.45 (2006)

Directed by: Gary Lennon | 101 minutes | drama, comedy, crime | Actors: Milla Jovovich, Stephen Dorff, Angus Macfadyen, Aisha Tyler, Sarah Strange, Vincent Laresca, Tony Munch, Kay Hawtrey, John Robinson, Tim Eddis, Hardee T. Lineham, Dawn Greenhalgh, Nola Augustson, John Gordon, Shawn Campbell, Robin Brule, Suresh John, Conrad Bergschneider

Sometimes it is very fascinating to see a train derail. What would it look like from the inside? Are the passengers flying in all directions? What is the driver’s look like when he loses control of the metal monster and what happens to the victims after the accident? Are the survivors traumatized or just happy that they finally have a cool topic of conversation during the obligatory family outings? Gary Lennon captured a derailed train accident with ‘.45’ that is at least as fascinating as it is horrific. You want to turn your head away, but you can’t.

‘.45′ revolves around Kat (Jovovich), a fairly ordinary street girl with a rough life. The young woman is in a relationship with neighborhood criminal Big Al (Mcfadyen). It seems a mystery what Kat sees in Al, because the well-built gangster turns out to be an annoying little man with racist ideas. The criminal is also blessed with free hands and a negligible Intelligence Quotient. Kat has her reasons for sticking out with the jealous lobbies, because “He’s got a big one!” When Al in a drunken stupor almost kills his girlfriend, that’s enough. Kat wants to leave him. With the help of a lesbian friend, Al’s old friend Reilly (Dorff), and a social worker, the abused woman tries to escape her old life. It turns out that Kat has an agenda of her own.

Director Lennon is the driver on this trip, but he doesn’t have much control over his 101-minute journey. ‘.45’ never knows what it wants to be. A blunt comedy, an exciting thriller or a hip crime film: Lennon doesn’t know either. Only Mcfayden seems to know what he’s doing and portrays Big Al as a dinosaur from a lost era. With rolling eyes, a wrong ponytail in the neck, too tight sweaters and a prehistoric leather jacket, the gangster is not of this time. Big Al would fit in a long-lost episode of ‘The A-Team’, but in the present day the cartoonish character is completely out of place. So why don’t you just laugh at Al? No, not that either, because halfway through the film the atmosphere suddenly changes. Lennon decides he doesn’t want to make a flat sex comedy with crime elements, but rather a socially engaged epic about victims of domestic violence.

In a hard scene where Kat is mercilessly beaten by a foaming Al, the cheesy atmosphere suddenly changes. Comedy becomes drama. But can you sympathize with cartoonish characters? When the grim ambiance later makes way for quasi-funny thriller passages, the balance is lost. ‘.45’ is a cinematic identity crisis. To use a bit of a common thread, there are short close ups in which the (family and friends of the) main characters give their vision of the story. This often results in meaningless talk that is rounded off with an adolescent sex joke. The humor is very dubious. Not so much because of the content, but more because of the explanatory tone with which the actors use themselves. Every quip is dissected to the bone, so that even preschoolers can’t miss the punch line.

Although ‘.45’ is a failed film, it has turned out to be a fascinating spectacle. How did the cast get on set and what made them decide to get involved in Lennon’s messy job? Group discount maybe? If you fancy a special film, then ‘.45’ might be worth considering. Make sure you take a one-way ticket, because a return ticket is only reserved for those hard masochists.