Any Day

"Any Day" (2015 release; 101 min.) brings the story of Vian (played by Sean Bean). As the movie opens and the opening credits roll, we see him at a party, drunk and getting into an argument with another guy. Vian, a professional boxer we later learn, ends up pummeling the guy to death (literally)and Vian is imprisoned. After the opening credits, we are informed that we are "Twelve Years Later" and Vian is released from jail. Not knowing where to go, he is turned away from his former boxing club and in desperation goes to his sister Bethley (played by Kate Walsh). She very reluctantly agrees to let him stay for two weeks at her house, as long as Vian doesn't booze. It's not long before we see Vian in the grocery store and getting to know Jolene (played by Eva Longoria), and he asks for her phone number right then and there. Along the way, Vian is also desperately looking for a job and catches a break when he gets a cooking job at a pizzeria managed by Roland (played by Tom Arnold). To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is written and directed by Rustam Branaman, best known for his acting work in front of the camera. I can see the good intentions of this movie: tough guy with a good heart is re-entering society and really wants to do right this time around. Unfortunately, the scrip is incredibly weak and utterly predictable. There is no tension to speak of in the movie. Worse, the scenes where the emotions get high, are utterly unbelievable. As I was watching this, I felt sorry for the wasted talents of Eva Longoria. She looks utterly and completely lost in this movie. How did she end up in this mess? I admit I struggled to make it through the end of the movie but I somehow did. You don't have to suffer the same fate...

I saw this movie recently at the Silverspot Theater in Naples, FL, where a bunch of movies from the 2015 Palm Beach International Film Festival were featured. I had never heard of "Any Day" and literally took a chance on this, simply on the fact that Longoria is in this. I shouldn't have, and in all honesty, I cannot recommend this movie to anyone. Viewer beware!

I spent 5 minutes of my life resetting my IMDb password to tell you that this is the most bizarre and stupidest movie I've ever seen. There is no defined tone. The protagonist is flat, flat, flat. This movie is whiter than the movie White Girls. What was going on in that house party / dance scene? just what. There is a scene transition every 30 seconds with the strangest music. The kid plays a robot playing a kid. I am so sorry for the people involved in this film. Someone did them very, very wrong. Of all the Sean Bean movies that he dies, his character survives this, but we'll see if his career does. I'm still just very confused about how this got made. Do people read scripts anymore?

An ex-boxer comes out of jail after 12 years and tries to re-build his life. It's a familiar tale but for a small film it does punch above it's weight for large periods.

It's all fairly low key apart from the final half hour but a decent cast make this fairly enjoyable. Sean Bean isn't the most versatile of actors but I thought he did a good job here showing a vulnerability he doesn't always get the chance to show. Eva Longaria also does a good job and the chemistry between her and Bean does a lot to drag the film along. Good support is provided by Tom Arnold and Kate Walsh and there is a promising performance by Nolan Gross as Beans young nephew.

Whilst this could have been annoyingly predictable a decent script makes this more interesting than expected. Although not without it's faults ( some of the scenes towards the end are a bit clumsy) I'm surprised that as it stands this has such a low rating 5.0 (651 votes). Based on that rating I wasn't expecting much but this was far more enjoyable than expected.

Well worth watching if you have a spare couple of hours to kill.

The cast is quite good - Sean Bean alone has the gravitas and the charisma to carry the whole thing. Having said that, the script lets him and the others down quite a bit. It is not just the cliches it serves and the predictability. It is the dialog and the situations too. But the actors make it almost work entirely, even if some situations seem and feel quite contrived to say the least.

Also the boy may not be the best choice. Now I'm not trying to put him down, but it felt like he was missing a few things to convey anything he was supposed to feel - or we were to detect him feeling. That may sound mean I guess, but he has pivotal role and I reckon some may feel even stronger about him than I do. Convenience aside this is decent overall I'd say

Sean Bean- I have to give credit as he is a sensational actor, and he was in this film too. He performed fantastically in his role, but it wasn't enough to make this anything other than a really crappy let-down of a film. And here we learn the importance of a good screenplay........

Three well known actors (and only one of them 'good' as far as I'm concerned) make up the leading roles in this movie but I'm worried that it only served to illustrate that they were only good in the roles they were most known for and have little else to offer? I'd hate for that to be true......... (I'm STILL not ready for Ned Stark to be dead.... I can't let it go..... :) :) :) ) I watched this movie while working on an art project but would never have been able to suffer through the entire thing if I wasn't otherwise occupied. Nothing redeemable about the film at all.

Don't bother....... just be sad with the rest of us that Ned Stark is gone........ no matter what Sean Bean appears in, it's never going to make that suck less. :)