The curl of the lip whispers Shakespearean glower… until The Purple Man’s American accent skids into an estuary somewhere in the UK and David Tennant (Dr Who, Jessica Jones) just glories in the insanity of the moment. Dean Devlin’s Bad Samaritan may actually be the perfect Friday night film if you want something silly but are still trying to make out that you’re in a Silence of the Lambs mood. The plot swings a million ways from Sunday, but the basis of Bad Samaritan centres around a couple of crooks who mess with the wrong punter and find themselves in a race to save some treasure.
The centrepiece is not Tennant, but the interplay between him (as Cale), Sean (Robert Sheehan, Misfits) and Katie (Kerry Condon, Better Call Saul). Dear David could do this role tied up and gagged with a feather up his nethers, but the fun comes from seeing him switch between serious moments (and there are a few genuinely nasty bites) and sections so tropey that all he can do is show us his teeth and chew the scenery. This would get cloying were it not for Sean, a waifish photographer and choirboy-gone-bad type whose determination makes you root for him no matter what. Condon actually manages to underscore the horrors and add a bit of relief by delivering lines that have no right to work like a cross between Turbo Kid’s Apple and a Soska Sisters character.
There is some terrific attention to detail on set, including wonderfully leery design and digital gizmos by Nate Jones, Michelle Jones and Benjamin Hayden, but the plot holes are cavernous (with a welcoming committee literally beaming just inside) and there’s a tension-breaking score that really does sound like they just plonked a Dictaphone in a run-of-the-mill rock gig and got the soundcheck. With talent such as Tennant on board, it does also make you wonder just how much directing the normally writing/producing Devlin (Independence Day) actually did, especially considering some of the characterisation of other cast members switches periodically from perfectly appropriate shock and awe to artsy connection-making. There’s even a daft segment where two folks are exchanging soulful glances through a window and you actually want to yell “boo” because what’s coming is so utterly inevitable. It’s a sleazy torture-porn flick, a heist, a psychological thriller, a family drama and farce, and has a subplot involving the FBI that certainly won’t help you sleep any better. The police are very much Clouseau despite apparently trying to give a Falk.
Bad Samaritan is not technically a fantastic film. It seems to somewhat inadvertently swing its multicoloured serial killer pants and go for it. Bouncing its cast all over the place as it tries to outwit the viewer, it remains bogglingly entertaining.
BAD SAMARITAN / DIRECTOR: DEAN DEVLIN / SCREENPLAY: / STARRING: DAVID TENNANT, ROBERT SHEEHAN, KERRY CONDON, LISA BRENNER / CERT: TBC / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
