Star-Studded ‘Revenge For Jolly!’ Lacks Style, Substance [Tribeca Review]
By Angie Han/April 30, 2012 9:30 am EST
If that seems like a severe overreaction to the death of a beloved pet, it absolutely is. Though Harry insists, via clunky voiceover, that he’s just a good guy driven to do bad things, his actions prove him to be the kind of person who slaughters an innocent bystander simply for getting salad dressing on his shoes — not a good guy at all, in other words, and certainly not someone to root for. Yet the endlessly dull Harry can’t make for a memorable villain, either, and the film takes no joy in his harmful deeds. There’s no attempt at creativity or cool here; in Revenge for Jolly!, killing people looks about as exciting as stuffing envelopes. It might feel nastier if it weren’t all so boring.
The one major exception to this – and the closest thing Revenge for Jolly! has to a saving grace — is Isaac. He plays Cecil as a charismatic sociopath who seems to have no idea that he’s not just a regular guy, and the hint of tension between those two sides make him far more captivating than dimwitted Harry could ever hope to be. Which still isn’t saying much, but that Isaac even comes close to bringing this movie to life is a testament to both his talent and his work ethic. Thank God this rising star has since moved on to projects more deserving of his talents, like The Bourne Identity and the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis.
/Film rating: 1.0 out of 10.0
