raised in a church or strict in general, nothing here will make you blush ... so do not expect too much from that department.

Some things happen too easy ... others are way too complicated ... mark my words ... (also why men? I mean I get that there are more than just our main guy ... the others do not really play too much of a role though ... again no pun intended ... and a shame when it comes to Alexander Ludwig ... but you can see and enjoy him in many other things)

Definitely missed the mark of what the book encompassed. They twisted what made their relationship so hard and yet so rewarding by making it more fluff. They left out how important their history was and how that really ruled Rule and his actions. Both families dynamics, which play a major role in their relationship was completely changed to more fluff. There was not character arc to be found. Both remained flat and you don't understand why they would or wouldn't be together to begin with. It followed the books in the most basic sense of bad boy tattooist and good girl looking for a wild ride. But the story line was difficult to follow and didn't flow well. Not the actors fault. They work with what they got. But the essence of the story was no where to be found.

I didn't read the books but it caught my attention that it was directed by Nick Cassavetes with a history of really good movies and his masterpiece of a love story such as "The Notebook", so I gave it a try. The story seemed it was intended to the teenage audience with traumas haunting them, insecurities, on and off relationships on which on of the partners serves as a therapist that only can take so much until the other side realizes they were wrong and try to mend things and get back together to live happily ever after. The project is filled with beautiful people that made me forget the lack of talent of some.