According to Colwell

This dark comedy is as pumped full of adrenaline as its protagonist, Chev Chelios (Jason Statham), a hit man who spends the movie trying to fight off the effects of a slow-acting poison while he seeks vengeance on those who killed him. Why didn’t Verona just shoot Chev when he had the chance? Because Verona, like many people in the movie, is sadistic and wanted to rub Chev’s face in the fact that Verona had killed him. Unfortunately for Verona, the poison is temporarily offset by large amounts of adrenaline. So Chev embarks on a frenetic chase to get Verona, get some epinephrine (recommended by his shady doctor, played perfectly by Dwight Yoakam), and protect his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart) from Verona’s inevitable attack.

The movie is presented in the way that Chev is experiencing his last hours of life: frenetic, confusing, sometimes blurred, and with images from his life popping up in odd places. The editing is fast and furious. Although not quite an hour and a half long, the frantic action-packed pace of the movie makes it exhausting. I liked it, but was glad it wasn’t longer. This is a dark comedy of sorts, although I suspect the laughter is born of nervous excitement and is a release of tension that the movie generates in abundance. In between severing one thug’s hand and a major gun fight with lots of blood and corpses, Chev races across Los Angeles in a hospital gown so souped-up on epinephrine that he couldn’t slow down if he wanted to. The violence is abundant and bloody, so this movie is not for everyone, but it is a beautifully executed wild ride.

I went to this movie with some trepidation because previews and reviews gave the impression that Edward Norton’s character, Eisenheim the Illusionist, possesses supernatural powers. I generally find movies (and TV shows) that promote the idea that people have psychic or other supernatural powers to be offensive and detrimental to our cultural literacy. However, leaving aside whether or not Eisenheim actually does have supernatural powers, I liked this movie and the character and was willing to go along with him being able to pull off real magic, basically because it was an interesting story and because it was not set in the present day. Set in turn-of-the-century (2oth, that is) Vienna, Eisenheim puts on a show that is far beyond cheap tricks and sleight of hand. When the Duchess Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel), fiancee of the smart but sinister Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), is volunteered by said Prince to participate in Eisenheim’s act, he recognizes her as his teenage sweetheart from 15 years ago.

Leopold has his sights set on Sophie for his own political aspirations, and in any event Eisenheim is not of the aristocracy so their love story seems doomed. The meat of the movie is a battle of wits between Eisenheim and Leopold, with Police Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) working for Leopold but primarily interested in the truth of the affairs between them. He’d also like to know how Eisenheim does his considerably cool tricks. As for whether they are tricks or magic, that is best left to the movie. There is plenty of romantic atmosphere, a fun detective story, and another winning performance by Norton.

This movie superficially has all the makings of an engaging, intelligent, romantic comedy, but it never gets much beyond a promising setup and a smattering of quirky scenes. Two troubled couples struggle with their partners and with their friendships with each other in Manhattan, while a parade of notable actors in eccentric secondary roles adds depth to the background. The cast is led by Maggie Gyllenhaal as Elaine, who is ready to start a family, and Billy Crudup as her boyfriend Toby, who spends his time making the sort of snide irrelevant commentary that you’re likely to find on this blog. Toby’s sister, Rebecca, is played by Julianne Moore whose marriage to Tom (David Duchovny) is going through mid-life doldrums.

While there are some amusing scenes, too much seems like a set-up instead of a natural flow of events. In one scene, a foreigner of unknown origin whom Elaine dates speaks with such a ridiculous accent and says such ridiculous things that the movie seems to have left the real world for a detour into farce. Toby has two bizarre, interrupted sessions with a therapist (played by Bob Balaban); a publisher played by Ellen Barkin makes a bizarre pass at Elaine; Tom and Rebecca have their own bizarre therapy session to start the movie. These scenes and others, apparently designed for comic effect, prevent the main foursome from being developed as real characters as much as they could have been if they weren’t regularly being interrupted by the absurd. The cast gives it their all, and the movie has its moments, but by trying to do too much it somehow manages not enough.