The Debt is one of those movies where one simply needs to read the synopsis when deciding whether or not to give this a look. It’s a balanced spy-thriller where there is just as much rhetoric as there are old-school action sequences – due to the fact that this 114 minute flick takes place in Germany in 1965.

Knowing that, the script is penned by the fantastical Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class), who have found a way to blend substantial moments with over-the-top fun in their writing collaborations. This time around, there is no time for laughs or even smiles, as The Debt is serious gritty business.

The story begins in 1997 with former Israeli agents Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren) & Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson in a wheelchair) being celebrated by their daughter Sarah’s (Romi Aboulafia) literary account of how their team – which also included the absent David (Ciaran Hinds) – captured a Nazi war criminal, who was known as the Surgeon of Birkenau (Jesper Christensen). During the ceremony, Rachel is asked to read a chapter that depicts the climatic moment in their successful mission that is continuously lauded over the years in their home country.

At this point in the story, the film goes into flashback mode during the above reading, where the team of Rachel (Jessica Chastain), Stephan (Marton Csokas) and David (Sam Worthington) and devising a scheme to capture the famed torturer, who is hiding under the identity as a doctor with a legit practice. Once the reading concludes, the story quickly jumps back to 1997 where Stephan alerts his ex-wife Rachel that something from that mission may come back to haunt the entire team.

Once the audience sees that little exchange, the film goes back to 1965 Berlin and the entire mission that has been heralded throughout the years goes on display.

Although this captivating story is paced fairly well and the performances are all solid, there are some sloppy moments mechanically. First off, why Ciaran Hinds was chosen to portray an older Sam Worthington is just laughable. They look nothing alike! It doesn’t make or break the movie, but man that’s just lazy. They would have been better off just using a prosthetic on Worthington’s face. Minor examples such as this are really the only things that hamper the tone of this product (or just royally bug me).

A few other sequences where the film jumps back to 1997 – when the focus is on Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson – showed clever storytelling but placed the elder characters in situations that may be considered a stretch for the audience to buy into based on certain actions.

In all seriousness though, the last paragraph or two are drops in the proverbial bucket compared to the rest of the screenplay. Just when you think this flick has lost its marbles, the beautifully orchestrated twist comes in and this story is instantly elevated in your mind. It was already good to begin with, yet it gives one an emotional injection that keeps the interest levels high as the rest of the tale plays out. And both ladies, who are essentially playing the same character, rock this show in both the dialogue and action sequences.

Overall, The Debt gives the audience their money’s worth. A top-notch cast along with the creative delivery of the script pays-off by the time the credits roll. The performances and screenplay easily cover up the sparse continuity errors (eye-rollers) one may catch.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

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The second trailer for The Debt, written by Kick-Ass duo Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, has been released online. The movie stars Sam Worthington (Avatar) alongside Jessica Chastain (from the upcoming Tree of Life), as well as Helen Mirren (last seen in Arthur) and Tom Wilkinson (The Green Hornet).

From Focus Features:

In this espionage thriller, shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel (Academy Award winner Helen Mirren) and Stefan (two-time Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson) about their former colleague David (Ciarán Hinds). Back in 1966, the trio (portrayed, respectively, by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington [“Avatar,” “Clash of the Titans”]) tracked down Nazi war criminal Vogel (Jesper Christensen) in East Berlin. At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team’s mission was accomplished – or was it? The suspense builds in and across two different time periods, with startling action and surprising revelations.

The Debt is directed by John Madden, who is best known for Shakespeare in Love. Normally I might be concerned about a director known for historical romances working on an espionage movie; but I just saw Hanna, directed Joe Wright, who did Atonement and Pride and Prejudice, and it was fantastic. So I’ll reserve judgment until I see it.

The Debt was one of the films caught up in the death of Miramax last year however Walt Disney Studios, who merged with Miramix and are now in control of it’s slate, has now set an August 2011 release date for the US.

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Stepping into the shoes, well, the bottle, of Dudley Moore’s famed character was going to be met with ridicule from some pundits and fans who cherish the 1981 original.  Well, don’t worry people.  For Russell Brand does a charismatic job with Arthur.  I only wish the same could be said for the screenplay and direction.

