Deadfall Review

Deadfall is an action thriller film directed by Stefan Ruxowitzky and stars Eric Banna as Addison, Olivia Wilde as Liza, Charlie Hunnam as Jay and Kate Mara as Hanna. The films plot is basically around the idea of two siblings Addison and Liza who are on the run after completing a casino robbery. When their car crashes they get stuck in a blizzard which interferes with their escape plans to Canada.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqjlM_J93Yk[/youtube]

Deadfall is actually quite an entertaining film to watch despite its slow start in the early stages. For the type of thriller/action film that it is, with its plot about essentially two people on the run from the cops, it actually has quite a lot of character developments scenes. Each character in the film had very fleshed out characters with many references to their past during the film which made the characters in Deadfall stand out against other films I’ve seen recently.

The two main characters Addison and Liza by the end, have quite a lot of backstory added to them which will likely make the viewer attached to the two central characters. The character of Addison played by Eric Banna is particularly interesting and does get some great monologues in a few of his scenes. At first I thought the accent that Eric Banna used for Addison was slightly strange, but I got used to it as the film went on. Some of the Addison scenes are quite violent especially one of the first attack scenes in the snow which added an action/danger element to the character and the viewing experience.

Liza on the other hand as played by Olivia Wilde complemented the dangerous Addison quite well in this film and the characters were very well developed together as siblings. A lot of Liza’s story and her development as a character was good but not as focused as Addison’s was, but you got the picture by the end. Olivia Wilde did well in her role as well although her character did have a lot of sex scenes in this movie, which is not necessarily a bad thing. While the two main characters are strong in their portrayal the movie falls down a bit with the sub characters and the screen play especially towards the end.

Don’t get me wrong, Deadfall is a pretty good movie to watch but a lot of the film towards the end places a lot of emphasis on caring for a lot of the sub characters who did get their screen time but really weren’t that impactful. There seemed to be an entire subplot with Kate Mara’s character Hanna and her father the sheriff (Treat Williams) and Chet the retired sheriff (Kriss Kristofferson) who had all types of father issues which complemented the main plot of this film but not in the best way. Another thing of annoyance was the similarity in appearance of the Sheriff and Chet who had the same beard and hairstyle in the film, if one wasn’t paying attention they could be mistaken for the same person.

The snow scenes in Deadfall and the style of filming was good and I thought the movie was well directed by Stefan Ruxowitzky who did get a very thrilling tone in quite a lot of the scenes. The snow scenes with Addison and Liza particularly in the early parts of Deadfall during the blizzard were quite good to watch and looked great on screen. The atmosphere and look of Deadfall throughout was also well maintained, the colour and the lighting was great.  The only issue that I have with Deadfall was in the final scenes in the movie and the ending which overall I understood well when you look at where the two main characters ended up, but in looking at the sub characters they all just seemed in the way.

Overall Deadfall is a good movie to watch but it won’t completely blow you away. The two main characters are interesting to watch and you get a good thriller with some action as well. The snow scenes are great and the story is enough to keep most interested. The actors do quite well in their roles and it certainly entertained me, the movie has some good moments  and developments, Deadfall is certainly worth checking out if you are looking for something to watch this week.

Deadfall is currently available to rent or own on DVD or Blu Ray.