Review: The Bannen Way
Mark Gantt stars as Neal Bannen, a bit of a con artist and gambler (and
ladies man) who is torn between a cop father (Michael Ironside) and a mobster
uncle (Robert Forster). The latter wants Neal to retrieve a mysterious box
stolen from him, in exchange for helping Neal out with the gambling debt he
owes to another mobster (Ski Carr). Standing in Neal’s way are the three female
assassins (including Autumn Reeser and Brianne Davis) hired by Michael Lerner,
yet another mobster who holds the box. Also causing problems for Neal is a sexy
thief (Vanessa Marcil), who may or may not be a double-crosser.
Directed by Jesse Warren, this 2010 film is actually a feature length
version of what was formerly a web series (16 episodes now strung together to
run barely 90 minutes) created by Warren and star Mark Gantt. The good news is
that I could easily see this working as a legit TV series. The bad news comes
in two parts; 1) It’s not a TV series I’d watch, and 2) I review feature films,
and as a feature film this...isn’t. Oh sure, it’s shot in the Tony Scott/“Smokin’
Aces” ‘hyper-slick’ style, but that’s just artifice. Meanwhile, it’s also
not terribly entertaining, at least not to me. I will say that the seams don’t
show the film’s web origins, but the material just isn’t cinematic. It’s TV
material. Bland TV material. And yet, it’s not a TV show either, not in the
usual definition of the term. Having said that, it would work better as a TV
show than “Angel of Death” would have, I’ll give it that. And kudos to
Warren and Gantt for being savvy enough to find another outlet for their
project, even if that project wasn’t terribly interesting to me personally. I
admire (at least in principle) their smarts for finding another way in.
If anything, it plays like a movie-length pilot episode for a TV series
that never got picked up. So I guess it at least manages to avoid looking like
a stitch-job. It’s not awful, it’s just not my kind of thing, and seriously
lacking in anything to distinguish it from just about any other caper-ish TV
show out there. Fans of “Leverage”, “Covert Affairs”, “The
Glades”, “Burn Notice” might get more out of this than I did (those
shows might be different but they all blend together for me), but I never got
into it, despite some interesting faces in the cast (notably Marcil, Ironside,
and Lerner).
I guess it’s kinda watchable and seamless, and certainly quick-paced, but
bland overall. The main character played with a bit of roguish charm by Gantt (i.e. He’s not as wooden as the guy
from “Burn Notice”) is a major issue. This character lacks any depth or
quirks whatsoever. I never quite got who or what he was even meant to be. He
just needed a little more definition. I mean, was he a thief? A con artist? I
was never quite sure, except that his dad was a cop and his uncle a mobster.
That’s not enough, especially given the film’s title references the main
character. Maybe Gantt might prove enjoyable elsewhere, but here, he comes up a
bit short. Weird, given he co-wrote it. When we come across an Asian female
assassin chucking a stiletto into the back of a guy’s head like a shuriken, it
had me wishing the whole thing was about her.
Even Gantt’s associates lack any definition whatsoever. I got the feeling that
if this actually were a TV series, we’d see these people weekly, and get to
know them, but here, we barely get glimpses of them.
The film is also painfully lacking in the villain department. Not only do
we get a trio of lame female assassins (somewhere between “Charlie’s Angels”
and “Kill Bill”) that include Autumn Reeser as a fully clothed
stripper/assassin named nicknamed Jail Bait (she even has sex fully-clothed!),
but our lead villain, Ski Carr looks like Lou Bega. Yeah, the “Mambo #5” guy.
Oh. So. Intimidating. I was expecting him to break out into song at any time.
Or reveal his henchmen to be Snow and Icy Blu (A gold star to anyone who gets
those references). Robert Forster, as the main character’s untrustworthy mobster
uncle mightn’t be doing anything different than usual (he looks old and bored
out of his mind, though), but he is the better villain of the two. Sometimes
the standard Forster performance fits the bill, even if he’s a pretty lazy
actor. Unfortunately, he isn’t in the film enough to make up the difference. I
can’t believe I’m saying this, but for once, I wanted more Robert Forster. It’s
a shame that Michael Ironside is cast as the main character’s hard-ass cop
father, because there’s a guy who knows how to play an entertaining villain.
He’s good here, but it’s an uninteresting role, and he would’ve been much
better in the Forster or Carr roles. Mind you, I’m surprised Gantt constantly
disappoints his dad. If your dad was a ‘Scanner’, would you want to disappoint
him? I don’t want my brain sucked dry, Pops!
The film does have two bright spots in the cast, though. Vanessa Marcil
might bring a TV-vibe to proceedings (well, she is a TV actress), and mightn’t be the most versatile actress, but
she does her thing quite well here. I’ve always kinda liked her, and she’s hot,
which always helps. The other standout is Michael Lerner, who absolutely walks
off with the whole thing. In addition to still looking like Roger Ebert (ala “Godzilla”),
he’s hilariously sleazy as a former Rabbi turned pervert mobster. Priceless
stuff.
Overall, this is tolerable, but with central characters lacking
definition and distinction, and a non-cinematic feel, this never really
satisfies. At least it moves fast.
Rating: C+
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