'Wild Card' - for fans of neo-noir crime films (IANS Movie Review)

Feb 07,2015

Film: "Wild Card"; Director: Simon West; Cast: Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Anne Heche, Sofia Vergara, Max Casella, Jason Alexander, Stanley Tucci and Hope Davis; Rating: **1/2

"Wild Card" is a typical Hollywood potboiler based on William Goldman's 1985 novel "Heat".

It is a mildly glamorous portrait of Nicholas Wild (Jason Statham), a fearless man with an irrational personality trait. He is also known as Nick.

A fisticuff expert, living in the underbelly of sin-city Las Vegas, Nick is a freelance security consultant. He is a sucker for sob stories and gets equally drawn to the gambling table.

His ultimate goal in life is to collect $500,000 and move away to Italy -- to be far away from the rut that he is living in.

The narration rolls off establishing Nick's personality and gradually focuses on how; his gambling habit and his soft heart get in the way of his goal.

It is when his former girlfriend Holly, after being raped and brutally abused, pleads to him -- "I want my revenge Nicky" -- that he goes into a guilt trip and agrees to identify the culprits.

On figuring out the brute as Danny DeMarco, the son of a powerful crime lord, Nick feels compelled to help Holly. He feels instigated when his well-wisher tells him to stay away from the perpetrators to save his own life. After all he loves challenges, the riskier the better.

After delivering justice to Holly, Nick comes across a fortune that could realise his dreams. But then his impulsive instinct grinds him back into the roller-coaster. He is then bailed out by his one-time client a computer geek Cyrus Kinnick who had approached him to be his bodyguard. But in reality, Cyrus needed Nick to help him, "kill the fear" in him.

While this narration sounds meaningful, director Simon West's film, based on Goldman's screenplay, is chaotic and disappointing. Its racy plot with formulaic crime thriller tropes that consists of; buzzing casinos, seedy crime lords, shady hotels and desperate hustlers is a jigsaw puzzle that settles after the prolonged first act that meanders between two action scenes.

Also, the characters are not well rounded especially Cyrus's. Though he is a loveable character, his presence is jarring and noncontextual.

The dialogues are crisp and packed with snappy retorts spoken in an unconventionally delightful manner that makes you chuckle. But those are few and far between.

On the performance front, Jason Statham as the swift Nick flexing his muscles with agility is convincing. He is ably supported by fine actors like; Michael Angarano as Cyrus Kinnick with his goofy demeanour and gait, Miloo Ventimiglia as the sleazy Danny DeMarco, Dominik Garcia-Lorido as the battered and the revenge seeking Holly and Stanley Tucci as Baby, the mafia boss in Las Vegas.

Visually, cinematographer Shelly Johnson captures the action and drama with fine precision and West has used some dynamic metaphors that standout, especially in the scene that inter cuts Holly's narration of the abuse she had to go through.

These frames are brilliantly layered by editors Padriac McKinley and Thomas J. Nordberg. Their fine razor-sharp edits are worth a mention. And this is further evident in the fine swift action sequences, choreographed by Cory Yuen.

Overall, "Wild Card" is bound to appeal to those who are fond of neo-noir crime films.

Tags:

'Wild Card' - for fans of neo-noir crime films (IANS Movie Review) Simon West in news news about Simon West

Priyanka Chopra: Kareena, who was the enemy in 'Aitraaz', praised Priyanka, wrote- 'Made to rule the world'

Jul 18,2025

Priyanka Chopra is celebrating her 43rd birthday today, i.e. on 18th July. On this special occasion, the actress has been congratulated by her film 'Aitraaz' co-star Kareena Kapoor in a different style. Kareena shared an old picture of an award show on Instagram Stories and wrote that Priyanka w

Vidyut Jamwal: Vidyut Jamwal is ready for his Hollywood debut, will play a strong role in this film

Jul 15,2025

Actor Vidyut Jamwal, known for his action, is now going to make his entry in a Hollywood film. He has joined the star cast of the live-action film 'Street Fighter'. It is a film based on an iconic video game franchise.Vidyut's Hollywood entryAccording to a Deadline report, Vidyut will be seen i

Vijay Deverakonda: New update on Vijay Deverakonda's film, Kingdom's new release date will be announced today

Jul 07,2025

Vijay Deverakonda has joined hands with famous director Gautam Tinnanuri for the action drama film 'Kingdom'. There is a lot of excitement about the film since its announcement. The recently released teaser has further increased the expectations of the fans. The new release date of the f

Dhurandhar's heroine Sara Arjun's father is also a top Bollywood actor, and has worked with Shah Rukh and Aamir.

Jul 07,2025

Sara Arjun, a well-known child artist of Indian cinema, is now going to rock the big screen with Ranveer Singh, who is 20 years older. A small glimpse of Sara in the first look of the Dhurandhar movie filled the audience with excitement.Ever since Dhurandhar was announced, it was believed

Panchayat 5: Now there will be a fight for the post of Deputy Pradhan in Phulera, the makers announced 'Panchayat 5'; know the update

Jul 07,2025

Last month, on June 24, the fourth season of 'Panchayat' was released on Amazon Prime, which the audience is loving a lot. However, in this season, Manju Devi loses the election of Pradhani, which disappointed the audience. Now everyone is waiting to see what will happen in its fifth season. See

This flop film's luck changed as soon as it came on OTT, got included in the top list.

Jun 30,2025

The year 2025 has proved to be lucky for most of the Big Star films. At the same time, the story of some stars' movies was not liked on the big screen. Today we are talking about a film that proved to be a flop at the box office, but when the movie knocked on OTT, it got immense love. Let us know

Harshvardhan Rane: The poster of Harshvardhan Rane's upcoming film was released, actor was seen covered in blood; Know the name of the movie

Jun 30,2025

Actor Harshvardhan Rane, who won everyone's heart with the film 'Sanam Teri Kasam', is now going to be seen in a great film, whose poster and title have been revealed. Recently, the actor was seen preparing for this upcoming film. Let's know about this film.The first look of the film releasedT

Panchayat 4: Neena Gupta is known not only for Manju Devi of Panchayat but also for these characters

Jun 26,2025

Recently 'Panchayat 4' has been released on OTT. This series is getting a lot of love from the audience. In this, actress Neena Gupta has played the character of Manju Devi, who is the head of Phulera village. She is very much in the news at this time. Know about those films and web seri