Shoot 'Em Up Starring Clive Owen And Paul Giamatti : Kinky Solutions : A Student's Perspective by Ben Nadel

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Posted September 23, 2007 at 12:43 PM

Tags: Movies

After seeing the previews for this movie, I had absolutely no desire to see it; I thought it looked all kinds of bad, and I'm sorry, I just couldn't believe Paul Giamatti playing a hitman, despite the fact that he's an excellent actor. I only went to see it cause I'm a huge Clive Owen fan and I was with some people that were like-minded (re: Clive Owen fans). Plus, we had to kill some time and the theatre was right there.

This movie turned out to be pretty much ever thing that I had expected it to be: horrible. I don't even know what they were going for? It felt like a spoof on action movies - like a "Scary Movie" for the action movie fans. I guess I just don't understand that style of film. I never really liked the Scary Movie series either. I enjoy action movies, so I don't get the desire to see a movie that spoofs them. Of course, I am not against spoofs altogether; I enjoyed movies like Space Balls, UHF, and the Naked Gun series.

This movie is scoring somewhat well on both Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), with a 67% and a 7.7/10 rating respectively (at the time of this writing), so clearly I am not seeing what other are seeing. And clearly, I am not seeing what Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti saw in it. I mean, come on, these are huge names in acting - what are they doing in a movie like this. Clive Owen was well cast for the part - the dude is just a badass - but being right for a role doesn't mean the role was right for him. I can only hope that these two were paid very well for this film, because I am not sure that this choice will help them much in any other way.

Not sure what else to say about it. Definitely, I am not recommending that anyone see it. Unless you like spoof type movies, then yeah, this movie is probably for you.

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Reader Comments

FIRST OF ALL WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SAYING THAT SHOOT EM UP SUCKED. IF YOU THINK THAT SHOOT EM UP SUCKED THAN YOU ARE INSANE. SHOOT EM UP WAS ONE OF PAUL GIAMATII BEST MOVIE IN LIKE EVER.

Posted by nwaf on Jan 17, 2008 at 3:09 PM

@Nwaf,

I think my problem was that I went in with the wrong expectations. I didn't realize the movie was going to be so much of a "spoof" on action movies. Had I gone in with that expectation, my feelings may have been different.

Paul Giamatti is the man - definitely one of the unsung heroes of his generation; however, him as an action villian? I just wasn't buying it. Of course, I think the whole point is supposed to be rediculous, hence him talking to his wife on the phone at the most inopportune times. So, in that respect, he did do an awesome job.

Posted by Ben Nadel on Jan 17, 2008 at 3:25 PM

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