IHAO on ... Flypaper - READER REQUEST

This is the first of what I hope will be a series of something a little different for me on I Have an Opinion.  Since getting to jump into Netflix, and watching so many things, I’ve been able to find movies I normally couldn’t find.  Either because of limited release, obscurity, or foreign-ness, I’m able to get a whole lot more media to devour.  And I love to devour media.  So it was brought up to me to do some sort of Reader Request bank, to allow all of you the opportunity to send me requests to review.  I have two different ideas on how to accomplish this, but for now let me talk about READER REQUESTS.

All you gotta do is send me an ask, email, or some other message to get a request, and I will do my best to do as many of them as I can, every Friday.  I like the limitation.  Instead of only picking things I’m interested in, or things suggested to me by Netflix, I can actual see what people want to hear my opinion on.  And I always have an opinion.

All that lead up gets me to the first request I ever received, even before I restarted this blog in earnest:

Request from Earlnimbud

Heist is a film genre I wish there was more of.  I love heist films.  They are action packed, fun, many times hilarious, and always filled with interesting twists and turns.  Flypaper does all of that perfectly, as well as adding a lot of great character beats and intrigue.

The premise is that a man goes to a bank, and suddenly two bank robberies happen simultaneously.  And he is trapped inside for 10 hours with the others there.  Without his medication.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention that, he has OCD.  Patrick Dempsey plays a Sherlock-ian, Mentalist, Monk styled character we’ve grown accustomed to with television procedurals.  But don’t let that turn you away, he actually does a wonderful job in this performance.  And he isn’t the only one.  Every actor (that has a real role, which I’ll get to in a second) does just amazingly.  I could list all their names, but really, just check out the IMDB.  It is a great list of stars who just all do a great job.

The music is exactly as expected from a heist film.  But this is more than that.  This is a film written by the guys who wrote the Hangover (while not my cup of tea, filled with interesting scenarios and characters, that I cannot argue) and directed by the man who directed the Lion King.  So we are taking what could be a simple fun fluff action film and given a whole thrill ride with great direction and solid characters that go beyond being two-dimensional.  It is a small-ish ensemble film, and everyone is pitch perfect, except for one poor woman whose only job it was was to be a sexy Swedish woman, and that is a huge unfortunate loss, though I hope there are deleted scenes that fill out her character.

Sad when this cartoon character has more personality that your character does.  

Also, why aren't you reading Scandinavia and the World?  Do that.  Grade: A

I really do recommend this film.  And as the first honorary request, I thank my readers for suggesting it.  Suggest away, and I will get to as many as I can.

Grade: A+