Former actor Ari Ryan makes his directorial debut with this twisty,
mashed-up heist picture, a movie of desperate characters colliding together in
desperate ways. The film is marginally distinguished by its cast, which
includes Henry Thomas, David Boreanaz, Peter Weller, The Departed’s
Vera Farmiga, Nick Lachey, Bruce Dern and Gary Busey, but otherwise about what
one can expect from a hastily shot, conventionally scripted indie genre flick
grinding through as many set-ups per day as possible.
gambler with a rising debt, and Roger Hargitay (Boreanaz), a yuppie financial
broker who, together with his colleagues, has bent some rules in the pursuit of
a quick payday. The pair doesn’t know each other, but they share a similar
problem — each owes a lot of money, and has no conceivable way to pay it back.
and filmic coincidence collide when Paul and Roger are both approached by
separate groups of thieves looking for accomplices in a bank robbery. At the outset,
the heists look simple. Naturally, however, the “easy” job gets
complicated, and the men find themselves involved in the same hold-up at the
same time — a situation that eventually devolves into a stand-off and gun
battle with each other and the authorities.
at its core, and not a whole lot else. The cast for the most part supply game
efforts — Thomas has a few nice drunk scenes early on, and as Roger’s boss Ed,
Weller injects some levity into the proceedings, chewing scenery and exclaiming
“Gonad!” when something doesn’t go his way — but are often hamstrung by lame or
awkward dialogue. Furthermore, Ryan over-directs the material a bit, achieving
clear compositions and nicely distinguished color palettes for each setting,
but shooting flat masters and then overcompensating with silly, quick-cut
action.
Boreanaz is an actor who is successful only to the degree that he’s an empty vessel for (mostly female)
audience projection. The Hard Easy
doesn’t really afford him that opportunity (though it does get his shirt off in
one scene, a wretchedly staged rooftop basketball encounter with Weller), and
his portrayal of an angsty white collar type, crucial to the differentiation of
the material in his contrast with Thomas’ Lake Tahoe gadfly, doesn’t float.
Roger seems a contrived follower, not believably cowed by panic related to his
circumstances.
in widescreen, enhanced for 16×9 televisions, and comes with a slightly subpar English
language 5.1 audio mix, optional subtitles in English and Spanish, and an audio
commentary track with Ryan and producer Scott Gold. There’s also a
seven-minute-plus interview with Ryan, filmed overlooking mid-Wilshire Los
Angeles, in which he makes copious, nervous mention of his own “theatrical
roots” (as if this is an audition to vet his credentials to direct) and also
discusses — quite straightforward and reasonably actually — how he feels a
filmmaker should communicate and rely on the strengths of each of his or her
film’s specific departments. C (Movie) C+ (Disc)