Unnatural Causes – Clean Break (2008)

Directed by: Robert Malenfant | 89 minutes | drama, thriller | Actors: Angus Macfadyen, Tara Reid, Colm Meaney, Francesc Garrido, Lorena Bernal, Mingo Ràfols, Robert Galzarano, Sue Flack, Carles Francino, Roger Delmont

If direct-to-DVD movies entered the Razzies award, the Razzie for Worst Picture Couple would undoubtedly go to Angus Macfadyen and Tara Reid. The two actors play a married couple, but you can’t find them any worse matching. At the beginning of the film, there is no sign of hatred in their relationship, but even then the two characters seem further apart than ever. Reid looks at Macfadyen as if she’s seeing him for the first time, rather than they’ve been married for seven years, and Macfadyen looks at Reid as if he’s only too aware of what kind of B-actress to play his scenes with.

In addition to the poor casting, questions can be raised about the decision to give the green light for the filming of the screenplay. The story that forms the basis of ‘Unnatural Causes’ is full of illogicalities and plot holes. Responsible for this script is Jacques Haitkin, who has a long Hollywood career as a cinematographer, with his greatest achievement being ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. ‘Unnatural Causes’ is his first screenplay. The film, also known as ‘Clean Break’, which is an equally uninspired title, is about a couple, Matt and Julia, who run a growing advertising agency in Barcelona together. He is the director, she is responsible for relationship management. After an exciting assignment that the company has successfully completed, a party takes place where Matt is introduced by Trevor Jones (Colm Meaney). Matt’s speech is uninspired and dull: not something you would expect from the boss of a flashy advertising agency. The partygoers will look like you expect them to: young, sexy and cheerful. But that’s not what this lackluster thriller is about.

Like a bolt from the blue, Matt’s behavior changes, partly because of the $130,000 claim Julia recently filed for relationship bonding expenses. It is immediately clear to both the viewer and Matt that she has not used the money for business purposes at all, that she has used the money for the purchase of an idyllic wooden house in the Pyrenees, as a surprise for Matt, only the viewer knows (although the makers probably hoped that this would also be an unexpected turn for the public). What kills the credibility, however, is why Julia puts this on her company account… Surely it makes no sense to declare a wedding gift at the company you work for, especially if your boss also happens to be your husband? Anyway, for Matt, the secrecy with which Julia talks about spent money is sufficient reason to expect that she is cheating. Especially when photos surface – taken by a corrupt police officer hired by Trevor – of Julia standing with an unknown man laughing (shame!), he is blown away.

Motivated by his brother, who has an unclear position at the advertising agency, Matt believes there is only one solution: Julia must die. His alcoholism, of course, only makes matters worse. What follows is an unexciting sequence of scenes in which Julia and Matt kill each other, whether or not through third parties. The acting is bad, the dialogues forced and the setting in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, Barcelona, ​​is completely unused. See if you want to see absolutely everything from Colm Meaney, Angus Macfadyen, Francesc Garrido or Tara Reid, otherwise there’s no reason to sit down for ‘Unnatural Causes’.