Director Jason Winer seemed to let Brand roam free in Peter Baynham’s familiar screenplay.  At times it works perfectly.  In other moments, the atmosphere needed to be enhanced rather than just relying on the energetic Brand.  Even the acting talents of Helen Mirren and Greta Gerwig are held in check until the story begins to wind down.  Whether one agrees with everything stated above is debatable.  But one thing is for sure, Russell Brand will get audiences smiling and laughing enough times to make this 110 minute exhibition worth a look.

The overall theme and pertinent info from 1981 remains intact.  Arthur (Russell Brand) is 30, and the sole heir to a mega-fortune.  A mega-fortune he’s been irresponsibly going through for years now.  His toys range from a floating magnetic bed to a collection of movie cars (Batmobile, Mystery Machine, etc) .  Since his mother (Geraldine James) spends her days running the company that replenishes his bank account, she has little to no relationship with her childish son.  That job is left to Arthur’s nanny Hobson (Helen Mirren).  Hobson has been by his side since he was born and is able to stomach the naked girls and the steady ingestion of alcohol that enter his penthouse.  Plus, he has a driver and playmate in Bitterman (Luis Guzman), who joins Arthur while he’s out on the town making an ass of himself.  Or as he calls it, “fun.”

Arthur is content with his life.  In fact he loves it.  And his mother generally lets him do what he pleases.  That is until he starts making Charlie Sheen-like headlines all over the city.  Leading company investors to start pulling out when they realize that one day Arthur will inherit the proud company.  Mommy decides to present her son with an ultimatum.  In order to save face with investors, mother would like Arthur to marry the successful Susan (Jennifer Garner).  Susan is an employee with the company, so everyone will assume their business affairs are in good hands if she‘s running the show.  Problem is Arthur hates Susan and is actually taking a liking to the simple Naomi (Greta Gerwig).  However, he hates being poor more than anything, so he reluctantly agrees to partake in a charade engagement to the woman he can’t stand, in order to keep playing with his billions.  But like all good drunks, he believes he can do both and casually tries to figure out a way to make this scenario happen.

For those that never saw the original, this script resembles a pattern found in Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison.  The difference being, the party started to slow down in Sandler’s man-child adventure, while Brand is allowed to stay obnoxious until the final few minutes.  His take on the Arthur character brings in a little Jack Sparrow charm.  It’s just a shame that he is put out on an island all by himself, since the script fails to support him during numerous sequences.  To his credit though, he’s able to keep this piece from sinking, even though he finds himself treading water here and there.

As mentioned, his co-stars aren’t much of a help either.  And it’s not their fault.  Jennifer Garner is only given one moment that entertains the audience.  Her mogul father (played by Nick Nolte) is essentially worthless as a character.  Luis Guzman is criminally under-utilized.  The dynamic between his character and Arthur, could have led to pure hilarity, but doesn’t.  What this all amounts to is missed opportunities.  One understands that the writer and director wanted to keep this from turning into a slapstick gimmick.  But the emotional attachment to the characters fails to register anything with audiences until the final act.  Which wasn’t the case in the original.  It boils down to committing to a form of execution.  When they try to dabble in a bit of everything, the flick will fail to project the appropriate tone.

In the end, the Arthur remake survives on the spirited performance from Russell Brand.  Once you get used to his comedic delivery, he nails it more than he misfires.  Too bad we cannot say the same for the hapless screenplay and direction.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

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Despite making only $164 million worldwide last year Red, which starred Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, became Summit Entertainment’s most successful non-Twilight movie, and we heard in January that writers had been hired to work on a sequel.

The main draw of the first film was the cast and the sequel would require most, if not all, to return. Luckily for Summit Helen Mirren is ready to sign on, and is just waiting for the script.

Splash Page recently spoke to the actress and asked what it would take to get her to do the sequel.

“Nothing, just get me the script,” Mirren said. “You don’t have to do anything. I’m there,” she added. “Absolutely.”

“Wasn’t that fun? I really enjoyed that, I couldn’t believe my good luck,” she said. “It was fabulous. And it was great because when they asked me, I always imagined I was maybe the fourth or fifth person they’d asked. They said, ‘No no NO! The minute we got the script we kind of wrote it for you, you were the only person we ever thought of to play this role,’ it was great.”

“Oh I don’t know, I’d like to go to a hot climate and only have a few scenes, very spread out,” she said with a laugh.

