Hobo with a Shotgun2011
85 minutes
rated R
by Scott Mendelson
It's a cardinal rule of mine to always critique the film that is presented in front of me, and not the film I wanted to see. It doesn't matter if the what-if? scenarios in my head for The Matrix Revolutions were more interesting that what ended up being made, I can only judge the film that was released as it was released. So I walk a tightrope when discussing Jason Eisner's Hobo with a Shotgun. The film basically delivers what it promises, with hardcore schlock possessing a genuine 1970s grindhouse sensibility and horrifying violence to match. But the picture is so relentlessly over-the-top and lacking in any real subtext or 'point' that the film becomes just a glorified snuff film. But there remains such potential for a genuinely compelling social critique that I cannot help but think of the slightly less extreme but more relevant film this could have been.
