Hey folks, Harry here with another review from RENI - of the country that just voted not to see Donald Trump, but he is saying for us to see Ben Wheatley's FREE FIRE... Let's dive into it shall we...
Ben Wheatley has been carving a niche for himself blending gritty social realism with the cult horror of 1970’s Hammer and Italian exploitation. So far, we’ve had a kitchen-sink crime drama (‘Down Terrace’), occult horror (‘Kill List’), a Michael Reeves homage (‘A Field in England’) and a Cumbrian black comedy (‘Sightseers’).
But Wheatley is close to becoming mainstream. His fifth film, ‘High Rise’ – bigger budget, starrier cast – was one the UK’s most successful independent films of 2016. His latest, ‘Free Fire’ – a noisy action comedy about an arms deal gone wrong - gets him even closer to it.
The plot is paper-thin. Cillian Murphy and Michael Smiley (in person, the funniest guy ever) are IRA delegates looking to buy M-16’s from Sharlto Copley and Armie Hammer in a deserted warehouse somewhere in Boston. Brie Larson is the fixer, there to make sure everything goes to plan. Except that one of Copley’s men recognises one of the IRA side (Sam Riley) from a fight the night before and suddenly all hell breaks loose.
That’s it pretty much. It’s a ninety minute third act. A challenge undertook by Wheatley and his co-writer Amy Jump to see how much tension they could create from one simple – seemingly pointless – set-up.
The cast more than make up for it. Murphy is a likeably shy lead flirting with Brie Larson, who is wonderfully gung-ho. Hammer is great too, playing the equivalent of a male fembot (his hair is perfect). I also liked Babou Ceesey as Copley’s no-nonsense subordinate – SPOILER his character re-appears later as a sort of ‘PTSD Zombie’. Copley steals it though, hammed-up as a caricature arms dealer, concerned more about damaging his suit than being shot.
Wheatley seems more concerned, too, finding new directorial choices – he pre-vizzed the warehouse in Minecraft - and less bothered by its similarity to earlier films like ‘Reservoir Dogs’ or ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’. In fact, the sound design is excellent – the gun fire is so much louder, more effective than in usual actioners - and there’s an eerie wind effect used throughout the second half of the film as the warehouse slowly turns into a metaphorical hell.
Wheatley and Jump (also the film’s editors) do a terrific job keeping track of the characters – a twelve man fifty minute shoot-out in one space must have been a nightmare to edit. And there’s a great prog score, too, by Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and Ben Salisbury (Ex Machina).
It’s a fun ride. Some reviewers are complaining that it’s ‘sub-Tarantino’. They’re missing the point. This is just as dark, eclectic and singular as anything Wheatley’s done. But I also think it might be a ‘crossroads moment’ for him as a director. Does he stay in Brighton, working with the same team of collaborators – like the great Laurie Rose ('High Rise', 'Made of Stone’) – making auteur films or does he take the plunge, go to the States and make an ‘Alien: Resurrection’?
(Weirdly, I think his next film is sci-fi).
‘Free Fire’ is out in the U.K. on March 31st & April 21st in the U.S.
RENI
