One Day as a Lion

This felt like a cross between a high-school drama class production, and a vanity project for writer and lead actor Scott Caan to have his shirt unbuttoned or off wearing only underwear as much as possible. The writing, and especially the dialogue, was borderline infantile, and I'd say at least 80% of it was nonsense filler. There were only a few hits at humor, but it was mostly misses. The story did have some heart to it, but it was down-played and overshadowed by a lot of nonsense. Even Caan naming his character Jackie Powers was borderline cringe. Grillo's and Simmons' talents were underutilized and they both deserve to be in better films. Although they were the draw to this film, Marianne Rendon as Lola shined the most, and stole every scene. She was the only reason I even finished the film, because her character and performance were outstanding, and the reason I'm being generous with my 6/10. Swab's directing was decent given the flaccid script he had to work with, but with a more experienced screenwriter, this film could've been great.

Aside from a couple Swab trademarks and easter eggs (eg; chocolate bar with a Candy Land wrapper), it didn't really feel like Swab to me. Seemed a bit misguided and going nowhere. The script is a weak point, nothing daring, and the plot fairly nonsensical. Some of the acting was pretty good by the big names, and it was shot pretty well, but I didn't personally care for the pretentious nonthingness that made up the script. Swab is a bit of an acquired taste, and he has done several better films than this one. Big name bit parts aside, Marianne Rendon was a standout performer here, even with this script.

A solid crime/thriller movie (the comedic part is probably only the result of the seemingly clueless but lovable Jackie "Some" Powers, interpreted beautifully by Scott Caan). Great lead duo with strong-as-strontium Marianne Rendón, Powers' adventure companion and only chance to get his son back.

J. K. Simmons is very believable in his role of a ruthless "cowboy" (thumb down to the costume designer for the horrible cheap and too big hat, though...). Several reviewers have denounced the empty plot or the sub-plot involving Frank Grillo; on the contrary, this seamless story is very enjoyable to follow.

A bunch of good actors doing a great job and getting nowhere. Feels wasteful and not utilising the potential at all - everyone is at their right place, everyone is doing more than decent job portraying their characters, but for what reason? There's no explanation to that - there's no any substantial background to the characters, they appear out of nowhere and disappear back to the obscurity without leaving a mark, and in the end there's no connection between the story lines, no reason to the actions, no bottom line and no overarching idea, just a bunch of human-shaped sketches on screen. Could have been something, but it wasn't to be...

The headline names made me watch this one, and though it started out with a reasonably interesting premise, It became clear that the poor script and weak plot were not going to do anything remotely passable for anything entertaining.

It doesn't really go anywhere, and nothing much is done with the off-beat concept that's brandished in the beginning.

The story is very weak and I'm only surprised more wasn't done to wrest if from the vestiges of what can barely be considered mediocrity. By this I mean, there is nothing interesting about what happens nor does the story attempt to engage in anything which could be considered remotely interesting.

The script is "Meh" Here we have people engaged in what I often call 'Hollywood talk' where they speak to each other in sentences and style that we only ever see in movies, but doesn't amount to a hill of beans or bare any resemblance to verbal exchanges in real life.

The unfortunate consequences of the poor story and script mean there is nothing substantial to latch on to here, and despite the direction and performances being first rate (for the most part) they can't instil any excitement into what unfolds on screen.

This is one of those movies I would categorize as - A bunch of stuff happens then the movie ends - but nothing therein makes it an enjoyable entertainment piece.

It's not terrible, but its more something I'd have on in the background while training in my home gym or cooking in the kitchen. Definitely not something to sit down on the sofa and indulge in with a tub of popcorn and good company.

I think 3/10 is a fair score, maybe 4/10 at a push.