Starring: Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Chris Coy, Joel McHale, Dorian Missick, Sean Harris.
Director: Scott Derrickson.
Saw this one awhile back and don't remember caring for it much beyond Joel McHale being fun in it, and then being annoyed by Eric Bana and a bunch of Rolling Stones songs suddenly playing for no reason? It was the Stones right? I dunno. Other than Exorcism of Emily Rose I've never cared much for Derrickson. But, let's try it again and see what happens.
If nothing else, Joel McHale is always fun to watch. His interactions with Detective Eric Bana are interesting, and they do have great chemistry. Banas accent is pretty atrocious, but the dialogue-while simplistic-is fun enough to listen to. I really do enjoy the concept of a Cop with "Radar"-an apparent sense of when something a call will be filled with action-and McHale's excitement about it. Actually, I'd probably watch some sort of action, cop-drama type film with these two characters. maybe without Banas horrible accent. Their encounter with a domestic abuser is a pretty decent establishment of the pair being effective. Simple enough. We know what they're capable of now.
They go to the Bronx Zoo. Now I want to go to the Bronx Zoo. Animals are awesome.
Usually it kind of annoys me when Animals always act in stereotypical ways: have you ever been to the Zoo? When was the last time you saw one of the Bears actually stand up and roar at anything? They usually just wander around dumbly or sleep. But, given that there are supernatural shenanigans going on, I can forgive it.
I really like the Lion scene, though, no matter how tacked it on it feels. Detective Bana follows a suspicious guy into the Lion enclosure and nearly gets eaten.
Guess it was The Doors, not the Stones.
Shut up, Eric Bana, Cats are rad.
There's not a lot of cohesion thus far to this film. I know that it takes its time to connect the dots and the like, but thus far it's "Cops respond to cop calls that occasionally kinda/sorta end up being vaguely supernatural in origin." Very procedural. Not that the scenes are necessarily bad: Bana creeping around a dark basement that is said to be haunted and encountering a corpse, which then splits open and has bugs inside him is pretty okay stuff. I just wish it didn't have that "no lights=atmosphere" mentality to it...that trope is becoming more and more intolerable as time goes on.
I guess the idea that this was a true story is kind of annoying me. The whole plot unfolds due to coincidence...but I guess I'm supposed to believe that the real guy was some sort of super cop with mild psychic abilities. I mean, I guess weirder shit has happened, but I'm still not terribly convinced. Either way, coincidence doesn't really make for solid storytelling. Once the coincidence is done with, the story starts to make some more sense, but it's still a bit flimsy.
Eric Bana doesn't seem to act with his eyes at all. I think that's what bugs me about him. There's inflection in his voice but his face doesn't seem to express much. It's unfortunate, too, because his speech about the evils that he has endured throughout the film thus far is actually a pretty good one and ripe with emotion, but coming from Bana it seems like he may as well be reading his grocery list. Oliva Munn is kind of wasted as his wife, too: she's capable of a lot better.
Scott Derrickson has a way with matter-of-fact storytelling, though: he presents everything very honestly and directly. It's low on style(which is not his strong suit:staging and cohesion are not something Derrickson handles well), but makes up for it with a raw sensibility. It'd work better if he had stronger material here.
The Priest is an alright character. Bit cliche and, well, pretty sure I've discussed it before, but the "rogue priest" archetype is usually kinda silly. I can accept Priests who are presented as human, and this guy is that, but when they're all "cool" I kind of find myself unable to buy into things. The bonding and debate of "Is there a God" falls flat...it feels like every single possession film feels the need to have the same discussion and it seems to very rarely feel natural and organic.
Did Joel McHale fall asleep someplace? He just kinda vanished all of a sudden without a trace. Oh, wait, there he is...huh. Just kinda re-appeared all of a sudden.
Hmm...continuity error. While Bana and the Padre are talking in the car-at length, about rather dull cliches-for some reason "January 4th" is written on the fogged up window behind Bana. It is not visible in other shots. Oops.
All the pontificating is really getting kinda boring. I'm not sure I needed a second act filled with two characters talking about their issues...probably still could have worked as a movie just about a Cop getting in over his head...it worked for Exorcist III.
Can we make it a rule that horror movies can no longer use "Pop Goes The Weasel?" Like, now?
Joel McHale in a knife fight with a Possessed ex-marine is not a bad fight scene. Considering he's basically the only character I care about, it makes for an effective moment as he's cut up and killed by the bad guy. It's probably the best scene in the movie, and one of the few where anything really happens. Rather than maintain that intensity and momentum-major character death, close call for the hero, bad guy almost caught-we decide to have a gratuitous back-story flashback for Bana.
This film can't decide if it wants to be a character study or a cop drama, or a horror movie...it wants to be all things to everyone and it really just keeps tripping over itself as a result. The film is friggin' two hours. Feels like seven. This just keeps going.
See, they coulda cut the flashback and random suicide and just had Bana get a phone call saying the assailant had gone to his house. Bana goes home, arrests him, and then we go the station for the last act. No need to drag out another hour of exposition and characterization for characters who aren't all that interesting.
I feel like once you've seen one Exorcism sequence, you've seen them all. No wheels being invented. The best you can do, apparently, is change location. Somewhere a writer was saying "No, this one is different. Takes place in a police station. It's better than my other script, where an excorcism takes place at a 7-11." The Demon is named Juggler? Why does "Break on through" start playing? That's possibly the most annoying, ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
Final Thoughts: At best, Deliver Us From Evil is a well intentioned mess with an occasional strong moment. Not many moments, mind you: most of it is a sprawling, self-important, cliche-ridden burden that makes very little account for itself. Some okay dialogue and performances choices here and there take some of the sting out of it, but it's still an overall weak and trying film.
Final Rating: Two and Half Stars.
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