A PERFECT GETAWAY (Alliance, 2009) D: David Twohy, w/ Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich. Rating: NNN DVD package: N Rating: NNN
Vicarious pleasure for a cold winter night: attractive young people in not much clothing run around in a tropical paradise.
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A honeymooning couple hiking through a Hawaiian nature park learn of a murderous couple nearby. Could it be that pair of hostile rednecks, or the likeable oddballs they hook up with?
Writer/director David Twohy wrings a fair amount of suspense from this simple premise by focusing on character ambiguities and letting the tension build slowly to an action climax.
As Cydney and Cliff, our good-guy couple, Milla Jovovich and Steve Zahn are appealing and not quite nerdy. Cliff’s a screenwriter, which leads to some light comic dialogue that comments on the genre while it delivers clues and red herrings. Timothy Olyphant steals the show as a charismatic and possibly sociopathic tough guy, thanks in part to great support from Kiele Sanchez as his girlfriend.
Skip the alternate ending in the extras. It adds nothing.
EXTRAS Alternate ending. Widescreen. English, French audio and subtitles.
