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Overall Rating : 6/10
Directed By : Morgan J. Freeman
Jake Muxworthy (Waterbourne)
Lauren German (Hostel : Part II)
Gabriel Mann (The Bourne Supremacy)
Tom Sizemore (Bottom Feeder)
Supplied By : Lionsgate Films
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : December. 10, 2007
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| PLOT Everything the Vanderslip brothers know, they learned from their criminal mastermind father. For John and Michael, robbing and murdering for a living is a way of life. Charming and brilliant, they roam the country robbing and murdering anyone foolish enough to get in the car with them. But one night Michael reveals a shocking secret -- their father had another family. When John finally meets his stepsister, murder is the last thing on his mind. He comes to learn there are even some lessons that daddy can’t teach you. |
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| THE REVIEW BORN KILLERS (aka PIGGY BANKS). tells the story of Brothers, John and Mike. At a young age, the brothers lost their Mother, and at no alternative, but to live with their Father. Their Father whom had been absent for most of their lives - nine years to be exact, is now their guardian, but his way of life is different than the life in which the boys are accustomed to. Their Dad doesn't believe in working for a living - he explains to them that people are like "piggy banks". why work when you can brake one open(kill them), and take all they have? For John and Mike, this way of thinking eventually rubbed off of them in the worst way, and they had begun to follow in their Dad's footsteps. As he had always done, their Father didn't stay around for long, abandoning them once again. Not having seen or heard from him after while, they young men, when hungry or in need of cash, would do as their old man had taught them - to kill and take. This had become their living, they were killers. But when Mike one day finds out that their Father had a double life outside of he and his Brother, the truth about a Woman named Gertie is uncovered - their half sister, but this is news that Mike keeps from John. When John finds out about his Dad's other life, he solely goes to find Gertie, in hopes to find his Father, and also to get some revenge on Gertie for getting more attention and love from the said absentee Father. But when he finally meets his long lost half-sister, he finds out that she is strikingly attractive, and as strange as it sounds the two begin to have feelings for one another - and not the kind usually shared by siblings - but soon enough after John becomes attached to Gertie, he finds out that unfortunately the old phrase "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" sometimes may be true. I have always been a fan of Director Morgan J. Freeman's work(and no he's not the actor Morgan Freeman). I have always liked his films such as DESERT BLUE and AMERICAN PSYCHO 2, and not to mention that I am a huge fan of Lauren German, so I was really looking forward to this one and have waited a while to see it. Originally titled PIGGY BANKS, which is a much better title than BORK KILLERS - it actually did tie into the plot), BORN KILLERS is really not what you'd consider a Horror film, it's more of a psychological thriller, emphasizing of the lives of two serial killers, whom are Brothers. The plot alone intrigued me the first time I read it, and I was prepared for the film to be a detailed character study, with a teen appeal. It turns out that BORN KILLERS isn't as detailed as I thought it would be, it's basically the general idea being present, with a little bit of a study, but not as much as one might think it needs. Don't get me wrong here, BORN KILLERS is really good, John and Mike's lifestyle is fascinating and it's never at all a boring story, as the pace moves on smoothly. Unfortunately during the steady moving plot, some details are basically breezed through, and if the viewer loses concentration on what it is that's exactly going on in the story - in some areas of the film, they might might be scratching their heads, and may have to resort to using the rewind button a few times. I know I had to, and I feel that some things just ended too abruptly and could've used a little more elaboration. But with this said I really liked the indie feel of it, and the story itself - but I only think a much greater story could've been presented if it had been more drawn out - it's like they tried to cram too much into it's relatively short 87 minute runtime. What makes BORN KILLERS the most enjoyable, are the great performances. He's not featured for very long, but I really liked Tom Sizemore's performance, it was both realistic and believable. No matter what kind of drug problems and what have you, Sizemore may have outside of acting, you simply cannot deny that he is a very good actor, I for one have always liked him. Jake Muxworthy, as John is the most likable as the two Brothers(his younger self is played by Dylan Sprouse). While watching this film, I couldn't help but think that I had seen Muxworthy in much more than the one film I had previously saw him in, which was WATERBOURNE - I don't know, maybe he just looks like someone else. Nonetheless he puts in a rather impressive performance as the seemingly, more responsible of the two siblings. But honestly speaking out of the entire cast, the only one that had me excited was Lauren German (HOSTEL : PART II). Lauren is such a great actress, she impressed me in HOSTEL : PART II which her heroic performance, that I then went to check out more of her work, and was further impressed. Here she gives us another great showing, and yet again she is looking absolutely gorgeous - she has to be one of the most beautiful Women in entertainment(ok, glad to get that off my chest). I was kind of disappointed that with this release, Lionsgate has given us a barebones DVD, with not even the film's original trailer included.(they did include the trailer for NATURAL BORN KILLERS, as if Lionsgate didn't confuse people enough with the name change, adding the trailer for an older like-titled film surely will). I just figured, for a film that has been released for some time on Region 2 DVD, there would be some kind of "making of" featurette that could've been included. |
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| GORE
METER 1/10 The suggestion of brutal acts and gore was greater than what was actually displayed...it's rather tame. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 2.5/10 The score is really light and ambient, it's not so much used as an attention getter but more like something used to accent scenes |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM BORN KILLERS certainly isn't a "thinking" film, and it's not as detailed or plot driven as it needed to be, and in my opinion, I expected it to be better than it was - but then again I had high expectations going in. But for what it is, I still really liked it, as I said the independent feel and acting makes it worth checking out. This DVD will be released on December 11, 2007 |
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