No word yet on whether Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, and Morgan Freeman are as enthusiastic about returning, but Jon and Erich Hoeber (Battleship) should be handing in the script over the upcoming months. Director Robert Schwentke is currently waiting to see what happens with Ryan Reynolds’ schedule before moving ahead with cop comedy R.I.P.D., so he may be free to return.

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Let’s get something straight, right off the bat: I like Russell Brand. Seeing him in only two roles (albeit both of which he played the same character), he’s funny in a light-hearted way, without being too grating or resorting to shtick.

In the trailer for Arthur, a remake of the 1981 comedy starring the late Dudley Moore, Brand’s interpretation of the titular character skews more neurotic than erotic, which is interesting considering Brand’s on- and off-screen persona, as well as the playboy role that Moore originated.

Arthur is heir to a fortune of nearly a billion dollars. To attain the family riches, his mother is forcing him to give up his life of leisure (although driving the Batmobile with Luis Guzman and sparring with Evander Holyfield sounds like an honest day’s work to me) and marry a carnivorous executive-type, played probably too softly by Jennifer Garner. Along the way, he meets cute with another girl (No Strings Attached’s Greta Gerwig), and, well, you get the idea.

Based on the trailer, I would probably be willing to see Arthur, for no other reason than Russell Brand. That said, I have a bad feeling that the trailer has already shown its hand, revealing the big laughs prematurely. It gets points for use of the aforementioned Guzman, as well as Helen Mirren (who seems to be everywhere nowadays) as Arthur’s no-nonsense nanny-cum-housekeeper. A deduction must be made, however, for the use of Queen and David Bowie’s Under Pressure, a song utilized in so many trailers that its use has fast become hackneyed and cliché.

That said, the trailer for Arthur does what it is supposed to do: shows the rich playboy living it up, inviting us to revel along side him in all of our vicarious glory.

Arthur comes out April 8th.

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Collider reports that Summit Entertainment has re-hired Jon and Erich Hoeber to write the screenplay for a Red sequel. The duo also wrote the upcoming Battleship movie and Sam Worthington’s Man on a Ledge.

Red was released back in October and made $164 million worldwide, which isn’t a whole lot compared to most movies, but with a budget of $58 million it made a nice profit for the studio. The movie is also Summit’s most successfull non-Twilight movie so you can see where the incentive comes from to make another.

A sequel would really only work if Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and the rest of the main cast return, which is unknown at this point. The fact that Summit are working on the script doesn’t mean we are definitely getting a sequel, but if things work out we may end up getting one.

Director Robert Schwentke was considered to direct The Wolverine for 20th Century Fox following the success of Red, and he is currently waiting to see what’s happening with Ryan Reynolds before moving ahead with cop comedy R.I.P.D., so he may be free to return.

Would you be interested in a Red sequel? If so, which outrageous weapon should Helen Mirren wield next?

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Update: Amazon has made Red available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray.

Summit Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing Red on DVD and Blu-ray on January 25th.

The movie was released back in October and follows the story of Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, who is now living a quiet life. That is, until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his identity compromised and the life of the woman he cares for endangered, Frank reassembles his old team (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive.

Red, directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife), managed $150 million at the worldwide box office on a $60 million budget which, combined with positive reviews, means Summit officially has a hit.

The DVD and Blu-ray features include:

- Audio commentary with retired CIA field officer Robert Baer
- Deleted and extended scenes
- Access: RED – Activate a variety of “scene-specific” features including interviews with cast members, real-life CIA expert commentary, animated documentary shorts on controversial CIA operations and more

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If you’ve seen the trailer for Red, you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. There’s no deception with this marketing campaign: if you’re the type of person who digs movies in which bullets and bazookas are fired at the same time and collide in the middle (causing a massive explosion, naturally), chances are you’ll probably like this movie.

Based on the comic by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, Red tells the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a lonely, retired CIA black ops agent. He calls the agency just to speak with the cute customer service rep Sarah (Parker), and the two have a blossoming friendship over the phone. But when a team of agents breaks into Moses’ apartment to kill him, he knows that Sarah’s life is in danger, too. In order to stay alive, he has to “[get] the band back together” by reassembling his old (hiYO!) team: Joe (Freeman), an 80-year-old rascal; Marvin (Malkovich), made insane by years of government testing; and Victoria (Mirren), a woman who can’t force herself to fully retire. Hunted by up-and-coming agent Cooper (Karl Urban), the gang gets caught up in the remnants of a operation they worked on thirty years prior.

