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Better Way to Die, A
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I was almost reluctant to watch A Better Way To Die. I don't recall it being in the theaters—at least in my town—and we all know what type of movies go strait to video and DVD. But I was pleasantly surprised by this first-time Hollywood-directing effort.
Director Scott Wiper is a film school graduate from Wesleyan University who also wrote and starred in his first moderately budgeted film. Wiper plays Boomer, a disillusioned cop who decides to move away from the big city and rekindle an old flame. On his way to paradise, Boomer becomes tangled in a murderous web through a case of mistaken identity. The government and the Chicago mob now think boomer is Special Agent Harrison James who was supposed to deliver a computer chip with secret files to his contact but never came through. Soon, Boomer is on the run from the government and the mob and struggles to stay alive while caught in an impossible situation that seems to be completely out of his control.
Sometimes touching, sometimes sad and sometimes action packed, Wiper's Hollywood directorial debut is a good one. His script is full of interesting, funny and tragic characters. The veteran actors who portray Wipers creations—Andrea Braugher as Cleveland (a thug with an honest goal), Mirjana Jokovic as Salvi (a full hearted woman in a tight spot) and Lou Diamond Phillips as Dexter (an alcoholic government agent trying to get it together)—command plenty of attention while on the screen. It is only Lou Diamond Phillips' character that seems to sometimes get in the way of the story. With Dexter (Phillips), the overall picture seems to lose focus as too much screen time is spent on a secondary character played by the film's most notable actor. But however much time is spent on Phillips, the film never becomes boring for it is full of riveting drama punctuated by realistically portrayed violence and the occasional laugh.
One of the most interesting things about the film is the director's commentary on the optional audio track. Wiper speaks of how he obtained funding for his film how he pulled off shooting a relatively big film in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio.
All together, A Better Way To Die is a good film to watch for action enthusiasts and a must see for aspiring directors. The film does lack style—you wouldn't watch this movie and say, "hey, that's a Scott Wiper film!"—But it's a great place to start for a relatively young director and we can only hope he develops a style of his very own with subsequent efforts.
Director Scott Wiper is a film school graduate from Wesleyan University who also wrote and starred in his first moderately budgeted film. Wiper plays Boomer, a disillusioned cop who decides to move away from the big city and rekindle an old flame. On his way to paradise, Boomer becomes tangled in a murderous web through a case of mistaken identity. The government and the Chicago mob now think boomer is Special Agent Harrison James who was supposed to deliver a computer chip with secret files to his contact but never came through. Soon, Boomer is on the run from the government and the mob and struggles to stay alive while caught in an impossible situation that seems to be completely out of his control.
Sometimes touching, sometimes sad and sometimes action packed, Wiper's Hollywood directorial debut is a good one. His script is full of interesting, funny and tragic characters. The veteran actors who portray Wipers creations—Andrea Braugher as Cleveland (a thug with an honest goal), Mirjana Jokovic as Salvi (a full hearted woman in a tight spot) and Lou Diamond Phillips as Dexter (an alcoholic government agent trying to get it together)—command plenty of attention while on the screen. It is only Lou Diamond Phillips' character that seems to sometimes get in the way of the story. With Dexter (Phillips), the overall picture seems to lose focus as too much screen time is spent on a secondary character played by the film's most notable actor. But however much time is spent on Phillips, the film never becomes boring for it is full of riveting drama punctuated by realistically portrayed violence and the occasional laugh.
One of the most interesting things about the film is the director's commentary on the optional audio track. Wiper speaks of how he obtained funding for his film how he pulled off shooting a relatively big film in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio.
All together, A Better Way To Die is a good film to watch for action enthusiasts and a must see for aspiring directors. The film does lack style—you wouldn't watch this movie and say, "hey, that's a Scott Wiper film!"—But it's a great place to start for a relatively young director and we can only hope he develops a style of his very own with subsequent efforts.
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