Catch.44 Review

21st May 2012

When Bruce Willis ends up in a straight to DVD venture you really have to raise an eyebrow and wonder what the hell is going on? This is a first? And how come?

His upcoming films all seem pretty safe in terms of getting a theatrical run, his past few films even made a bit of dough! So what is up with this anomaly?

Catch.44 is a call back to the 90’s crime flicks ala Tarantino. And that’s clear from the soundtrack, the introductions to characters and banal conversations going on between characters. The problem is that it is uneven, poorly scripted and lacking in visual flavour that a cinema screen could be proud of. In short; It’s cheap and probably made by calling in a few high powered favours.

Willis is a scabby kingpin pulling the strings of the supporting cast. Three young women are sent on a mission that sees them end up in a diner, looking for a particular person who has a particular item of interest. It isn’t long before the gun play comes out and then the film rewinds into flashback mode where we find out how they got there in the first place. Add to this mix Forest Whitaker playing a nutso hit man type and you have yourself a very bizarre back story indeed.

Whitaker is probably the one having the most fun, but it’s all a bit too unbelievable to really grasp. A Mexican stand-off at the end in particular is so protracted that you wonder why these people are honestly still talking and not either shooting or diving for cover! Willis does add flavour to the few scenes he is in and to be fair breaks many of his Hollywood moulds. He isn’t playing pretty or even nice.

Catch.44 is a slight diversion, but not a patch on what it is paying homage to. And it also has a rather pointless cameo appearance from Brad Dourif who is used, pretty much to do nothing.