Columbus Day

Somewhat frustrating film - a few good things, but overall diffcult to watch
From the previews and the box, I believed this was a "heist" movie, or about a thief's last big score (like the Score with Edward Norton, or the Italian Job).

In fact, it was quite different. It's a "real time" movie - Val Kilmer plays a thief who is waiting in a park. He has just finished his score, and is waiting for the buyer.

Much of the movie is him on the phone, trying to locate the buyer (there is a small twist here), talking to his ex-wife, ex-girlfriend, and child on the phone. The other major focus is a little boy he meets at the park, and they form a unique relationship. And there are some flashbacks which tell us how he ended up in the park.

Overall, though, it's frustrating. First, I don't know who decided that 90 minutes of waiting in the park & talking on the phone could be exciting to watch. Second, Val Kilmer plays a dumb thief, whose personal life was in ruin. His partner (on the phone) apparently has a mental disability - and it...

Yikes
The movie opens reasonably well, Val Kilmer is chasing a guy with a brief case, yells to him, shoots him, and takes the case. He then runs away and gets attacked by 3 or 4 guys trying to steal the case back. The fight is fairly well filmed, the action is decent. Val escapes with the case. From here forward the film falls apart. We spend too much time following Kilmer's run to Echo Park. Once at the park, Kilmer makes a few phone calls from a pay phone and we are treated to an awful split screen with him and the person on the other end. There is some very sappy strings royalty free music that plays in the background. And every time the film goes into flashback, it is preceeded with a clip in 25% slowed motion. Both of these techniques are way overused and are extremely difficult to use in the most skilled hands.

Most of the film is spent with Val Kilmer walking, sitting, or phoning in the park. There's a supposed deep relationship he builds with a young boy in the park. I'm...

surprisingly good film
My expectations for this film were low, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The script won several awards, and the acting, especially in the scenes between Kilmer and Thompson (the kid from Role Models), is fantastic.

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