Deadfall

Some movies are worth reserving tickets for months in advance, where camping out in a line around the block brings a sense of pride and excitement. Then there are films that are a pleasant surprise at the box office.

But there are also duds that aren’t worth the price of admission, and belong on TV — I’m talking late night, insomnia-ridden, movie marathons that play on cable channels. Unfortunately, this is the world “Deadfall” lives in.

While on the run for the Canadian border after an attempted casino heist, siblings Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza’s (Olivia Wilde) car gets wrecked when they hit a deer in a snowstorm. After Addison shoots the trooper who stops to help, the pair decide to split up to avoid detection.

Addison continues his murderous rampage whilst evading the local law, such as Hanna (Kate Mara), a young officer who can’t get the respect she deserves. Meanwhile, Liza hitches a ride with Jay (Charlie Hunnam), a disgraced boxer recently released from prison and on his way to make amends with his parents. Sounds promising, right?

And it really tries hard to be, but it isn’t. Even though it manages to do all right maneuvering its scattered plot lines, “Deadfall” has too much going on for a movie that takes place over the course of about 40 hours. The end provides little justification for the extraneous plot lines.

Neither Jay nor Hanna’s backstories are interesting compared to the siblings,  especially because neither character is written well enough to pull it off. Jay and Liza’s inevitable love story seems forced; it’s unclear how quickly they became so close.

The strengths of “Deadfall” are much more concentrated in creating a proper atmosphere than quality dialogue. With grisly violence set against the bleak backdrop of a Michigan blizzard, there’s a neo-noir feel to “Deadfall” that’s been in style recently. If the film had pulled this off, it might have set it apart from other B-movie thrillers. But despite an impressive enough cast, there’s no real chance of salvaging them as consistent characters with clever dialogue.

Screenwriter Zach Dean must’ve hoped that stereotypical (and sometimes racist) regional associations of Native Americans and backcountry farmers would flesh out his characters for him, but this effort more than flops. What’s left are stilted and erratic characters that act out of necessity of the plot. Most of the scenes and emotions seem connected only by the loosest thread in Dean’s brain.

At the end of this movie there’s no feeling of anything gained by watching it. “Deadfall” isn’t the worst thriller, but it is certainly not anywhere close to good. Even for students rendered brain dead by finals, there are better movies to see this time of year.

The verdict: Despite the neo-noir feel, this one is best left for late-night TV.