This movie is utterly inconsequential, but that’s exactly what it’s aiming for. The writing provides plenty of opportunities to let loose and have some fun, with almost all of the leads playing variations of characters they’ve depicted on screen before. Freeman and Willis fell right back into their natural chemistry from Lucky Number Slevin, almost as if they never left that film’s set. Malkovich was perfectly crazy, striking just the right balance of slapstick and insanity. And as the action comedy equivalent of Betty White, it was surprisingly exhilarating to see Helen Mirren (notable for playing traditional, serious roles) brazenly fire automatic weapons until all of the cartridges were spent. And Mary-Louise Parker played the “Cameron Diaz in Knight and Day” part with such effortless charm and humor that I was instantly enamored with her.

The supporting cast is really a joy to watch, with hugely entertaining performances from the always-reliable Brian Cox and Richard Dreyfuss. Even Ernest Borgnine has a small role, sure to raise the enjoyment of the older audience this film caters to. But the break-out to me was easily Karl Urban (who played Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek) as Cooper, standing out in an office fight scene with Willis that cements him as one of the next big blockbuster stars. [He's already been signed to play Judge Dredd in a reboot of that franchise.] Cooper’s casual indifference when executing orders was effectively chilling, and his go-getter attitude seems to mirror Urban’s own rise to movie stardom.

Perhaps my biggest surprise was with the assured confidence of the film itself, handled notably well by director Robert Schwentke. His filmography thus far (Flightplan, The Time Traveler’s Wife) didn’t seem to indicate he could pull off this type of tone, but he did an admirable job portraying the action, thankfully avoiding the quick-cut mantra of action films of the past decade. (It’s so refreshing to see an action movie that doesn’t give you a headache.) There are a couple of excellent sequences, one involving a car crash and Willis (predictably) being a total badass, and one involving the destruction of a house reminiscent of The Rocketeer and The Book of Eli.

Red is pure, self-assured escapism. It’ll surely become a staple of cable networks in the next few years, but there’s nothing wrong with that – especially when the movie is as fun as this one. The cast practically oozes enthusiasm, and their excitement seems to complement the ridiculous nature of this movie. I’d definitely recommend checking this one out if you’re a fan of the action comedy genre; Red continues this year’s trend of “team up” action flicks, but this one falls more on the The A-Team side than The Expendables side. Until next time…

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Hollywood has always had an obsession with casting young, good looking actors and actresses in movies so they can capture the teen demographic. However Bradley Cooper getting his abs out in The A-Team and Zoe Saldana firing guns in her underwear in The Losers is nothing compared to Dame Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman kicking ass in Red.

A second trailer for the film was revealed today at Comic-Con, and you can watch it below;

Red, directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife) is the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, who is now living a quiet life. That is, until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his identity compromised and the life of the woman he cares for endangered, Frank reassembles his old team (Freeman, Malkovich and Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive.

The film also includes Brian Cox as a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis, Richard Dreyfuss as a wealthy man who builds a fortune out of lucrative government contracts, and Julian McMahon as the Vice President with a dark side who is at the center of a conspiracy.

Red will be released by Summit Entertainment on October 15th.

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The first trailer for The Debt, written by Kick-Ass duo Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, has been released online. The film is a remake of the 2007 Israeli film of the same name by Assaf Bernstein and stars Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Ciarán Hinds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSKqXgJXWo

Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington star in “The Debt,” the powerful story of Rachel Singer, a former Mossad agent who endeavored to capture and bring to trial a notorious Nazi war criminal—the Surgeon of Birkenau—in a secret Israeli mission that ended with his death on the streets of East Berlin. Now, 30 years later, a man claiming to be the doctor has surfaced, and Rachel must go back to Eastern Europe to uncover the truth. Overwhelmed by haunting memories of her younger self and her two fellow agents, the still-celebrated heroine must relive the trauma of those events and confront the debt she has incurred.

The Debt, directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), was one of the films caught up in the death of Miramax earlier this year. Walt Disney Studios, who merged with Miramix and are now in control of it’s slate, has set a December 29th release date.

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