What's truly amazing to me is that in these days of post-GFC fiscal austerity, a film such as this can still attract funding. Seriously, either the tax write-offs must be very attractive, or there are some considerably wealthy individuals who are just desperate to proclaim, "I'm making a movie" to their friends.
"The Courier" has so many flaws it's hard to know where to begin. Firstly, the story itself is woeful. It's a painful mishmash of assassins, FBI agents, Elvis-impersonating arch villains, and the obligatory female tag-along love interest. Add to that the father figure, who like some bad impression of Huggy-bear, seems to know everything and everyone that's happening on the street and, well...you're starting to get the picture.
It's as if the writers were working from a "Scriptwriting for Dummies" book.
Then there are the many obvious technical mistakes, such as a woman hostage falling from a great height while bound only by her wrists, and seemingly not suffering any ill effects when the rope breaks her fall. I would have thought having both shoulders dislocated might result in at least mild discomfort! Then there was the protagonist with a clearly unloaded revolver which fires bullets in the next scene. Perhaps the two killers who captured and tortured him, loaded it while he was unconscious in the bathtub? And what about the ease with which the hero and his girl accomplice borrow an aircraft, not once, but twice, and land it in St.Louis and Las Vegas. Did they even bother to lodge a flight plan?
I was especially amused by the hero's uncanny ability to instantly hack any computer in order to locate just the info he was looking for. I mean why bother being a high-risk delivery man, which is clearly not paying off too well for him, when he could have a highly lucrative career working for Google?
I could go on, but I feel the less said about this movie the better. Suffice to say that of 968 films I've rated on IMDb, "The Courier" ranks as number 3 in my all-time worst list, only bested by "Little Nicky", and "2001, A Space Travesty".
Regrettably one or two decent actors took part in this disaster, so it's clear that work is hard to come by in tinsel town these days. Their valiant efforts are the only reason this film didn't get 1 star. Definitely one to avoid. 2/10
"The Courier" has so many flaws it's hard to know where to begin. Firstly, the story itself is woeful. It's a painful mishmash of assassins, FBI agents, Elvis-impersonating arch villains, and the obligatory female tag-along love interest. Add to that the father figure, who like some bad impression of Huggy-bear, seems to know everything and everyone that's happening on the street and, well...you're starting to get the picture.
It's as if the writers were working from a "Scriptwriting for Dummies" book.
Then there are the many obvious technical mistakes, such as a woman hostage falling from a great height while bound only by her wrists, and seemingly not suffering any ill effects when the rope breaks her fall. I would have thought having both shoulders dislocated might result in at least mild discomfort! Then there was the protagonist with a clearly unloaded revolver which fires bullets in the next scene. Perhaps the two killers who captured and tortured him, loaded it while he was unconscious in the bathtub? And what about the ease with which the hero and his girl accomplice borrow an aircraft, not once, but twice, and land it in St.Louis and Las Vegas. Did they even bother to lodge a flight plan?
I was especially amused by the hero's uncanny ability to instantly hack any computer in order to locate just the info he was looking for. I mean why bother being a high-risk delivery man, which is clearly not paying off too well for him, when he could have a highly lucrative career working for Google?
I could go on, but I feel the less said about this movie the better. Suffice to say that of 968 films I've rated on IMDb, "The Courier" ranks as number 3 in my all-time worst list, only bested by "Little Nicky", and "2001, A Space Travesty".
Regrettably one or two decent actors took part in this disaster, so it's clear that work is hard to come by in tinsel town these days. Their valiant efforts are the only reason this film didn't get 1 star. Definitely one to avoid. 2/10