Opinions of a Wolf

Summary:
The Scotland Yard is watching Elise Ward in the hopes that her ex-boyfriend, Alexander, who owes millions of pounds of back taxes, will contact her.  They get their chance when he does, telling her to come to Venice and choose a random tourist of his height and build to trick the cops into thinking is him.  The cops don’t fall for it, but unfortunately the mobster Alexander stole billions of pounds from does.

Review:
I’ve been a fan of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp since I can remember, so that pretty much is the entire reason why I went to go see this film.  Unfortunately, I have to say, Angelina and Johnny are starting to show their age.  For a film largely based on youth-filled action and passion, this is a bit distracting.  Although I enjoyed the old-fashioned storyline, I think I would have enjoyed it better with younger casting.  I’m not ageist, but when a storyline is so youthfully oriented, the casting should match.

The storyline itself is thoroughly engaging and refreshing.  It’s a romcom in the style of Cary Grant classics like Bringing Up Baby.  There’s a bunch of slightly over the top but still believable action.  It doesn’t rely on idiocy of the main characters or klutziness to move the story along.  It’s over-the-top enough to be engaging and escapist, but still believable instead of laughable.

There are enough plot twists to keep it engaging, and the cinematography strikes the proper balance between clear action-filled shots, quieter romantic scenes, and the more technical scenes of Scotland Yard observing the whole situation.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable film that unfortunately suffers from miscasting.  Hopefully romcoms coming out of Hollywood will continue moving in this direction anyway.

3 out of 5 stars

Source: I saw this in theaters.

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