Pawn

This can be heavy going at times. The complexity of who is and who isn't in on the scheme becomes a bit laborious and detracts from the tension. Although it does matter to be intriguing enough to enjoy as things move along with an economy of events. There are enough twists and turns to keep one interested as to who is involved but it is really overwritten.

That is to say that a few of the Characters motives have little time in this short Movie to play out and completely compose the story. All of the Acting is acceptable and right up to the end it is a rather tense situation, as most hostage Movies strive. It is just a little too full of itself to be fulfilling.

It's a pretty good nail-biter, but overall fails to nail down a completely satisfying wrap up as things get wild and quite muddled. This kind of stuff works much better on the page than on the screen. There have been a lot of Detective Fiction from the likes of Raymond Chandler to prove this time and again. This just tries to be a little too clever for a little Movie.

Pawn is a low budget crime thriller set in a diner which is robbed. But the robbers have bitten off a little bit more than they can chew and events quickly spiral out of control as it turns out the diner they have robbed is owned by a mafia guy.

That's all I can tell you without spoiling the plot and that's the best way to go into this movie - knowing as little as possible.

The opening sequence sets the movie up nicely for what later unfolds to be a highly entertaining watch full of deception, conspiracy and twists aplenty. It's tense and keeps you hooked right through until the closing credits.

The best part of this film is the fact that just when you think you're getting to grips with what's happening, you're hit with another twist.

The cast is strong with quite a few recognizable faces putting in good performances to contribute to a solid and well constructed script. The majority of the movie takes place inside the diner but there is enough going on within those walls to mask this fact.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. I went in knowing very little and came out very impressed. I was entertained from start to finish which is all you can really ask for.

Pawn will not win any awards, but if a good entertaining thriller is your thing then you will not be disappointed 3.5/5

But unfortunately as things unravel, the movie loses its touch. There are quite a few good actors in it (Chiklis, Reed to name a few) and they're trying their best. For a low budget movie this is fairly well shot too. Of course it's almost entirely one location (with a few exceptions) and you'll either like that or not.

For a low budget movie, it's always better to have a few, but interesting locations. So that's a positive side aspect, until you realize there could be more to it. The story, especially towards the end, loses its drive and motivation a bit and gets a little too tricky for its own good. Sometimes simpler is better, if well thought trough ...

Generally good acting brings an immediate realism to a low budget film that's otherwise unrealistic in certain ways. Despite a few draggy spots, PAWN is tense and engrossing, with some clever twists. It can be difficult to place who's what in a movie that's this short yet has this big a cast, but that's all part of the fun. If viewed carefully, PAWN will make pretty good sense in the end.

Particularly good performances by Sean Faris and the three (Michael Chiklis, Max Beesley, and Cameron Denny) who play the robbers.

Definitely worth seeing if you like crime,suspense,and that sort of thing.

I watched this movie on one of those "lazy" days (it was the last day of my week-long vacation). I was bored and didn't want to do anything so I popped in a movie.

I quite enjoyed the movie until the ending. I think the writers ran out of weed or something and just got bored writing. The movie tried to build up all these possibilities and then in the end, it just abandoned everything. I found that I just sat there asking, "what about the..."

The rest of the story was fine: acting was good, lighting / atmosphere was quite pro, make-up / wardrobe was excellent. I think Michael Chiklis is a fine actor and in this movie, he really got to show how bad-ass he can be as an antagonist. Also, Jessica Szohr is nice eye- candy. :)

If you're bored on a lazy day with nothing else to do but entertain the mind, or if you're out conquering Pandaria, pop in this movie for a go.