Shoot 'em Up
The dark and gritty adaptation that Bugs Bunny needed, not one he wanted. Ironically, it’s very much pro gun control.
This is so great, not the brainless shootfest it seems, it’s a very cerebral comedy with a lot of laugh out loud jokes. Dad jokes, some of them, but still.
Every shootout has some gimmick, there’s no filler here. Even if it’s some stupid comment about middle aged men in ponytails, silly oil slick surfing, or hatred of playboy bunny earrings.
Smith tries to bribe the lactating whore with 5 grand, but it’s only a wad with a single 50 dollars bill and food stamps. He haggles for bullets in a pawn shop with a check from a blood bank, and the lady propositions him for a donation to her sperm bank. He doesn’t want the whore to turn tricks for the baby either, for some reason.
Smith’s “home” is a dump, but with a very sophisticated “key” that involves moving a massive rat between tunnels in hidden bricks. Ridiculous.
They keep it PG-13 since no nipples are show, but the leads can be both naked, rolling on the ground, while our hero shoots his load. From the woman’s vocalisations, in both meanings of the word.
Eventually the plot is resolved with a corrupt Democratic front runner for president (not wishy-washy cop-out of having a big Red State bad guy), and the reveal that Smith’s wife and kid were killed by some dude who bought guns on his gun store. The rest of shootouts are The Bourne Identity with more oomph, and free falling…
The reason why Smith is cosplaying Bugs Bunny, chewing on carrots all the time is left in the air.
The wordplay alone is incredible.
- The limerick about a woman with three kids, the last one named tat. She was so poor, there was no tit for tat.
- “Fuck me Sideways” is a reference to another Paul Giamatti film filled with word-smithing?
- What’s the difference between a luxury car and a porcupine? With the car, the pricks are on the inside.
- A pussy with a gun in his hand? Or an tough guy with a pussy in his hand.
There’s also visual jokes, when they shoot up the neon sign until it’s only “Fuk U Too”. Cutting the umbilical cord with a gun.
The good guys always drive BMW, while evil people use Mercedes. “Gun Nazis” are mentioned at some point too.
This is low budget, so you get crappy CGI babies, atrocious green screens, and random Canadian actors in most bit parts.
Paul Giamatti violently chewing the scenery while Clive Owen chews on carrots. Monica Belluci was still hot enough to be an object of desire in 2007 (hell, even now!). It does not detract from the experience.
This is my place for ramblings about sequences of images that exploit the human visual limitation know as persistence of vision.