Catch .44

Released By: Anchor Bay
Released On: 12/20/2011
Director: Aaron Harvey
Cast: Bruce Willis, Forest Whitaker, Malin Akerman, Nikki Reed, Deborah Ann Woll

The Film:

Within the first few seconds of Aaron Harvey's film, Catch .44, I was struck with a sense of déjí  vu. A close-up of Bruce Willis' head as he delivered a slow, definite speech to a person off-screen seemed that it could've been lifted directly from Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The next few minutes only solidified that feeling, as three girls sat around a table discussing the semantics of compromise; with her mannerisms and speech patterns, lead character Tes (Malin Ackerman) may as well have been explaining the concept behind “Fox Force Five” to John Travolta in a restaurant booth that resembled a finned Chevy.

Catch .44 doesn't get any better, as far as distancing itself from being a blatant ripoff of Tarantino, Rodriguez, even Guy Ritchie, as it chugs along. Attempting to tell the story of a heist gone wrong, Harvey throws in just about every trick he can, including CGI effects to make the film look like it's stuck in the gate (that jittery motion that you can see in Guy Ritchie's films, the Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse collaboration, and Fight Club), freeze frames with character's names generated over top of the frame, non-linear storytelling….basically, all of the tricks that you've seen time and time again since Reservoir Dogs showed up in the “underground film” lexicon. Unfortunately for viewers, it was the signature of bad ripoff films back in the 90's, and not much has changed. It sure is nice when you can find something nice about a film amongst all of the crap, but other than the fact that I can say that Ackerman looks much better with hair (which she was lacking in the recent happythankyoumoreplease). Aside from that, Catch .44 is essentially...piracy.

So, what's it about? Not much. Tes is a former waitress from a strip club who caught the eye of Mel (Bruce Willis), a rich organized crime fellow. But after messing up on a job, Tes and her two girlfriends are trying to get in his good books by intercepting a shipment of drugs that's being moved across Mel's territory. They're not the only ones looking for the dope, though…a scary man named Ronny (Forest Whittaker) and a bartender also have a stake in the things, and things are going to get bloody before they get resolved. And that's really about it. In the commentary, Aaron Harvey says that he doesn't like to get too deep into things, he just likes to create a situation and see people react to it, and that's what he's done here. Mr. Harvey has apparently missed the point, in that without characters who matter, nobody is going to invest too much into a film. With nothing but an overpopulated soundtrack (another Tarantinoism, jamming 70's rock, instrumental surf and spaghetti western tracks) with no apparent thought given to the importance of good song placement, and hip-looking shots, Catch .44 offers nothing more than another nail in the coffin of the Writer/Director as a force to be reckoned with. Good actors do not equal a good film, especially when they've got nothing to work with, though it is nice to see Brad Dourif for about a minute and a half, and Forest Whitaker's Scarface accent is pretty entertaining.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Anchor Bay brings Catch .44 to blu-ray with a 2.40:1 transfer that looks pretty decent. The picture is sharp and clear throughout, with good black levels. A number of the scenes take place at night or in dimly-lit rooms, but there are no problems deciphering what's happening. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track is also well-done, with dialogue coherent and consistent, balanced nicely with the soundtrack. Good use of the surrounds is made, and the bass response is impressive.

A commentary track is the only extra on the disc, and it features Writer/Director Aaron Harvey and Editor Richard Byard. Aside from discussing how to film a low-budget movie, the information provided largely proves that Harvey doesn't know too much about how to write a movie. His interest in creating a situation and having people react to it is a lofty purpose, I suppose, but he seems to have forgotten that you have to WRITE the reaction well for it to be effective. And listening to him make comparisons to Roger Corman's AIP films (aside from low budgets, there are no comparisons to make) is a little like hearing M. Night compare his works to classic Twilight Zone. Harvey might have a future as a decent director, but if Catch .44 is any indication, he should leave the writing to others.

The Final Word:

I thought that we passed this whole “More Pulp Than Pulp Fiction!” and “Such-and-such a film on acid!” tagline ripoff thing? Avoid this one if you can.