2012 in Film: The Underrated and/or Unfairly Scorned...

Now we continue our 'the films of 2012' lists with another favorite, the Underrated!  And as always, this list won't just be good films that were labeled as 'bad', but also mediocre films that got unfairly pounded, or genuinely bad films that nonetheless deserved credit for one element or another.  If I do decide to compile an overrated list (still not sure, honestly), there is a good chance that many of the films on that list will still be better than many on this list, but I hope dear readers can understand the potential contradiction.  All of the films below are either worth seeing, either because they are in fact good or because they are bad but containing elements of note or are bad in interesting and/or entertaining ways. As always, the following are in alphabetical order.

Weekend Box Office (02/26/12): Act of Valor scores big, Good Deeds opens low for Tyler Perry, while Wanderlust and Gone tank.

In yet another stupidly crowded weekend at the box office (in such a crowded marketplace where only one new release debuted on more than 2,200 screens), we had yet another solid surprise, as the low-budget Act of Valor topped the box office with a $24.4 million debut.  Relativity bought the $12 million production for  $13 million and then spent another $30-$40 million to market it.  Said marketing campaign highlighted the film's lone quirk - that it starred actual Navy Seals and allegedly presented a more accurate picture of how such soldiers conduct themselves in the battlefield (they also bought a couple Super Bowl ads and screened the crap out of the film all over the country prior to release).  Of course, such lofty attempts at realism didn't prevent a Perils of Pauline subplot (Roselyn Sanchez plays a kidnapped CIA operative who must be rescued by these manly men from torturous bad guys), but the marketing campaign certainly played on the idea that this film was more 'real' than the likes of Navy Seals.  The picture earned an A from Cinemascore, which means that audiences obviously didn't mind the fact that the real life Seals are better at killing people than the whole 'acting' thing.  As somewhat expected, it played best in regions that have military bases and places that certain parties dismissively refer to as 'fly-over country' (don't be that asshole).  

Review: Gone (2012) is a cheerfully absurd thriller that either toys with genre expectations or just makes no sense whatsoever.

Gone

2012
95 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

Gone is that strange sort of movie that actually grows in esteem when you look back on it and realize just how preposterous it really is.  The plot technically involves Amanda Seyfried as Jill, a young woman looking for her missing sister.  The twist being that she is absolutely sure that said sister (Emily Wickersham) has been abducted by the same serial murderer who kidnapped poor Jill and tossed her in a pit just over a year ago in a failed attempt to add her to his collection of corpses.  That's all the plot you need, as what follows is a surprisingly relentless and fast-paced investigation thriller that barely stops to take its breath until late in the third act.  While the events don't technically unfold in real time, there is such a propulsive forward momentum that the picture feels like a very low-budget, nothing-but-essentials variation on 24 meshed with Run Lola Run and an extended episode Busy Town Mysteries.  I wouldn't go so far as to cal Gone 'good', but I admired its just-the-facts pacing and, in hindsight, its rather ludicrousness plotting.

Amanda Seyfried's Gone gets a (possibly) uber-spoilerific trailer.

This looks pretty run-of-the-mill, although it's nice to see Seyfried back to doing star vehicles instead of being Justin Timberlake's hostage/love interest.  But if you watch this trailer, you might want to stop right before the 2:13 mark, or right after the title flashes.  The last ten seconds contain a button, which has apparently has Seyfried in a phone conversation with the killer in question.  Fair enough, except I think I recognize said murderer's voice.  While the murderer's identity shouldn't be too hard to figure as I'm pretty sure it follows two of the rules for deducing such a thing (which name actor is playing a seemingly useless character and which said actor gets unusually high billing for playing such a useless character).  Still, if I'm correct, it's awfully dirty pool for  Summit Entertainment to blatantly give away the game as such.  Anyway, the film looks generic if intriguing, Seyfried looks gorgeous per-usual, and it looks like serviceable junk to keep us entertained between the Oscars and the summer movie season.  But if you must watch, don't watch the whole thing.

Scott Mendelson   

Press Release: Summit Entertainment aqquires domestic rights to Amanda Seyfried thriller Gone.

AMANDA SEYFRIED TO STAR IN GONE

Summit Entertainment Acquires US Rights to Thriller Lakeshore Entertainment Group and Sierra / Affinity to Commence Sales of Worldwide Rights at the 2011 European Film Market in Berlin

Los Angeles, CA February 9, 2011 – Summit Entertainment, Lakeshore Entertainment Group and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment jointly announced today that Amanda Seyfried will star in thriller Gone, a film to be directed by Heitor Dhalia from a script penned by Allison Burnett. Lakeshore’s Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi are producing the project alongside Sidney Kimmel. Chris Salvaterra and Dan Abrams will also produce. Summit has acquired U.S. distribution rights and Lakeshore and Sierra / Affinity are handling sales of worldwide rights to the film which commence at the 2011 European Film Market in Berlin. Principal photography is set to begin in April of this year.